Rock flower nem question

Sophie"s mom

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Good morning all! So I am thinking I want a rock flower nem, but I do not know much about them. Are there different types? I see very distinctive color variations. I really need some blues, purples and reds in my tank. I have tons of greens and yellows. What are their requirements for thriving their best?
 

Ron Reefman

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Search here and you'll find more than a few very good threads about RFAs. The third link in my signature below may be helpful.

They are fairly easy to keep. They have a tendency to gravitate to the edges of rocks where it meets the sand. I keep mine in PVC end caps that I can push down into the sand so they disappear and the RFA never moves.

They come in all kinds of colors and patterns. I'd suggest not going for the expensive ones at the start. After a while, they all start to look pretty cool. The really colorful ones tend to come from deeper water and the less colorful ones (off white, tan, brown, black and maybe a bit of green) tend to come form shallower water. Where they come from (deep or shallow) has no effect on how they will do in your tank.

There are very few RFAs that have blues or purples as colors. The photos you see of RFAs with blue is actually white under blue leds. This is true 99.99% of the time. There are lots of red, orange, and yellows in most RFAs. Mixed colors tend to cost more than single or 2 color ones.

They do better when fed occasionally. I use a turkey baster to feed mine. They get regular fish food maybe once a week and something more 'substantial' every 2 or tree weeks... like cut up silver sides or cut up shrimp (I can collect small shrimp locally). But they do just fine using photosynthesis.

0882 20190118_114455 R2.jpg
 

phillyb614

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They are quite easy to keep. I have seen them do well in both low and high flow, as well as low and high PAR. Blue and red ones are more common and fairly inexperienced. When you start getting into the more exotic colors, they can get quite pricey.
 

Ron Reefman

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They are quite easy to keep. I have seen them do well in both low and high flow, as well as low and high PAR. Blue and red ones are more common and fairly inexperienced. When you start getting into the more exotic colors, they can get quite pricey.
There are no blue RFAs. The blue you see is a white part on the RFA that looks blue due to blue leds. Look at them under white light and there is NO blue!
 

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Good morning all! So I am thinking I want a rock flower nem, but I do not know much about them. Are there different types? I see very distinctive color variations. I really need some blues, purples and reds in my tank. I have tons of greens and yellows. What are their requirements for thriving their best?
Spend a little time going through this excellent thread:
 

rhitee93

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There are no blue RFAs. The blue you see is a white part on the RFA that looks blue due to blue leds. Look at them under white light and there is NO blue!
I got burned by this at a frag swap. I bought what was an amazing looking blue and red RFA only to get it home and find that it was mostly white. Live and learn...
 

OrionN

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I just start to look into Rock Flower Anemones for the last several months. I am thinking of setting up a mini aquarium for them. In the 20 -30 gal range. AIO with high K light.
They are sooooo beautiful under bluish light.
Maybe just a cube with a HOB filter with a small skimmer (mainly a place for a small heater)
 
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Sophie"s mom

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Search here and you'll find more than a few very good threads about RFAs. The third link in my signature below may be helpful.

They are fairly easy to keep. They have a tendency to gravitate to the edges of rocks where it meets the sand. I keep mine in PVC end caps that I can push down into the sand so they disappear and the RFA never moves.

They come in all kinds of colors and patterns. I'd suggest not going for the expensive ones at the start. After a while, they all start to look pretty cool. The really colorful ones tend to come from deeper water and the less colorful ones (off white, tan, brown, black and maybe a bit of green) tend to come form shallower water. Where they come from (deep or shallow) has no effect on how they will do in your tank.

There are very few RFAs that have blues or purples as colors. The photos you see of RFAs with blue is actually white under blue leds. This is true 99.99% of the time. There are lots of red, orange, and yellows in most RFAs. Mixed colors tend to cost more than single or 2 color ones.

They do better when fed occasionally. I use a turkey baster to feed mine. They get regular fish food maybe once a week and something more 'substantial' every 2 or tree weeks... like cut up silver sides or cut up shrimp (I can collect small shrimp locally). But they do just fine using photosynthesis.

0882 20190118_114455 R2.jpg
Awesome, thanks for all the info. I do have some decent lighting, so I guess the white will show as blue. I use Hipargero 100 watt LED's, with the blue and violet settings at about 90%, while the whites are set at about 20%
 
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Sophie"s mom

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I just start to look into Rock Flower Anemones for the last several months. I am thinking of setting up a mini aquarium for them. In the 20 -30 gal range. AIO with high K light.
They are sooooo beautiful under bluish light.
Maybe just a cube with a HOB filter with a small skimmer (mainly a place for a small heater)
That sounds like it would be very cool! If you set that up, I would love to see pics.
 

jkcoral

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They are very easy to keep and very resilient. They can move around your tank like other types of anemones, but the really great thing about them is that they really tend to stay put for a long time once they find a place they like, and unlike bubble tips, they have a very weak sting and won’t leave you waking up to a trail of death from a traveling BTA.

