RFA breeding help

[PR_nano]

Following along added 3 RFA this week.

Does anyone have a tuxedo urchin with their RFA? I have a 20g and would like to add one.

 

[Peace River]

Following along added 3 RFA this week.

Does anyone have a tuxedo urchin with their RFA? I have a 20g and would like to add one.

Congrats on the new RFAs! What size are they?

I have not kept urchins with RFAs - hopefully someone will chime in with an answer to you question soon.

 

[ahiggins]

Following along added 3 RFA this week.

Does anyone have a tuxedo urchin with their RFA? I have a 20g and would like to add one.

I’ve always wanted an urchin lol a little purple one but too scared with these guys in the tank

 

[PR_nano]

What size are they?

The larger is about 2.5. MP10 in the background for reference.

 

[saltyhog]

I have kept tuxedo urchins with RFA's in my tank, now have a purple and white pincushion urchin without any issue.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Today I tore down my 16g holding tank, cleaned everything and put it all back together along with black sand, new saltwater and a top off pump and heater. I need the heater about 3 weeks of the year spread out over January thru March. BTW, I've read some about black sand having some metals in them that are attracted to magnets. So I washed the sand (it was SUPER clean) and I waved a very powerful magnet through it while washing it and nothing stuck to the magnet. So RFAs will start moving over to the new RFA breeding tank tomorrow. YEAH! ;Woot;Woot;Woot;Woot

 

[Schnizzle]

I have a pencil urchin in my tank. While it is a bull dozer, it has never eaten anything besides algae. I watch it like a hawk since finding some of the horror stories.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Here are some early photos of my new RFA breeding tank. It's just 16g with a HOB filter. BTW, I wrap the filter sponge in filter sock material and it really collects a lot more... but it also needs cleaning more as well. I have a small heater, a small Tunze in-tank skimmer, a couple of wave makers, an ATO that runs out of the same reservoir as my 90g DT and of course my favorite Reef Breeders Photon V2 led fixture.

 

[ahiggins]

Love the colors!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Love the colors!

I can't wait until they all get acclimated to the new tank and a few of the small ones get big enough that they all are up and covering the edges of the end caps!

Since I moved these guys from my 90g DT that has white sand, I ended up shaking and tapping the end caps against the glass to get as much white sand as possible out of the end caps. So many of the RFAs are still withdrawn into the end caps. Over the next few weeks I'll slowly push a bit of sand into the end caps so they 'stretch' up and show off a bit better.

 

[ahiggins]

I’ve never used the caps but I’ve heard good things lol
I decided to fill my dream tank (once the build happens) with RFAs and a few leathers lol

 

[Ron Reefman]

Here is a youtube video of my RFA spawning with all the flow turned off it the tank. Notice the oral disk looks white or milky, that is spawn left behind from the previous release a minute or two earlier!

I hope to get a good video of babies being released sometime soon!

https://youtu.be/QpqlTzsjTwM

or

 

[Will_WhatIsThis]

In total I have around 25 rock flowers. I had them in a 20 long where I saw them spawn once, and I got about 10 babies from it. Recently I set up a 2 gallon bowl and put all of them in there. Since then I’ve seen them spawn twice and I now have well over 100 babies from it. I believe they spawned from being stressed due to me forgetting to buy a
heater for the first week, and it’s winter so it got really cold. I have some cool videos of them spawning which I’ll link. I think the bowl worked out so well because the only filtration is the live rock and marine pure inside. So no eggs or sperm get filtered out. It all just sits and gets all nice and happy together.

Eggs floating around

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

female anemone releasing eggs

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

male anemone releasing sperm. notice how cloudy the water is. Usually the water is crystal

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

Actinic video of the anemones

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

I’m not sure how to link videos or if the links will work but if you copy and paste the link into your browser it should bring you to YouTube

 

[jkcoral]

In total I have around 25 rock flowers. I had them in a 20 long where I saw them spawn once, and I got about 10 babies from it. Recently I set up a 2 gallon bowl and put all of them in there. Since then I’ve seen them spawn twice and I now have well over 100 babies from it. I believe they spawned from being stressed due to me forgetting to buy a
heater for the first week, and it’s winter so it got really cold. I have some cool videos of them spawning which I’ll link. I think the bowl worked out so well because the only filtration is the live rock and marine pure inside. So no eggs or sperm get filtered out. It all just sits and gets all nice and happy together.

Eggs floating around

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

female anemone releasing eggs

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

male anemone releasing sperm. notice how cloudy the water is. Usually the water is crystal

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

Actinic video of the anemones

February 17, 2022

youtube.com

I’m not sure how to link videos or if the links will work but if you copy and paste the link into your browser it should bring you to YouTube

Those were awesome videos! I really like the bowl idea. Did you notice this occurring at a particular time of day? Also, it seems that there may be a connection between feeding and triggering spawning. What are you feeding your flowers, and how often?

Other people that have had successful spawning have also mentioned environmental changes like a water change triggering reproduction. And others have mentioned certain physical characteristics might matter (e.g. the size of the RFA) for which of their flowers seem to spawn. The ones in the video that were releasing seemed to be pretty good sized.

Let me know if some of those babies are up for adoption, I’d love to give some a home in my RFA dominated 30g

 

[Will_WhatIsThis]

Those were awesome videos! I really like the bowl idea. Did you notice this occurring at a particular time of day? Also, it seems that there may be a connection between feeding and triggering spawning. What are you feeding your flowers, and how often?

Other people that have had successful spawning have also mentioned environmental changes like a water change triggering reproduction. And others have mentioned certain physical characteristics might matter (e.g. the size of the RFA) for which of their flowers seem to spawn. The ones in the video that were releasing seemed to be pretty good sized.

Let me know if some of those babies are up for adoption, I’d love to give some a home in my RFA dominated 30g

Glad you like the bowl! So first I’ve noticed that mine have only spawned at night, usually late at night. I don’t feed mine very often because I figure it’s very easy to foul the water with me only having 2 gallons. I’ll usually feed every other week and I fill their mouth with lps pellets. Last week I decided to feed before my water change and right after my water change one of them spawned so I do believe feeding has something to do with it. I have also noticed parameter fluctuations causing spawning. I do around 95% water change weekly for nutrient control and the water I use is generally pretty cold. Maybe the stress from the cold water along with feeding before hand triggered spawning? Also when I first set up the bowl I forgot to buy a heater so at night I’d steal the heater from my 20g frag tank next to it but during the day it had no heater. Took about a week to get exact heater, and temp would fluctuate from 80 at night to maybe high 60s during the day. That being said I saw the nems spawn 2 times around that time. That’s where all the videos were from. As for size of the nems, I have also noticed that only my big ones spawn they’re all 3+ inches. The really pretty one that’s releasing the sperm I got from someone breaking down his tank. It’s at least 4 years old. And yes lol I’ll let you know when some are ready to adopt. Some are starting to get some size to them, maybe 4-5mm, so I’m hoping most of them will make it. If I have the same success I’ve been having this bowl will be a rock flower aquaculture machine.