Ritteri question

[tralynne]

Bought a large ritteri 2 weeks ago. when he i fully open he is about 12-14 inches across. every few days he will shrink really small and all his tentacles are lose and flaccid. a few hours later he is fine. He is eating like a hog. I have been feeding him 1 large raw jumbo shrimp every other day. I soak it in a Kent vitamin mixture that i forget the name of.

Is this shrinking and expanding normal? or is this a sign of not good health? i have had other types that have closed up...but this ritteri literally shrivels up to about 2-3 inches across. He always, so far, comes back and "acts" normal. just curious if anyone else has seen/experienced this behavior

[Reefvette]

If you can get some pictures it would be helpful.

I have had my mag for 5 months and i havent seen it shrink down completely once. That is usually a sign of stress.

Also feeding can stress them since it takes alot of energy to digest. I would feed every 2- 3 days and see if that helps.

Do they Ball up at night or in the early morning like this?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s234/ClownBailey24/Picture004-1.jpg

[tralynne]

no...he does not ball up at all like that...everything remains open...but it just shrinks.

At work right now...i will get some pictures of this when he does do it. I usually do post pictures when i have a question but i wanted to get this thread started as soon as i could. P

[AD87]

Does the nems mouth look open or gape?

[tralynne]

when he is wide open his mouth looks normal (Normal as in compared to other nems). when he is deflated his mouth is a little open but i would not say gaped like when he eats shrimp chunks.

[AD87]

Sounds good. Did you get the mag online?

[tralynne]

got the mag at LFS...reliable store..not sure if wild or tank bred though. did not think to ask the question. been in salwater for 5 years and still learn stuff everyday.

So i just took these two pictures about 30 seconds ago. he is full open and inflated. if/when he deflates i will post those pictures as well.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1208.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1209.jpg

[reefpix352]

How much light do you have over the Ritteri? It's a bit difficult to tell from the photo but it doesn't look like that much.

Cheers
James

[AD87]

Can we get some pics of the mouth.

[tralynne]

alright..let me download the data:

150 gal w/40 gal sump.
1.025
ph 8.22
temp 79.1
0 nitrate
0 nitrite
0 phosphate
0 ammonia
4 dKh
0 copper
440 cal
1250 mag

2x hydor 3
2x hydor 4

lights are all T5 80W each x6 bulbs (480W total, tank is 60x24x25)
2x aquablue +
2x actinic+
1x pure actinic
1x midday 10K

lights are staggered to come on but start at 1130am and turn off by 1130pm

lights are about 11 inches from water surface and nem is about 13 inches below the surface. So the nem is aprox 24" from the lights. no rocks are shadowing him (for purposes of the zooxanthelle sp?)

here is a pics of his mouth...difficult to get to...if you need better ones i can keep trying. the tentacles cover the mouth pretty good when he is fully inflated.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1210.jpg

[tralynne]

here are a couple more....using my point-and-click....let me get out the big DSLR and take some shots. very difficult to get a shot with his mouth visible.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1216.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/DSCN1215.jpg

[elegance coral]

His mouth shouldn't be open like that unless he is eating. I would stop feeding it large chunks of shrimp. Get something like PE mysis. Mag's seem to do much better with smaller prey items. If he settles in and becomes healthy, he won't stay where he is. He will head to the highest point he can reach. I usually try to keep them on the peek of rocks, where they can't reach a path to higher ground.

[tralynne]

OK...this is not easy. the oral disc is inside the yellow circles. let me know if i need more pictures....

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2640.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2615.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2608.jpg

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac91/thrumpskin/IMG_2609.jpg

[tralynne]

Anyone have a pitcure of what the oral disc should normally look like on these guys?

[elegance coral]

Anyone have a pitcure of what the oral disc should normally look like on these guys?

It's hard to get a good pic of the mouth when the anemone is healthy. This pic shows what the mouth should look like, but the rest of the anemone isn't happy.
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/3967/hmagnifica4gp0.jpg

Here's another.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/574/41408killingxeniajg5.jpg

[elegance coral]

The only time you should be able to see the inside of the mouth, is when they are feeding, like this.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2483/sn850757editediz4.jpg

[elegance coral]

When they are really happy and healthy, you may not be able to see the mouth at all. Like this.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/72/sn852275editedje5.jpg

[tralynne]

his mouth looks a little like post #16...only not as much exagerated as that. his mouth maybe has half as much as that photo hanging out.

So the question is...when do i feed him next?

Also...i will post picture if/when he does deflate again.

[elegance coral]

As far as feeding, there are different schools of thought on that. Some people advise not feeding new anemones out of fear that the food could encourage bacterial infections. On the other hand, the anemone has made the trip half way around the planet, and we don't know when its last meal was. We don't know how long it's been out of the ocean, what conditions its been exposed to, or how much energy it has left. Nutrition from feeding may be the only thing that will fuel the anemones recovery. I guess it's a decision you will have to make for yourself. Me personally, I feed my new anemones small meals every day. If they will feed, I feed them.

Start keeping track of how much time passes between crashes. Usually, if the anemone is going through the cycle of inflating and crashing, the time between cycles can give us a clue as to how the anemone is progressing. If the crashes are coming more frequently, it may be a sign that something is seriously wrong, and we need to change something. If the anemone is staying inflated for longer periods of time between crashes, it may be a sign that the anemone is recovering.

[tralynne]

i agree with the philosophy of if it eats i will feed. obviously within reason. since i got him 2 weeks ago i have fed him 1 large jumbo shrimp every other night that i soaked in Kent Zoecon.

I will start logging when he deflates and the interval. i will also post a pic so that you can see exactly what he looks like when he does deflate.