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GSchiemer

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DewrGleision":4xvsjvuv said:
Wow, that doesnt look like any condy Ive ever seen; I mean, Ive seen them a little bronwnish like that, but never that dark...

I was wondering when the snickering from the sidelines was gonna start...

This doesn't surprise me. Most aquarists have only see the bleached specimens in pet stoes. You've apparently never seen a healthy specimen; only those that had been smashed by rocks or maintained out of water. :)
 

hdtran

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I had a Condy which started out white; my wife loved it. After a couple of weeks, it turned brown (though not quite that brown), which I consider the more natural state (although I've never seen them in the wild). It stayed brown (and put) for several months.

The poor thing decided one day to go wandering (either the flow wasn't right, or it didn't like the taste of our shrimp), and committed suicide-by-powerhead... (Even with the powerhead intake screened, it put its tentacles into the screen and shredded them all).
 

HClH2OFish

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Hmmm...very interesting....I'm starting to think now about setting up something like this once I get my larger tank (100+gal reef)
I've seen some great sumps w/built in refugiums and think it would be interesting to have one with Upside down jellies and host shrimp if I can figure a way to have low water flow. I wonder if the condy and cassiopei xamancha get along well...
 
A

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only those that had been smashed by rocks or maintained out of water.

Aww, c'mon! Im ADD; stop egging me on!

Now, when you say they take bright light, how much brighter, if at all so, than pacific anemones? I mean, I know several people keeping BTAs, sebaes, and even ritteris (magnificas) under just straight up PCs... Averaging about 4.5 Watts per gallon (I know, bad reference, but theyre all 10000K bulbs plus actinics anyhow), you think such would be enough?

Another quick one; just how far south the atlantic coast (American side) do condys occur? I remember snorkeling off the coast of Brazil, from the town of Islia Francisca, and seeing a lot off stuff I really didnt know what to think of... Of course, this was years ago, and I hadnt even pondered any form of aquarium or aquatic life before, so my interest was casual...
Just wondering, since I might be doing some marine biology study there, since my cousin is a big name in the scientific comunity with his work on mamals and stuff (helps me with the universities...)...
 

GSchiemer

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HClH2OFish":1gv2mfw4 said:
Hmmm...very interesting....I'm starting to think now about setting up something like this once I get my larger tank (100+gal reef)
I've seen some great sumps w/built in refugiums and think it would be interesting to have one with Upside down jellies and host shrimp if I can figure a way to have low water flow. I wonder if the condy and cassiopei xamancha get along well...

I wouldn't mix the two. The jellies need an open sand bed and the anemone needs a rock structure. The jellies will also move around a lot and can potentialy get stung by the anemone.

Greg
 

GSchiemer

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hdtran":2wapff8j said:
I had a Condy which started out white; my wife loved it. After a couple of weeks, it turned brown (though not quite that brown), which I consider the more natural state (although I've never seen them in the wild). It stayed brown (and put) for several months.

The poor thing decided one day to go wandering (either the flow wasn't right, or it didn't like the taste of our shrimp), and committed suicide-by-powerhead... (Even with the powerhead intake screened, it put its tentacles into the screen and shredded them all).

Anemones often begin to wander when something is not to their liking. Inadequate light is the primary reason, but it could be lack of food or water flow. The condy anemones in the stores look "white" because they've lost all their zooxanthellae. They turn "brown" as they regain it but will stay a darker shade of brown if the lighting is just marginal. You need very bright halide-based lighting to really see the beauty of these anemones. I've seen solid purple specimens while diving that were nicer than any Pacific host anemone I've ever seen. The pink-tip variety is also nice, as is the subtle purple tip one.

Greg
 

GSchiemer

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DewrGleision":mxf03dng said:
only those that had been smashed by rocks or maintained out of water.

Aww, c'mon! Im ADD; stop egging me on!

Now, when you say they take bright light, how much brighter, if at all so, than pacific anemones? I mean, I know several people keeping BTAs, sebaes, and even ritteris (magnificas) under just straight up PCs... Averaging about 4.5 Watts per gallon (I know, bad reference, but theyre all 10000K bulbs plus actinics anyhow), you think such would be enough?

