Sea Pen Observations

[bang guy]

In early February I acquired a Sea Pen from Saltwaterfish.com to see how they would do in a captive environment. I thought I'd record my observations since not a lot is known about this animal in a captive environment.
I received a 3" Cavernularia obesa well packed and warm which is quite the challenge in the middle of a Western New York February. The first notable is that the bag had no air in it at all. I had heard that Sea Pens cannot tolerate exposure to air. I don't know why but it's clear that the staff at Saltwaterfish.com have heard the same warning.

 

[bang guy]

I set the Sea Pen in an open sand area in my Lagoonal Reef. I watched it roll around for a while and then I went upstairs. I've heard that they require a deep sand bed to anchor their foot. This particular species of Sea Pen is photosynthetic as well as a zooplankton predator. I made sure the place I set the Sea Pen had light and plenty of current.

 

[bang guy]

A few hours after dropping the Sea Pen in I went back to see how it was doing. The first thing I noticed is that it was gone. I looked and looked all over to see where the current had taken it and it was nowhere to be found. After lifting rocks and checking the sump I finally noticed a discolored area in the sand bed right where I had originally set the Sea Pen.

 

[bang guy]

The sand bed where I set the Sea Pen is about 6" deep. It had completely buried itself. After a couple more hours it started to come out of the sand bed.

 

[bang guy]

After another hour it had fully expaned and rose about 5" above the sand bed and the polyps extended to form a column about 4" wide.

 

[bang guy]

Closeup of the polyps.

 

[bang guy]

So here we are 4 months later. The Sea Pen has steadily grown and now forms a ball with about a 10" diameter.
When I feed the tank it's obvious that the Sea Pen feeds on any of the tiny food particles included in my home made food. The food is a blended mix of Scallops, Squid, Shrimp and whatever cheap marine fish I can find. I also occationally feed Cyclop-eeze and the Sea Pen noticeably closes it's polyps around the tiny orange Copepods.

 

[rubytoo]

That is really cool! I have never seen one, only read about it on the swf.com site.
Thanks BangGuy , very informative and interesting....
Enjoyed your observations and picture diary

 

[scoobs]

Well thats just freaken cool! would you say that thing is expert only or?

 

[nm reef]

Great documentation Bang...I don't believe I've ever seen one so healthy and well adjusted. I've seen them offered locally but they seldom make it out of the LFS systems. I doubt that many home aquariums are able to sustain them long term.....but obviously yours is an exception.

 

[lion_crazz]

Thank you for posting this! This was an excellent thread and I loved the pics that went along with each post.

 

[mythrenody]

Wow! Congrats! I would like to have one someday...maybe...

 

[scoobs]

are they dangerous to try? like if it dies can it hurt the tank..

 

[speg]

Something that big dying is always going to be bad news for the tank.. just remove it.
I think its awesome that you kept track of the happenings of your sea pen I appreciate you doing so! Thanks a lot.

 

[bang guy]

I'm having a lot of trouble finding much "real" information so all I have are my opinions.
It needs sand, that much is obvious. A clay pot with 6" of sand in it will do just as well as my (very) deep sand bed.
This species of Sea Pen requires light. Some species do not. I would consider the Gorgonia for reference here. Photosynthetic Gorgs do a LOT better in captivity that their ahermatypic counterparts. I'd suggest avoiding any Sea Pen that is not photosynthetic. Besides, ahermatypic Sea Pens only expand at night and hide completely during the day. This species does the opposite so it's a whole lot more enjoyable.
My Lagoon has a strong surge flow. I think this helps but I don't think it's critical. I think that if you can grow photosynthetic Gorgonians then a Sea Pen will do just as well providing it has 4"+ of sand to hide in during the day.

 

[crox]

That is a wondeful story and a beautiful coral!!!

 

[auntkaren]

Bang Guy what a gorgeous specimin! Thank you truly for showing the sea pen's process it was truly interesting!
I'd say you got a pretty good buy, huh?

 

[alyssia]

Bang, what kind of fish is that in the second to last pic? Is it an anthias?

 

[bang guy]

Lyretail Anthias. They are sold on this site as "Lyretail" - male and " Blue-Eye" - female. They are gorgeous and one of the most hardy Anthias. I have 7 females and one male in the lagoon.

 

[moby]

Absolutely beautiful!
I've been into reef setups for 15+ years and that is one of the best I have seen, never tried one but now I'm really reconsidering.
Great documentation, its unfortunate there isn't really much written on these guys. If you notice anything of importance keep us posted.
Magnificent!!
Moby