If you get one, you should get a dozen (or several)! They will spawn in your tank. There’s no way to sex them without witnessing spawning of males, so having a bushel of them will increase your chances for having both sexes present.

Just two things I’d caution:

1. You want FL rock flowers. There are other beaded sand anemones that come from other places (South America, DR, Haiti, and even ones from the pacific). Florida rock flowers are the real champs, and the reputation for their easy care is based on these nems. Other South American/carribean RFAs can look cool, but they are prone to bacterial infections that make them notoriously prone to issues in tanks.

2. Don’t overpay for rock flowers! Divers get paid around $4 per nem, vendors buy from wholesale close to $10-$12 dollars, and most common varieties of “ultra” RFAs (for RFAs, ultras are just ones that are fluorescent) should be affordable (~$25-$35 ballpark).
 
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Sophie"s mom

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They are very easy to keep and very resilient. They can move around your tank like other types of anemones, but the really great thing about them is that they really tend to stay put for a long time once they find a place they like, and unlike bubble tips, they have a very weak sting and won’t leave you waking up to a trail of death from a traveling BTA.

If you get one, you should get a dozen (or several)! They will spawn in your tank. There’s no way to sex them without witnessing spawning of males, so having a bushel of them will increase your chances for having both sexes present.

Just two things I’d caution:

1. You want FL rock flowers. There are other beaded sand anemones that come from other places (South America, DR, Haiti, and even ones from the pacific). Florida rock flowers are the real champs, and the reputation for their easy care is based on these nems. Other South American/carribean RFAs can look cool, but they are prone to bacterial infections that make them notoriously prone to issues in tanks.

2. Don’t overpay for rock flowers! Divers get paid around $4 per nem, vendors buy from wholesale close to $10-$12 dollars, and most common varieties of “ultra” RFAs (for RFAs, ultras are just ones that are fluorescent) should be affordable (~$25-$35 ballpark).
Awesome! Thank you so much.
 

OrionN

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I got burned by this at a frag swap. I bought what was an amazing looking blue and red RFA only to get it home and find that it was mostly white. Live and learn...
I anm not experience enough or see enough RFA to say about blue but there is purple RFA color.
I got this ?rare RFA last week at Austin Aquafarm
IMG_4235.jpeg
RockFlower2024072101PurpleMulticolor.jpeg
IMG_4202.jpeg
 

Trueruby

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@Ron Reefman and @jkcoral both gave great commends. I like to add few more;

I started collecting them about 2 years ago. Right now have 36 adults, 8 month old babies 5 pcs and around 1 month old 450 babies(from 1 female only. This could be world record!! no idea if there is any lol.).
The gender is really a luck as jkcoral mentioned that you need to be witness! amoung 36 adults I only know 5 males and still 1 female.

As Jkcoral also said that FL key nems are the best ones! Meanwhile collecting till today I had no death with FL ones whereas I bought around 40 nems which are from out of FL and 25 of them died!. Some of my friends had the same experience. They are much more colourful yet, survival is very low.. The question is the ones did not die how long will they survive? This is unknown yet. Its been 5 months still alive.

P.S. You can check my ig to see my rfa's journey. Ig: Rubys.reef
 
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AlyciaMarie

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It looks like you already have lots of awesome advice and guidance. I'm just here for moral support! RFAs are so awesome. They were the only nems I kept in my first tank, and they were hands down my favorite thing in my tank. Do it!
 
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It looks like you already have lots of awesome advice and guidance. I'm just here for moral support! RFAs are so awesome. They were the only nems I kept in my first tank, and they were hands down my favorite thing in my tank. Do it!
Thanks, and yeah, I think I am going to. My only concern really is about how nems like to wonder. But from I am am reading on here their sting is very minimal
 

AlyciaMarie

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Thanks, and yeah, I think I am going to. My only concern really is about how nems like to wonder. But from I am am reading on here their sting is very minimal
Obviously, everyone has different experiences, but my experience with mine was that it stayed put. It picked its spot on day one and didn't move from it!
 

Ron Reefman

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I just start to look into Rock Flower Anemones for the last several months. I am thinking of setting up a mini aquarium for them. In the 20 -30 gal range. AIO with high K light.
They are sooooo beautiful under bluish light.
Maybe just a cube with a HOB filter with a small skimmer (mainly a place for a small heater)
This is very easy and should look very cool. Just be diligent and ask whoever you are buying from, where the RFAs come from. I had 5 out of 6 from Brazil die in the first 2 weeks!
Thanks, and yeah, I think I am going to. My only concern really is about how nems like to wonder. But from I am am reading on here their sting is very minimal
Consider putting them in PVC end caps that can then be pushed down in the sand. I've been doing this for more than 5 years and it's been 98% perfect for keeping them in place.
 

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