Rockflower Breeding/Spawning Questions

Evan West · Feb 13, 2019

So, I recently acquired 14 nice high end rockflower anemones. I want to potentially do a little breeding project with them down the road when they mature and im trying to do research on it. I am finding very little information tho. I know I have read threads here in the past talking about RFA breeding projects but I cant seem to find them. Any information is welcome. All I have found is that they tend to spawn on each solstice and that you should feed them a bit extra the month leading up to the solstice. Then watch them on the days on and around the solstice and turn most flow off in the tank for a bit when they spawn so the gammets dont get sucked down the filter. For your enjoyment here are some crappy phone pics of the Rockflowers and some bonus pics of my BTAs.

P.S. yes yes I know ew bubble algae issue

NY_Caveman · Feb 14, 2019

Check out @Ron Reefman ’s thread here

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ron-reefmans-rock-flower-experience.409436/

Zakery Murray · Feb 14, 2019

Nice collection you got there, Ultra rock anemones are one of my favorite things to have in my tanks. Best of luck trying to "breed" I couldnt do it when I was trying to do so, then a few monthes later they just decided to spawn there own I felt like a complete idiot.

Ron Reefman · Feb 14, 2019

Evan West said:
So, I recently acquired 14 nice high end rockflower anemones. I want to potentially do a little breeding project with them down the road when they mature and im trying to do research on it. I am finding very little information tho. I know I have read threads here in the past talking about RFA breeding projects but I cant seem to find them. Any information is welcome. All I have found is that they tend to spawn on each solstice and that you should feed them a bit extra the month leading up to the solstice. Then watch them on the days on and around the solstice and turn most flow off in the tank for a bit when they spawn so the gammets dont get sucked down the filter.

Hi Evan. I'm not an expert with RFAs, but I do have some useful experience. I've been keeping RFAs for 4 years now. And mine have spawned and reproduced young 3 times. There is quite a bit of info in the thread that NY Caveman linked you to, and it's also linked in my signature below. And before I get started here, do you mind sharing where you got yours? I got mine from VIP Reefs in Miami and Cultivated Reef in Maine. I do have a couple that I collected wild while snorkeling in the Florida Keys, but they're from shallow water and much less colorful. The colorful ones come from 40 to 60 feet deep and I don't scuba dive.

First, I don't agree with the idea that RFAs spawn on or near a solstice. Maybe in the wild, but not in my reef tanks. The last time I got babies was around the winter solstice, but before that, the previous time was 9 months earlier, which would have been the spring equinox. And the time before that was a full year, again, in the spring.

As for feeding, I do feed mine well, but not just before breeding because there is no way to tell when that is going to happen in captivity. I feed mine well all the time. Once every week or two I shutdown all my pumps and feed the tank with a mix of food from a turkey baster. I make it a point to spray some food directly no the RFAs. I don't turn the pumps back on until they have opened back up which typically only takes 10 minutes or less.

If you happen to catch a spawning event, turning off the return pump is probably a good idea. I'm less sure about wave makers, unless you want all the babies to be in close proximity to the mother. Somebody told me that they saw a spawn and collected what they could with a turkey baster and then delivered it to the female. That may be a good idea as well, but you have to know which ones are females and since I've never seen the spawning or the birthing event happen, I don't know which is which in my tank. Others have told me the spawning and the birth are about 10 to 14 days apart. I've ended up with between a dozen to 20 survivors days after the birthing. I'm not sure if some fish, particularly any wrasses, may go after the young while they are free floating in the water column before they land and take hold.

I have a few on my first round of babies and at almost 2 years they are 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. I assume the parents are among the 5 full size RFAs that are 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

Evan West · Feb 14, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Hi Evan. I'm not an expert with RFAs, but I do have some useful experience. I've been keeping RFAs for 4 years now. And mine have spawned and reproduced young 3 times. There is quite a bit of info in the thread that NY Caveman linked you to, and it's also linked in my signature below. And before I get started here, do you mind sharing where you got yours? I got mine from VIP Reefs in Miami and Cultivated Reef in Maine. I do have a couple that I collected wild while snorkeling in the Florida Keys, but they're from shallow water and much less colorful. The colorful ones come from 40 to 60 feet deep and I don't scuba dive.

First, I don't agree with the idea that RFAs spawn on or near a solstice. Maybe in the wild, but not in my reef tanks. The last time I got babies was around the winter solstice, but before that, the previous time was 9 months earlier, which would have been the spring equinox. And the time before that was a full year, again, in the spring.

As for feeding, I do feed mine well, but not just before breeding because there is no way to tell when that is going to happen in captivity. I feed mine well all the time. Once every week or two I shutdown all my pumps and feed the tank with a mix of food from a turkey baster. I make it a point to spray some food directly no the RFAs. I don't turn the pumps back on until they have opened back up which typically only takes 10 minutes or less.

If you happen to catch a spawning event, turning off the return pump is probably a good idea. I'm less sure about wave makers, unless you want all the babies to be in close proximity to the mother. Somebody told me that they saw a spawn and collected what they could with a turkey baster and then delivered it to the female. That may be a good idea as well, but you have to know which ones are females and since I've never seen the spawning or the birthing event happen, I don't know which is which in my tank. Others have told me the spawning and the birth are about 10 to 14 days apart. I've ended up with between a dozen to 20 survivors days after the birthing. I'm not sure if some fish, particularly any wrasses, may go after the young while they are free floating in the water column before they land and take hold.

I have a few on my first round of babies and at almost 2 years they are 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. I assume the parents are among the 5 full size RFAs that are 4 to 5 inches in diameter.

These guys are some of my favorites as well..... I got 4 of mine from collecting them at local coral shoes and then got the other 10 of mine from a guy named Anthony Rubio at Rubio's Corals on face book. He has some amazing deals on these guys. I got 10 of mine for $235 overnight shipped from him, he is in Florida. I will attempt to get better pictures today with less blues as the current pictures do them no justice. What I'm curious about is if there is a way to "trigger" a spawning. So around the time they should be ready to spawn if you can trigger it then you can be more ready for it and potentially get higheryields. .

Ron Reefman · Feb 14, 2019

Evan West said:
What I'm curious about is if there is a way to "trigger" a spawning. So around the time they should be ready to spawn if you can trigger it then you can be more ready for it and potentially get higher yields. .

As far as I know, there is no easy way to tell male from female, or when a spawn or birth is going to happen more than a very short time before it actually does happen. It seems the nem will stretch upward just before a spawn. And I've heard that it tends to happen during dusk, sunset or just after, but I don't know that for a fact. As far as I know, there is no way to 'trigger' a spawn.

marlinmon · Feb 14, 2019

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/rfa-baby-question.551745/page-2#post-5682240

Baldguy · Feb 14, 2019

I'm convinced there is no way to tell when they are going to spawn. I will say they sync up so that many will spawn at the same time. I had about 6 spawn in my tank a week ago so when one spawns it triggers others to do the same. We are a long way from a solstice too. Not close to a full moon so that's not it either. Btw, I've gotten about 40 from Rubio. He does have some great deals. Six came in from him yesterday.

Evan West · Feb 18, 2019

Thank you all for all the advice, attached are some really special nems I just picked up that arive Tuesday. Working on getting a really good and diverse pool of color variations here for hopeful future spans to produce some gret nems. Enjoy the eye candy.