Anybody keep their haddonis in a biotope type tank ie mostly sand with maybe sea grass ( caulerpa at a push) and a small amount of rock etc ? I've been toying with the idea of removing most of my live rock and corals and just keeping a couple of haddoni's and my black polymnus pair in a more natural setting for ages but just need someone to give me a little inspiration to finally do it.
Biotope for haddoni's
- Thread starter LesMartin
- Start date
Winwood
New member
I have been thinking about that idea for a long time and plan to create such a tank in the future. One idea I thought would be interesting would be a group of banghai cardinslfish instead of clowns. I have seen pictures of these fish hovering directly above these anemones for shelter. Either way it would make for a fascinating display.
I'm hoping that increasing my sand bed depth from its current 2" to 4" would give me enough de-nitrification that I could get away with just one or two small ( and I mean small, maybe 1-2lbs each) pieces of live rock. I know that there are plenty of reef tanks running with deep sand beds but they almost always have live rock as well. My initial plan is to slowly increase the sand and once complete, start to remove the rock etc.
jasonrp104
New member
I've thought about doing it with my crispa and marroons. In the end it's just not enough stuff to tinker with. The clowns and crispa are both very hardy so now I buy corals to get my frustration fix.
Other than a scooter, they are the only fish in the tank anyways
Other than a scooter, they are the only fish in the tank anyways
I built several tanks over the years with the sea grass/macro them for this genus and I really believed that it helps me to acclimate and grow the more difficult species. In fact, I think all my tanks have macro or seegrass in them. I just love the way anemones look in a bed of seagrass and or macro.
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
Do you plan on having any live rock in your sump (( assuming that you have one ))? S. Haddonis put out a decent amount of waste and I think just a couple pounds of live rock won't be enough.
Plus, all of my Haddonis (( Currently have 4, with the oldest being in my care for 12+ years )) all like to have their foot buried in the sand, under a rock. So, pretty much right at the rock/sand interface. Mine could be in the open sand, but choose not too.
sugartooth
Reef bully
I love these kinds of tanks. I have a Haddoni/Clown and Macro tank and a Gigantea/Clown and Macro tank. It's much better if you can go a little bigger unless you are only housing only one anemone per tank. The advantage of course for a smaller size is that pruning would be easier. It takes me up to 1.5 hours to trim back the Haddoni tank because I added Caluerpa. In my upgrade, I'm going towards Sargassum, Shoal, Red Grape since those are much easier to prune.
jasonrp104
New member
I just totally misread what you typed and gasped in horror :lol:
velvetelvis
Active member
I love biotope tanks, so I think this is a great idea. I would research the needs of seagrasses, though; IIRC, they do best in 65K lighting. I don't know if that's compatible with the needs of an anemone. The Thalassia spp. also need very deep, mucky sandbeds. They're tricky to keep. I think Halophila ovalis is supposed to be a lot easier to keep, if you can find it.
If you want the biotope look without the hassle of seagrass, you could try Caulerpa prolifera. It looks similar to seagrass once it settles in and gets going, and it's infinitely easier to take care of. I once had a pseudo-seagrass-biotope with a pair of melanistic clarkii, C. prolifera standing in for seagrass, and a large long-polyped Sarcophyton substituting for Stichodactyla gigantea--it was fun, easy to maintain, and remarkably realistic.
If you want the biotope look without the hassle of seagrass, you could try Caulerpa prolifera. It looks similar to seagrass once it settles in and gets going, and it's infinitely easier to take care of. I once had a pseudo-seagrass-biotope with a pair of melanistic clarkii, C. prolifera standing in for seagrass, and a large long-polyped Sarcophyton substituting for Stichodactyla gigantea--it was fun, easy to maintain, and remarkably realistic.
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sugartooth
Reef bully
Winwood: I'm embarrassed to say that they are not 'picture' worthy right now. I've been spending time working on my upgrade and the rest of the tanks have only gotten basic care for the last few months.....once they are ready I will of course send you a message with pictures.
sugartooth
Reef bully
Here are the older pics of the Haddoni and Clown plus macro tank:
These shots show all three trying to find their final spots:
These shots show all three trying to find their final spots:
velvetelvis
Active member
Sugartooth, I love that setup. So simple and pretty. Those must be some of the world's happiest clowns!
After keeping SPS for a while, I got bored looking at pretty sticks and have decided to go back to a simple clownfish/host/macro tank myself. I have a jet-black, perfectly marked pair of Darwin-morph ocellaris (the inspiration for switching--I've been ogling them for over a month at my LFS), and an XL neon-green toadstool leather on order that should be arriving early next week. (They were being hosted by a BTA in the store, but I don't want to deal with an anemone right now, so I'm hoping they'll eventually adopt the sarcophyton.)
