Fish eating nem and new clowns.

M

miniwhinny

New member
I have a very aggressive maxi mini carpet nem that's about 9 inches across when fully opened. I bought a maroon clown - disappeared after a day. Bought a baby onxy and baby occy and both disappeared after 1 day then 2 days respectively. Then I realized it was my maxi eating them :(

After being fishless for 2 months I'm wanting to get a couple of Allardi clowns. I've set up the left side of my tank (40b) with hairy shrooms, a bubble coral, palys and a Hammer so I'm hoping they'll stay on that side away from the beast!

When purchasing them am I best to get two very small ones to start with? Do they change sex like the percs and occy's do?

Thanks for any help. I'm happy to have a coral/nem only tank but would love it more if I had a fish or two.
 
Yes, they will pair up and one will become the dominant female. Buy two, one slightly larger than the other. Maybe you can place a clear container with holes in it over the nem until the clowns settle in.
 
Oh that's a really good idea...thanks I never thought about that!

The other fish were taken almost right away so I'm thinking they never had a chance to find out the maxi wasn't friendly.

Appreciate the advice on how to buy/pair the Allardi's.

Thank you.
 
Lateralus said:
How do you know it was the maxi that ate them?
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I'm not 100% sure. I've seen her eat a 1" x 1" piece of rock (yes, rock!) snails by the boat load and she'd have taken me down if I hadn't have reacted fast (sticky little bugger) She eats like a horse and there's nothing else in the tank that's big enough that could or would take 3 clowns in one week that I can think of. The Maroon was coming on 2 inches. I've had her for easily 4 years.

The clowns were all captive bred and the two tiny onxy and occy were already hosting in a large green carpet in the LFS. I'm thinking - as it's the only option I can think of - that they saw the maxi and bolted into it just after the lights went out.

My tank is BB and it's really easy to see around the back and under the rocks. The fish didn't just die and disappear. Something took them and I'm having to place blame on Mrs. Munchie A.K.A. the Sarlacc Pit! I only have two very small hermits that I don't think could have eaten a dead fish between me seeing them at night and the morning and I have no bristle worms at all as all my rock was dead rock.

I'd love to have it be something else but seeing how fast this nem takes food I have to lay the blame solely on her :(
 
99% of the time everyone says "no" they don't. I have, however, seen a pic of a clown being hosted by one so it's not completely unheard of.

They're incredibly sticky and very fast...it wouldn't take much to get stuck and taken. I accidentally touched this one a few weeks ago moving something in the tank and before I could blink she'd wrapped herself around my fingers and I was really worried about hurting her when I was removing them as she was stuck like glue.
 
The Maxi-Mini Carpet Anemone features a potent sting; I would rather suggest you to use gloves while touching it.

These tiny carpets are not known to host clown fish, but they are attractive to anemone shrimp and anemone crabs. In the wild, they are favored by Sexy Shrimp (Thor amboinensis) and Periclimenes spp. commensal shrimps.

Unfortunately, If your clowns try to host, they will probably be eaten.
 
Yeah , it's frustrating. I know some people keep them with fish with no problems but obviously I have one who likes sashimi :( I tried sexys but caught them eating zoa skirts so they got sent to the tank of banishment.
 
Yea I have 5 maxis in my tank all about 5". Never killed a fish but if a fish were to run into any of them they are so sticky there's no way they get away. I'd hate to lose one of my onyx but luckily they are content with their gsp host.
 
Pez68 said:
Why would you keep this anemone in a tank with fish? It's just asking for trouble...
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You're right. I'm just going to have to stay with a coral/invert only tank I guess. Which is okay - it's way easier to keep clean lol and I do love all my nems :) Thanks everyone for the input and for talking some sense into me :)
 
IME Maximini do not get to 9 inches. A picture would be nice. It is possible that you did not ID him correctly.
 
OrionN said:
IME Maximini do not get to 9 inches. A picture would be nice. It is possible that you did not ID him correctly.
Click to expand...

Just took this picture 2 minutes ago. I'm on the West coast so my lights only just came on and she's not fully extended...probably about 7 inches across in this picture. To compare - in the bottom left corner is what I consider to be a "normal" maxi mini - it's about 4 inches across. I have about 8 that are around the 3-5 inch mark and I've owned them all for about 4 years and they haven't got any larger.

I'm not a nem expert but I'm sure the massive one is a maxi - is it possible that it's a cross bred one with a larger carpet variety? I have measured her and she's easily 9 inches when open...possibly a tiny bit more because I'm not measuring her completely flat.




edited to add - sorry there's nothing there for size comparison - I know it's hard taking someones word that they're measuring correctly when it's not in the normal range :)
 
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OrionN said:
IME Maximini do not get to 9 inches. A picture would be nice. It is possible that you did not ID him correctly.
Click to expand...

IME/IMHO, there are two different subspecies of tapetum anemones. One of them gets larger, has a "shaggier" appearance, has fewer and thicker radial "stripes" of tentacles with more consistent length, tends to keep its outermost tentacles turned down a bit more, has a longer/thicker stalk with heavier patterning on it, and tends to hold itself up further from the rockwork. The larger type also seems to have a much more clear division line between the stalk and the oral disk.

My girlfriend has 3 different maxi-minis in her tank, and one of them is very clearly different from the others in its appearance and behavior.

The larger one also seems much less hungry and sticky than the other two, despite clearly thriving. That said, it did eat a molly right after it was added to the tank. Sexy shrimp seem to like both equally as much.

I'll try to get pictures later on today so that I can show what I mean.
 
That's interesting. Mine seems pretty similar to your description - except she eats a lot and is VERY sticky! lol. There are lots and lots of purple stripes running up her stalk.
 
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