blue carpet anemone

[theo4thorn]

How long should it take for my carpet anemone to open up? I acclimated him for about an hour and put him in the tank. Hes been in the tank for about 2 hours so far.

 

[Randall_James]

He is likely to shrink and swell a number of times over the next few weeks. Your 75G tank is going to prove a rather tight squeeze for him as he grows as well. Fish may take to missing as well (tang for dinner anyone?)

I think your tank is too new and too small for this animal myself (just my opin) They are a beautiful animal but the odds of him living are really not very good if he is wild caught...

 

[jmick]

What kind of lighting do you have? These animals really require either t5's or halide. They also require pristine water and are not an easy animal to keep.

 

[pony_killer]

not necessarily true...i had my pink carpet in my tank for 7 months with PC lighting and he did fine, btw my tank is a 46 gal. but after i upgraded to T-5 his colors do look a lot better. oh and i introduced him to my tank after 1 month! just my $.02

 

[Randall_James]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9544107#post9544107 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pony_killer
not necessarily true...i had my pink carpet in my tank for 7 months with PC lighting and he did fine, btw my tank is a 46 gal. but after i upgraded to T-5 his colors do look a lot better. oh and i introduced him to my tank after 1 month! just my $.02

These animals live to 100 years or more in the wild. Any gauge of success in home aquaria certainly does not start at anything under a year (and more like 4 or 5 years).

Most anyone familiar with Anemones and their needs is going to say 1 year is a minimal amount of time for a tank to be established before introducing a difficult species.

Also, an animal that is going to reach say 24" in a 18" wide tank is going to be squeezed and all but the clown are likely to be eaten. Putting the same animal in a 46G tank is almost irresponsible due to the low water volume and the water quality needed by these animals over the long term.

Survival rate is <2% for Anemones in the first 2 years.

Purchasing a more suitable captive bred animal makes much more sense and more likely to succeed. E.Quadricolor is a much better choice for most

 

[pony_killer]

that makes sense...i agree that a 46 gal is small, but i was and still consider myself a beginner at this hobby and i didn't know any better. next tank is going to be a 90 gal and ill be transferring everything in my tank to the new one. but back to the anemone topic...all i can say is that im lucky that my anemone has survived thus far. my water quality is pretty good if i do say so myself.