Advice on possibly getting a Heteractis Magnifica

[HarryC]

I've recently decided I may want to make my 2ft cube an anemone only tank. Tank has been up and running since January 2020, was a transfer from my first setup that had been running since 2018. We had to leave our house for 2 weeks due to a wildfire in the Fall of 2020. During the 14+ days we were gone and the tank was without power, I lost all of my corals, most fish, and anemones. I have kept the tank running since my clownfish and mandarin survived, but Aiptasia took over the rockwork and proliferated after the crash.

Recently I added Berghia Nudibrach, and they are slowly doing their job. In a few weeks I will have a 2+ year old system with a completely blank slate besides my clowns & mandarin. I would love to add a single magnifica and have that be the only thing in the tank. The only hang up I'm having is I don't want to get one and have it outgrow the space too fast.

I'm hoping Magnifica owners will chime in with their experiences with growth rates. I will look for a small specimen to start, and I do have plans to eventually upgrade to a larger tank. Do you guys think I could get 1-2 years in a 2ft cube with a Magnifica? The rockwork is perfectly designed for one with a high shelf dead center of the tank. I appreciate your experiences, I've dug through all the threads I can on here with Magnificas, but still not sure how fast they actually grow. Thanks for your time!

 

[Arego]

A 2ft cube is a ton of room to get started. Health and overall feeding will determine growth rate but the box you're starting with will be fine.

 

[Variant]

Feedings will control rate of growth. If you feed larger pieces of frozen food to your clowns, they may end up feeding the anemone so be careful. For example, I feed larger frozen krill and my clowns would snatch it away from my wrasse and feed it to the anemone which is pretty annoying since I'm trying to regulate the anemone's growth rate.

 

[OrionN]

I have keep Magnifica in cubic tank similar to that for long term without problem. The important think about this is you will not have much room for error. Magnifica needs high flow and high light. We will not be able to the amount of light they get in the wild (unless you got some crazy light set up) so they will always move to higher light level if they can IME. I use 175 W MH for my tank, then later a full blast Radion Pro.
I got a smaller Magnifica to start with and did not feed him much so he hardly grow at all in that tank. I had two PH that provide a lot of flow in the tank. The rock arrangement is such that the anemone cannot tough the side of the tank. Cannot get to the PH. To get to higher light he have to move down the rock structure. Basically he is at the highest light and current area of the tank. anywhere he can move to will have lower light and lower current. He moved around on that rock but never move anywhere for many years. I had a thread on him, and that tank over at ReefCentral many years ago, around 2010 or so. He was a particularly beautiful orange base Magnifica anemone with bright yellow tentacles.
If you plan it right, you can keep Magnifica as a centerpiece, species tank in a 2 foot cube tank.

About nutrients in anemone tank: Anemone is a net nitrate/nutrient remover rather than producer, unless you feed them. No feeding, or minimal feeding, they don't produce any waste.

 

[OrionN]

Here is the thread on that tank, but ReefCental.com up-grade/down-grade their server several time and lost all the pictures. My tank was considerably smaller than a 24 inch cube. It was only about 20X22X18 or so.

- Reef Central Online Community

 

[HarryC]

Thank you guys for chiming in. The tank has lots of flow, 2 return pumps @ full blast both over 1000gph with random flow generator nozzles, as well as 2 powerheads on gyre settings. I have a t5/led hybrid, and am prepared to add some spotlight LED's just for the magnifica if I feel like it needs more light. I'll also be implementing @OrionN 's 7 day Cipro/Hospital tank protocol before adding to the display.

I'm going to start searching for one! Hopefully my LFS can get the Red base Kenyan version! OrionN excited to see an update on your beauty, seeing pictures of yours was my inspiration to try one.

 

[HarryC]

This is from a recent livestock list from Kenya, if my LFS can't get one I guess I'll just have to order a full box

 

[Variant]

To make this tank bullet proof, I would encourage you to think about going with closed loop system instead of powerheads to remove 1 possible issue with the anemone getting caught in a powerhead. The closed loop can have the intake hole (w/strainer) towards the top of the tank (instead of the bottom of the tank) and the output right next to it.

You could have two closed loop set ups using a DC pump like an Ecotech Vectra. Then program the two to have a back and forth flow that alternates.

 

[OrionN]

Man, that is inexpensive, but adding the mortality and shipping it will go way up.

 

[Magnifica P.I.]

The only thing I might add from my experience is that mags will wander A LOT for the first week. I currently have two in my tank and they both are perched on the highest point directly under the light. I dont think healthy mags move away from the light, however, mine went in circles at the top of their rock for a week. After they decided there was no other possible option, they stayed put and have been in roughly the same spot ever since.

With that in mind, be really careful with your powerheads in a 2' cube, make sure you have nem guards on them. You can find a lot of 3D printed nem guards on ebay these days for cheap. Dont be surprised if your mag ends up on the wall right underneath your inflow.

Good luck! If its not obvious from my name, mags are my favorite. I am looking two add two more as soon as I can find unquie colors (outside of purple, tan and pink).

 

[HarryC]

Yeah there is a flat rate $400 charge to get it to LA/ pay for cites, then would be about $125 more to get it to my airport. I'd also have to pick 19 or so other items off the list to fill the box minimum of 20. Will be a last resort option if I can't find one from a store/hobbyist.

 

[HarryC]

Yeah there is a flat rate $400 charge to get it to LA/ pay for cites, then would be about $125 more to get it to my airport. I'd also have to pick 19 or so other items off the list to fill the box minimum of 20. Will be a last resort option if I can't find one from a store/hobbyist.

 

[OrionN]

To make this tank bullet proof, I would encourage you to think about going with closed loop system instead of powerheads to remove 1 possible issue with the anemone getting caught in a powerhead. The closed loop can have the intake hole (w/strainer) towards the top of the tank (instead of the bottom of the tank) and the output right next to it.

You could have two closed loop set ups using a DC pump like an Ecotech Vectra. Then program the two to have a back and forth flow that alternates.

Disadvantage of a close loop is a lot more power, heat up the tank, a lot of space and plumbing. Close loop has no advantage over PH. A close loop have to have intake somewhere. The intake of a close loop even have a lot more flow. You will have to put in barrier and screen around the intake.
Way back in 2000, I used close loop for flow in my tank, because there are no good option for high power in tank flow like we do today. There were no propeller type PH at the time.