Carpet Help

[mtiknoles]

I got the carpet pictured one week ago. I think it looks good except it's mouth is open. My alkalinity was off so slowly raised it over the last 3 days. My LFS said because I keep mostly zoas/palys maintaining my alkalinity is tricky. I had never heard before. All my other tank parameters are good. Any ideas what's going on? Your help is greatly appreciated as I am competely stumped. Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Nicely colored blue S. Haddoni.

Not sure how the zoas/palys would affect the alk. What are your other parameters, with numbers please.
How long has the tank been set up?
What lights do you have?
What size tank?
Any other anemones?
Did you acclimate it to your lights?

 

[mtiknoles]

Nicely colored blue S. Haddoni.

Thank you. I had a blue carpet almost the size of a dinner plate and lost it during a tank upgrade. It took me two years to find this one.

Not sure how the zoas/palys would affect the alk.

Was told zoas/palys make the water acidic. Unless I skimmed like crazy, which I do. It sounded like garblygook to me.

What are your other parameters, with numbers please.

Salinity: 1.023
Temp: 78
Phosphates: 0
Nitrates/ites: 0
Calcium: 410
Alk: was 7 now 9
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Magnesium: 1250

How long has the tank been set up?

9 months.

What lights do you have?

6 T-5's. It was originally under 400W MH's.

What size tank?

180g.

Any other anemones?

No

Did you acclimate it to your lights?

Yes. I'm still not doing a complete photo period. It completely deflates after the lights go off for about 15 minutes.

Thank you again for your time.

 

[SwampyBill]

One word for your nem--WOW!!

 

[Winwood]

Yes, quite a looker! I had a haddoni that had a slightly open mouth like that for about 3 weeks, it was very sticky, ate and appeared healthy. It eventually closed it's mouth and is currently residing in my friends greenhouse propogation setup.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Running out the door -- but I would raise the salinity up to 1.026.

 

[mtiknoles]

I haven't attempted to feed it yet. Although it appears healthy, from what I've read an open mouth means its stressed or dying. I wanted to wait for it to settle in and didn't want to stress it further by attempting to feed it.

 

[Winwood]

Yeah that's probably a good idea and I wasn't recommending that you do that. I was just making the point that even relatively healthy specimens may take a while to recover from the stresses of shipping.

 

[danreefs]

Nice looking nem. and how much flow do you have on it? Get that Magnesium up 1400

 

[mtiknoles]

Running out the door -- but I would raise the salinity up to 1.026.

I'll raise it slowly over a couple of days.

Yeah that's probably a good idea and I wasn't recommending that you do that. I was just making the point that even relatively healthy specimens may take a while to recover from the stresses of shipping.

I hope you're right that it's just shipping stress.

Nice looking nem. and how much flow do you have on it? Get that Magnesium up 1400

Thank you. I have a pair of MP-40's. Isn't 1400 a bit high?

 

[Mikoruni]

I am having some carpet troubles of my own. Once they acclimate and we get over the hill, they are great and really trouble free (at least in my experience), except for ocassionally eating a fish or two.

Good luck with your anemone. Definitely one of the nicest I have seen.

 

[papa_dog]

Thank you. I have a pair of MP-40's. Isn't 1400 a bit high?

Amazing looking Anemone (the sound you hear is jealousy setting in - lol).

I am not too experienced yet (only had my S. Hadoni about 3 months) but watch your flow with the MP-40's (they aren't supposed to like a lot of flow, and mine really opened up much more and looked better once I got mine tweaked) - not saying yours is too strong, just know how much flow an MP-40 can send out.

For the Magnesium, the best rule of thumb I have seen is that it should be about 3 times your calcium level. Most people seem to try and keep their calcium around 425-450 (including me), so I personally aim for about 1300-1350 as an goal.

Hope this helps.

 

[Conrad25]

1400Mag is kind of on the high side and not needed. Most people keep it around 1300 + or - a little with it. The salinity I would def. slowly raise it up to at least 1.026. Other than that everything seems right on and your nem is gorgeous

 

[mtiknoles]

I fed my nem earlier today a small piece of silversides and lo and behold it's mouth is closed. My salinity is up to 1.025. Do I still need to raise it .001 now that its mouth is closed? I appreciate all the help you all have given me. Thank you again.

 

[Ohio]

Just want to mention that you may want to avoid silversides. I have seen several threads where peopl have lost their Nems after one silverside feeding.