Rock Flower anemone vs. Coral

[Nikita1981]

I hear mixed stories about rock flower nem comparability. On on side you hear they can't touch coral, neither lps, sps or anything else or this will mean certain death for the coral.

Other stories say they have a very weak sting and corals don't seem to be bothered by their touch.

Who has experience with this and wants to enlighten me?

Thank you!

 

[Jimbo662]

I've got 9 of them and have never had any issues with them stinging other corals.

 

[Greybeard]

I'd not allow any anemone to come into contact with corals... no telling how either are going to react. I know they do well in groups, in contact with one another without issue. One good thing, Rock Flowers are generally sedentary... they don't move around nearly as much as some other anemone types. Much less likely to nuke a tank is one dies, either.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I've also read a lot of conflicting info on these nems. Is it true that they can do well in lower light or even shaded areas ?

 

[Jimbo662]

I've also read a lot of conflicting info on these nems. Is it true that they can do well in lower light or even shaded areas ?

The tank mine are in right now are is about 75 par.

 

[Nikita1981]

I have a group allready. Point is I'm running out of space and if I want more I'm going to have to place them closer to other corals than at the moment. So the chance of them touching other corals will get bigger and I'm trying to figure out if this will be a problem.

 

[tankstudy]

In this photo, you'll notice that I have a lot of various corals in there.

Some palys and zoas seem to tolerate the rock nems while others don't like coming in contact at all. Some of my mushrooms, like my jawbreakers don't mind but my red/fuscia colored mushrooms will go to war with the rock nems. Each individual coral species reacts differently from what I see.

It's probably best to avoid having them come in contact with anything other than themselves.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Nice collection there.

Just noticed one of mine was stung fairly badly overnight by a lobo. It looks horrible. All mushy and was actually one of the nicer ultra ones. I've heard they're "bullet proof"... we'll see if it recovers.

 

[jabberwock]

Nice collection there.

Just noticed one of mine was stung fairly badly overnight by a lobo. It looks horrible. All mushy and was actually one of the nicer ultra ones. I've heard they're "bullet proof"... we'll see if it recovers.

The only time I hear the term "bullet proof" is from my LFS...

 

[CODE3EMT]

Have you guys had any issues with them stinging fish? See my thread "A Brush with death" under disease forum. I lost 2 fish in a week a few days after I added a RFA. Both fish died with mouths and gills wide open, and in perfect condition and coloration. All the other fish in my tank are fine.

 

[Ron Reefman]

IMHO I don't think your fish deaths are due to the RFA. I think if a RFA were to catch a fish, the odds are that unless you looked shortly after the capture, you wouldn't see the fish at all as it would disappear down the anemone. I've lost a few small fish including a couple of small clowns in the last few years since I started keeping RFA's and a couple have reached full adult size. I never found them in the tank and they didn't go tile surfing. I don't like to think my RFA's ate them, especially given how well I feed them, but that's a very real possibility. There is very little else in the tank that could make even a small fish disappear.

 

[Saltyanimals]

IMHO I don't think your fish deaths are due to the RFA. I think if a RFA were to catch a fish, the odds are that unless you looked shortly after the capture, you wouldn't see the fish at all as it would disappear down the anemone. I've lost a few small fish including a couple of small clowns in the last few years since I started keeping RFA's and a couple have reached full adult size. I never found them in the tank and they didn't go tile surfing. I don't like to think my RFA's ate them, especially given how well I feed them, but that's a very real possibility. There is very little else in the tank that could make even a small fish disappear.

That's an interesting thought. I've "heard" some RFA may be a risk to fish, but I just couldn't imagine this happening due to the size of the nem and mouth and speedy fish. However maybe my RFAs aren't the 2-3inchers I've read about.

 

[RebeccaB9]

Well my huge RFA decided he didn’t like where he was so he went all the way around the rock he was on and right on top of our gorgeous chalice! My husband moved the chali7ASAp but it appears to have taken a substantial hit from our RFA! I call our RFA “BigFoot” and now I should call him praying mantis!!

 

[AquaHobby31]

My hammer seems to like it...for now

 

[SauceyReef]

I have 3 RFAs in my mixed reef. I’ve seen some plopping on coral colonies not bothering either. But also hear bad stories. Definitely dependent on the coral. They have not been in my tank long and don’t move so no bad experiences yet

 

[WizzWolfe]

I'd not allow any anemone to come into contact with corals... no telling how either are going to react. I know they do well in groups, in contact with one another without issue. One good thing, Rock Flowers are generally sedentary... they don't move around nearly as much as some other anemone types. Much less likely to nuke a tank is one dies, either.

I don't know how anyone could control where an anenome goes. It would be VERY cruel to glue it down. Someone sent a discordia mushroom glued to a rock. I was upset. These like to move. One of my RFAs settled into a side crack of my Montipora the other day I was about to glue the Monti to a rock and I barely in time saw the green edge it was shrunken in at the time I handled it) and I can't believe the Monti is letting it live there, happily together. The odd couple . It has been days now and it looks cool actually. There is some Aphasia now also, I don't want to kill the coral or anenome. Will F Aptasia hurt them if I apply to the Monti? It will also touch the RFA. Dang pests!!