Another quick one; just how far south the atlantic coast (American side) do condys occur? I remember snorkeling off the coast of Brazil, from the town of Islia Francisca, and seeing a lot off stuff I really didnt know what to think of... Of course, this was years ago, and I hadnt even pondered any form of aquarium or aquatic life before, so my interest was casual...
Just wondering, since I might be doing some marine biology study there, since my cousin is a big name in the scientific comunity with his work on mamals and stuff (helps me with the universities...)...

You can maintain condy anemones under PC-type lighting, but they look their best under halide-based lighting. It brings out the subtle beauty of these creatures. They do require more light than some of the Pacific-host anemones, with the exception of Heteractis magnifica, but will survive under marginal lighting, especially if they're well-fed.

Condy anemones occur on reef flats and lagoonal areas from South Florida, the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean. I don't know if their range reaches as far south as Brazil. They can be found in water as shallow as 10 feet all the way down to 80 feet. They're most plentiful around 30 feet in areas with heavy gorgonian cover. This is also where you'll find some of the brightly colored specimens. I have to hunt down some of my UW pictures and show you the solid purple specimens. They're amazing.

Greg
 
A

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I kept one under a 20w NO light in a FOLR tank for a couple years, it doubled it's size at least, got too big for a 29g tank.

Finally gave it away, I fed mine cocktail shrimp, every once and a while it would catch a feeder molly

WHen it was time to remove, I tried everything to get it off the rock, I finally resorted to ice cold fresh water, it shriveled up and I used q-tips to peel it off the rock

Bagged it up, and gave it to a freind, he kept it for a couple years untill his tank crashed from lack of care.

I woudl say they are hardy, very hardy or I was just really lucky, the guy I gave it to kills everything, and the condy survived his care too.
 
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Anonymous

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See? That what we meant by hardy as hell; they may be alive, but theyre certainly not thriving...

I actually liked the white and purple contrast! Ive seen them browner like that, just never that intense. The one time Ive seen them close up in a tank they were under just PCs, and looked a little pissed...

In hindsight, probably the most believable story of all those I presented was the one about smooshing them with rocks; Ive actually seen it!
I was watching a friend's tank when a medium-sized hermit crab managed to dsilodge a rock that was perched precariously above a normal BTA as an overhang. The rock fell right on top of the BTA. It looked kinda gross too... A couple weeks later, the thing almost looked healthier than before! Of course, I think it had something to do with the rock being fairly concave on the side that fell on the anemone.
But really, is it that hard to believe that a "squishy bag of snot"--as my old bio teacher would have put it--couldnt survive a rock falling on it?
 

HClH2OFish

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DewrGleision":1zvft5zs said:
In hindsight, probably the most believable story of all those I presented was the one about smooshing them with rocks; Ive actually seen it!
<snip>
But really, is it that hard to believe that a "squishy bag of snot"--as my old bio teacher would have put it--couldnt survive a rock falling on it?

Hmmm...well I think the problem lies in considering *one* incident like this to be indicative of the entire species....

Just my $.02, I'm no expert!!
 
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Right, well thats kinda what I meant; my personal experience combined with the wild stories Ive heard about an anemone's amorphousness compelled me to at least mention it....
 

HClH2OFish

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:) They seem to *look* pretty hardy anyway....
A LFS I don't frequent anymore would get their shipments in and set the anemones on top of the styrofoam their containers came in...not in bags, right on the styrofoam.
First time I walked by I thought it was some kind of slime they were cleaning out of pipes or something...they don't look like much when out of the water.
 

Expos Forever

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To those who feel this thread was useless: I've learned a lot about condies in this thread. I (like many others apparently) thought they were inappropriate at best for our reef tanks.

I would also like to add that that what Greg lacks in delivery, :wink: is clearly made up in experience and knowledge. (Swallows hard) This community is much stronger with his presence. I'm also quite sure that his intention was not to belittle but to inform. Greg may very well be including me in his "epic flame wars" but I'll stick to my story that his admiration for marine creatures and his concern about their proper care is very real. I'll take Greg the blow-hard over 10 mis-informed hobbiests anyday. :wink: . Not picking on you Dewr, just speaking generally.

