Carpet in Bare Bottom

[BuckeyeTodd]

I tried once before unsuccesfully, and I think I am a better reefer now and would like to try again. I just think they're so cool

180 gal Bare Bottom
Six Bulb 80 watt ATI Sunpower
Dart pump
Hydor 7. 4, 2-3's, and a Tunze
Sal 1.026
Alk 8.7
Mag 1380
Cal 450
Po4 0
Nitrate 5-10

So is it worth trying again, and if so which variety would work best with this setup?

 

[clowns101]

I dont think it would work.Carpet Anemones are a sand dwelling anemone,therefor needing sand.However I have seen them on rocks but it is a rare matter to see Haddoni Capets do that.If I were you I would get a rock dewlling anemone or sand and put it in the tank.I dont think your ready for a Gigantea Carpet yet.

 

[jonnybravo22]

i have never tried haddoni but general rule is that they NEED sand as they like to bury their feet in the sand.

gigantea, IME, do not need sand as they like to attach to the base of a rock, but they are considered less hardy and harder to keep than haddoni.

 

[BuckeyeTodd]

yeah this is kind of what I was afraid of...the gigantea might work, but you need the practice of having a haddon first(and from what I've read a good amount of luck too). I was hoping there were people who had found a way to keep a haddon in this environment. I had read methods like putting a bowl with sand for it to use, but I don't know how you're supposed to keep sand in there with over 50 times flow....
Thanks yall for taking the time to respond

 

[Toddrtrex]

.......... but I don't know how you're supposed to keep sand in there with over 50 times flow....
Thanks yall for taking the time to respond

With that much flow, I would be more worried about keeping the Haddoni happy compared to being worried about the sand being in the bowl. Haddonis aren't fans of high flow, so if the sand wouldn't stay in the bowl, there is already too much flow for a Haddoni.

 

[BuckeyeTodd]

Dang it!!!!!!

I hadn't found a way to get this done, and was hoping someone had a solution for me. Guess its not meant to happen in this setup.

Any suggestions for rock dwellers other than bubble tip(very colorful), with a cost of less than $200?

 

[elegance coral]

Magnifica, but it's another one of those "hard to keep" species.

 

[WDLV]

I've done BB before. So, I am an advocate if that's what you like, but if you really want a carpet that badly why not just slowly add some sand in? There are bound to be areas of your tank that have lower flow. You can mix grades of sand to keep it in place. If you add rubbel rock and crushed coral to the high flow areas you should be able to add aragonite to the lower flow areas. The anemone will seek out what it likes. You just want to use your best guess on where you think it will be happy and focus less on where you would like to see it. Pick a spot with the most sand and light. That is likely to be a lower flow area anyway just because sand won't collect as much in the high flow areas.

I've only kept two haddonis. One was a loooong time ago. I think that one melted. The other was a rescue in my BB 210 gallon. That one attached and grew really well in a spot that collected detritus, dead sps frags and liverock sheddings until I did something to make it mad (I think i dropped a coral on it) and it wandered off into a closed loop. That system had about 11,000 GPH on it during high flow periods and about 6,500 GPH during low flow periods and 1000W of 14KK MH lighting. I had two Reeflo Barracudas on CLs (one which cycled on and off about every 6 hours) and a 2,000GPH (Little Giant?) return.

That's about all I have to offer.... Todd is a good guy to speak with about the specifics of haddonis. He's successfully kept several of them for years at a time.