I started out with ocellaris in my first SW tank--I must have imprinted on them or something.
No matter how much I experiment, I always seem to end up going back to clownfish...
After keeping SPS for a while, I got bored looking at pretty sticks and have decided to go back to a simple clownfish/host/macro tank myself. I have a jet-black, perfectly marked pair of Darwin-morph ocellaris (the inspiration for switching--I've been ogling them for over a month at my LFS), and an XL neon-green toadstool leather on order that should be arriving early next week. (They were being hosted by a BTA in the store, but I don't want to deal with an anemone right now, so I'm hoping they'll eventually adopt the sarcophyton.)
I started out with ocellaris in my first SW tank--I must have imprinted on them or something.
No matter how much I experiment, I always seem to end up going back to clownfish...
sugartooth
Reef bully
Sugartooth, I love that setup. So simple and pretty. Those must be some of the world's happiest clowns!
After keeping SPS for a while, I got bored looking at pretty sticks and have decided to go back to a simple clownfish/host/macro tank myself. I have a jet-black, perfectly marked pair of Darwin-morph ocellaris (the inspiration for switching--I've been ogling them for over a month at my LFS), and an XL neon-green toadstool leather on order that should be arriving early next week. (They were being hosted by a BTA in the store, but I don't want to deal with an anemone right now, so I'm hoping they'll eventually adopt the sarcophyton.)
I started out with ocellaris in my first SW tank--I must have imprinted on them or something.
Thanks Velvet! I don't know, I think my onyx may be just as happy or happier (they are in the 150 Gigantea/Macro cube).
Those jet black occ's in a neon green toadstool would look spectacular!
As for the comment regarding the seagrasses. Yes, I would say turtle grass and manatee grass are a little bit harder to keep than shoal. They need a deep sand bed and some mud too. They do need proper lighting and flow, which shouldn't be a problem in a nem tank. I chose Shoal and Sargassum for the gigantea tank because Shoal runs shallow runners and Sargassum loves high flow and high light as well as being super easy to prune. I did add some mud where I planted the Shoal.
Winwood: Now I want some sherbert too!
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Haddonisreef
New member
I have a pair of Juvanile cards in the 180 and man they get close to my red haddoni. Its almost as if they were hosting it, dont seem to bother the clowns at all!
Would also like to set a haddoni tank only but as was stated what to do w/ all the primo lr and le corals?
Haddonisreef
New member
sugertooth that tank is awesome!!!!!!!! that purple one is sick i think you need to send to to me so it can be next to it cousin big red!! Jk man makes me want to go a diif route w/ 180 can see it now!!
Yes I have a sump and it holds around 30 US gallons ( I tend to work in Litres). the tank itself is 52" long x 32" wide by 26" deep. I was hoping that having the deep sand bed would provide all of the de-nitrification that I would need as the only inhabitants would be the two haddonis and the pair of polymnus. I aslo use a Tunze Master DOC 9440 skimmer. My current haddoni does indeed have its foot planted under a rock but I'm guessing that this is because the sand is only 2" deep at the moment. I have seen plenty of pictures of haddoni in their natural habitat and they mostly seem to be just in sand without a rock to be seen. Again I'm guessing that they are comfortable with this as the sand is deep.
velvetelvis
Active member
Thanks Velvet! I don't know, I think my onyx may be just as happy or happier (they are in the 150 Gigantea/Macro cube).
Those jet black occ's in a neon green toadstool would look spectacular!
As for the comment regarding the seagrasses. Yes, I would say turtle grass and manatee grass are a little bit harder to keep than shoal. They need a deep sand bed and some mud too. They do need proper lighting and flow, which shouldn't be a problem in a nem tank. I chose Shoal and Sargassum for the gigantea tank because Shoal runs shallow runners and Sargassum loves high flow and high light as well as being super easy to prune. I did add some mud where I planted the Shoal.
Winwood: Now I want some sherbert too!
Thanks. They are beautiful. Sustainable Aquatics breeds some nice clowns. Their toadstool should be here Tuesday, so we'll see what happens (*crossing fingers*). The female has already staked out a territory in back of the rock and started making runs at me if I come near it (her mate is literally half her size, so he just sort of trails along in her wake). I can only imagine the terror she'll become if she actually does adopt a host...but that's part of the clownfish charm. :lol:
And being the biotope fan that I am, I want to see updated pics of all your tanks! I don't want to hijack LesMartin's thread, so maybe you can start another one.
