The Ritteri Anemone (Heteractis magnifica,) was formerly known as Radianthus ritteri until the early 1980’s. In the wild it can grow up to 3-5 ft in diameter, and is usually found at the top of Coral Reefs in Indo-Pacific region, and the Indian Ocean. The have Purple, Red, and Brown bases with green, purple, or green with purple tipped tentacles. If it has pure white tentacles and a buff brown body than it is of the Kenyan variety .All other colored bases should not have white tentacles or else it is considered “bleached”. Once a Ritteri is bleached is almost impossible for them to recover. They are one of a few anemones that are a natural host for False Perculas (Amphiron ocelleris). They pack a potent sting, and are capable of damaging most corals and other anemones. In the aquarium they often climb the glass looking for an ideal location of light, and water flow.
Tank Conditions- Tank should be well aged, with plenty of trace elements, and medium to heavy water circulation with varying currents. To keep it from roaming it is best to set a frame out of live rock leaving only the area you want it to climb open. There is some debate over whether it is better to top off with RO/DI or minimally purified water. They can quickly outgrow small tanks, and should not be housed long term in anything less then the 75g-90g range depending upon how much room one is willing to dedicate to it.
Feeding- Like most anemones the Ritteri has a symbiotic relationship with the Zooxanthellae that live inside it. I have also found that as they grow larger they require feedings of shrimp, silversides or squid almost daily, and twice a week when they are small.
Lighting- As a rule of thumb most people say 5-8 watts per gallon. I think that is a good guideline but by no means should be used to determined suitability of housing this species. From my own personal experience Ritteris will climb the glass whether it is housed in a tank with Metal Halide, VHO, or PC’s. The are often burnt from metal halides, and seem to flourish under VHO, and PC’s. The largest I had seen in captivity was 2 feet in diameter at an LFS. It had crawled to the top of the glass in the corner as far away from the light from the metal halide as possible, and spent most of the day in Shadow or light from the supplemental PC’s.
Personal experience. I kept one of the Kenyan varieties in my tank for 11 months. It had actually successfully split 4 times, but was later killed by a heater I left unguarded.(completely my fault and I feel like a Jacka$$) The one clone is still alive and well in another local reefers tank last I heard, and the second clone died shortly after the split, the last two died in my tank almost immediately after the split. I had it under T5 lighting for 3months, and PC’s for the other 8 months. I have recently acquired another small ritteri, in trade for a tank bred BTA I had. The ritteri would have died in the set up it was in, so it is more of a mercy thing or else I never would have accepted it. This particular anemone would rank 9 out of 10 on difficulty with only the Carpet anemone being more difficult IMO. Definitely not recommended for beginners, and should only be kept by somebody willing to dedicate a large amount of tank space, and time feeding it. The clone that I sold and is still alive, is just over 8” across and is housed under PC’s and 2x175w MH in a 180g tank. This is my experience I hope it helps, or spells out more plainly why they are so hard to keep.