PS There is a very real chance I will severely regret this post tomorrow. :wink:
 
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Start regretting.

Just kidding. :wink: Like Flexo from Futurama...
 

Expos Forever

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Dewr, I actually meant regretting saying nice'ish things about Greg. :lol:

BTW, to quote someone smilies and all, hit the quote button/symbol in the top right corner of the person's post. For well over a year I was typing "XXXX wrote" before figuring that out.
 

GSchiemer

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Save_the_Expos":2jx0sf3w said:
To those who feel this thread was useless: I've learned a lot about condies in this thread. I (like many others apparently) thought they were inappropriate at best for our reef tanks.

I would also like to add that that what Greg lacks in delivery, :wink: is clearly made up in experience and knowledge. (Swallows hard) This community is much stronger with his presence. I'm also quite sure that his intention was not to belittle but to inform. Greg may very well be including me in his "epic flame wars" but I'll stick to my story that his admiration for marine creatures and his concern about their proper care is very real. I'll take Greg the blow-hard over 10 mis-informed hobbiests anyday. :wink: . Not picking on you Dewr, just speaking generally.

PS There is a very real chance I will severely regret this post tomorrow. :wink:

Thanks for the nice words; I think. :)
I admire your concern for the welfare of marine creatures as well.

BTW, a pair of Pederson shrimp living among the tentacles of a purple Condy anemone is one of the most beautiful and fascinating marine scenes imaginable. I've often considered a setup just to recreate this scene.

Greg
 

HClH2OFish

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I've been reading that there is a species of shrimp (anemone shrimp I think) that will also host with my Cassiopeia. I'm trying to find more info on these and if I *ever* get may dang cable for my digicam, I'll post some pics of the jellies and their polyp and medusae stage. Rather interesting critters and they're spreading in my tanks like mad!
 

WannaBeReefer

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GSchiemer":1xfbwbje said:
BTW, a pair of Pederson shrimp living among the tentacles of a purple Condy anemone is one of the most beautiful and fascinating marine scenes imaginable. I've often considered a setup just to recreate this scene.

Greg

OK, you've convinced me, I'm getting my condy. :) Of course now I have to learn about pederson shrimp... :roll: Always such a WannaBe. :D
 

krullulon

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"The advice was great. Text book great. I agree; couldnt have been more informative! I have no idea who Greg is, and I really cant stand reading long articles I cant hold in my hands (my eyes get way tired reading online). I didnt dispute that or his reputation at all seamaiden."

I have to chime-in here as a newbie and someone who is concerned for the health and well-being of the creatures I've chosen to take under my care.

This is a frightening conversation, and specifically the above is a frightening sentiment. This "hobby" is a scientific pursuit with very little margin for error that doesn't come with life-and-death consequences for the life forms in our charge. It is absolutely, 100% vital that people new to the hobby learn from the experts and read everything available. Dewr, your opening comments, while prefaced with "this is what i've heard" disclaimer, were simply incorrect -- and because they were incorrect, they potentially gave new aquarists a false sense of security with this animal that is inappropriate. It's Greg's responsibility to correct this misinformation *in order to save the lives of the creatures that you perhaps put in jeopardy*, and to send a clear message that by passing along rumor and heresay you are displaying disregard for the creatures we're all trying to care for.

I've been reading and posting on this forum for a couple of weeks now, and I've already been able to identify people who tend to give solid, balanced information vs. people who 1) just want to get their post numbers up and 2) tend to spout without a sufficient base of knowledge. Myself and the vast majority of new aquarists want to do the right thing, which means having access to the best quality information we can find. If you genuinely care about the animals we're providing for, you'll only post information that you know to be true based on either extensive research and/or personal hands-on experience, and you'll accept the drubbing that Greg gave you gracefully and admit that you made an error in judgment. We all make them and it's fine.

Don't be a willing contributor to the sea of misinformation out there -- lots and lots of tiny lives are depending on you to do the right thing.
 

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