Rock Flower Nem PAR?

Amoo · Aug 3, 2018

Ok guys, many of you know I have a ton of experience with a bunch of the hobby's "tougher" nems. I figured it was time to expand my horizons a little bit a picked up a rock flower nem. So you guys who have them and have the ability to check PAR levels, what PAR are you guys having success?

FWIW I have mine sitting at 309ish at the moment.

Diesel · Aug 3, 2018

I had them from 150 till 350 no difference.

Reeferdood · Aug 3, 2018

Diesel said:
I had them from 150 till 350 no difference.

Same here.

Amoo · Aug 3, 2018

Diesel said:
I had them from 150 till 350 no difference.

Are these things as simple as it seems so far? It's been set it and forget it up to this point.

Reeferdood · Aug 3, 2018

Yup, most rock nems are pretty easy to care for. Spot feed them mysis every now and then and they are happy as a clam.

Diesel · Aug 3, 2018

Once the rock flower nem found himself a good spot it will stay there forever.

Amoo · Aug 3, 2018

Reeferdood said:
Yup, most rock nems are pretty easy to care for. Spot feed them mysis every now and then and they are happy as a clam.

Thanks mate, I broadcast LRS but I'll make sure he gets a piece every now and then.

Amoo · Aug 3, 2018

@Diesel & @Reeferdood Any idea if the mini carpets are the same way? Was thinking about grabbing one of those simply for the experience.

Reeferdood · Aug 3, 2018

The only difference between them is flow IMHO, mini maxis like a little more flow.. Lighting requirements are about the same as the Rock Flower...

Amoo · Aug 3, 2018

Reeferdood said:
The only difference between them is flow IMHO, mini maxis like a little more flow.. Lighting requirements are about the same as the Rock Flower...

Welp darn, oh well I'll make it work. I put the Rock flower in my tank with my Mag which is super high flow and was planning the mini for the tank with the BTA which is lower flow. I can always redirect a powerhead. Thanks again, man.

Ron Reefman · Aug 4, 2018

In the Florida Keys RFA's can be found in super shallow 1' deep and as deep as 40' or more. The more ordinary their color the shallower the water then tend to come from and the better they seem to be at doing photosynthesis for themselves. The much more fancy color RFA's tend to come from deeper water (30' or more) and don't seem to do photosynthesis as well. Which means they will tend to do a lot better if you feed them occasionally. In fact, we just got back from a snorkel trip and while there saw an all white, and it was very bright white, not off white RFA in about 2' of water. We took photos of the first adult we found (photo to be posted in my snorkeling and collecting thread -link in my signature). Then we found a young one that's about the size of a pencil eraser attached to a very small chunk of dead stoney coral. So I collected it. Photos of it will get posted in my RFA discussion thread. Here is a link:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ron-reefmans-rock-flower-experience.409436/

I started with just a few RFA's. I lost some because I didn't feed them. I had some more plain looking ones that I collected while snorkeling in shallow water and they grew to full size without ever needing to be spot fed. After I started feeding the colorful ones, they grew and have spawned twice in my tank. I had a handful at first, then about 12 babies a year ago and about 15 mor babies just recently. The year old RFA's are now about the size of a quarter to a 50 cent piece. The new babies are so tiny they are hard to find.

Amoo · Aug 4, 2018

@Ron Reefman I'll move discussion over to your thread about this topic, but I grew up in South Fl and frequented the Florida keys often. Wife and I even went there on honeymoon even though we lived in MS at the time. I always fished and snorkeled the flats and never saw these there. Man did I miss out.

I also can't believe you got them to reproduce sexually in your tank, now you have my attention

Katrina71 · Aug 4, 2018

Can y'all dumb this down for me? Seriously. My son is getting a rock nem tomorrow. His tank is a Coralife 32 biocube. Stock LED lights. Should we try him on the sandbed or up higher? Neither of us have had a nem before. He's serious about keeping his tank happy and healthy. Thanks!

Amoo · Aug 4, 2018

Katrina71 said:
Can y'all dumb this down for me? Seriously. My son is getting a rock nem tomorrow. His tank is a Coralife 32 biocube. Stock LED lights. Should we try him on the sandbed or up higher? Neither of us have had a nem before. He's serious about keeping his tank happy and healthy. Thanks!

According to the coralife website That tank has a peak par of 81. THey don't give any indication as to what LEDs they actually use so the spectrum is probably not the best. I would try as high in the tank as possible based on limited PAR and see how it does. If you have trouble the light just may be a poor spectrum.