The NemPen!

[Reefahholic]

You're probably looking at this thing and thinking ???. Well, let me explain it a bit. So I've been treating anemones for quite a while now, and I've literally treated hundreds. This thread is geared towards the more difficult expert anemones, because other anemones do not need this extreme attention. S Gigantea and H Magnifica are definitely the hardest to keep on the planet in our hobby. There are certain things I've noticed over the years that will cause these two sick anemones to decompensate rapidly or aid dramatically to their survival. What are these things? Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm willing to share anything I've learned during treatment in order to help other reefers save the animals we have such a passion for.

I'll list a few things that I like to avoid:

Never let the nem turn face down
Keep moderate flow
Watch the amount of light you give
Change things up
Always treat 7 or more days
Keep the tank super clean
Don't overdose
Don't underdose
Always do 100% water changes if tank gets cloudy
Always redose what's taken out
Avoid too many clownfish stressing ur nem.
The list goes on

Some of these are directly related to and what influenced me to build the NemPen.


With the NemPen, I'm able to do achieve the following:

Light control
Complete flow around the nem
High flow without blowing nem around
Power head protection
Isolation
Free floating
If flipped face down, no need to worry
Easy removal without attachment
Clownfish control
The list goes on

I'm going to cut this short because I'm tired. You'll get the gist of it though.

 

[Reefahholic]

 

[reef heaven]

That's interesting J.

 

[Reefahholic]

Interesting and works! I got two Gigantea in it now. I'll post more pics later.

 

[reefwiser]

Great job do you expect to keep the anemones in the pen during their break in period or always?

 

[Reefahholic]

Of course just during the treatment periods.

A lot of the time if you're dosing Septra, it's kinda strong and they start to decline in the middle or end of treatment.

Or some complete full antibiotic therapy and still remain weak and unable to attach.

Others are able to attach yet when 30-40 clowns are diving into their mouth, they get a bit stressed and can deflate. It's nice to perk them up with different light stimulation and DT water. Sometimes reducing the dosage or putting treatment on hold isn't enough. I can also let 1 or 2 clowns in the pen for slight stimulation. My nems always respond better when I play with the light or let a clown dive into them. It's kinda like the person who's laying in the hospital bed dying and has lost all hope and the doctor walks in and says "are you just going to lay there and die?" "Get up!!!!" The clowns basically serve the same purpose. They continue to stimulate them.

So being able to house them without worry of wave makers, too many clowns, too much light (I have a plastic lid that fits on top), nem drifting into rocks (never to be seen again), nem being face down in sand or on glass without flow to the mouth and all areas of the body, etc...The list goes on.

 

[mochaclownlover]

Where did you get an idea for something like that? very cool

 

[SWSCJ]

I keep mine in a play pen.

 

[mochaclownlover]

That's the biggest carpet anemone I've ever seen!!! Love the color

 

[SWSCJ]

Big Red is definitely spoiled. Superman colors

 

[CaribbeanCollector]

I'm not entirely sure why your doing this. Is this what you do during acclimatization, dipping, quarantine, or if it just starts to decline? What do you mean by treatment periods? Also what is Septra?

 

[Amoo]

So this is where you got off to. I knew I hadn't seen you on "that other forum" in a while.