Haddoni Pick-Up

[Pastey]

I gave my LFS the go-ahead to find me a 8"+ bright blue haddoni about a week or 2 ago and while I still have not heard of any luck on his end, a local reefer posted up a nicely colored green specimen last night. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow so I'll use tonight to put together a treatment tank and mix about 50 gallons of new SW that I've been meaning to do anyway.

Background is, he took delivery of it 2 days ago and then he discovered the horror stories of fish disappearances. Now his GF wants it out. He said it is 3-4" but, judging from the picture below, I would assume it has not really spread out. I asked him if it had gone through any inflate/deflate cycles--he said it had not but I know they don't always show signs of infection from day 1. If I notice no signs of ill-behavior, I'll likely put it in the DT first and keep the treatment tank on stand-by.

My cipro arrived late last week (in hopes that my LFS would source my blue quickly) so I already have everything needed to treat. I'll have some chinese 120w LED lights to spare on Saturday when I swap them out so it will have to make due with a fuge style light for about 12 hours.

 

[worm5406]

It looks all fat and happy. I am glad it got a meal or two before you got it. That way you know it is eating.

Sorry about the other guy's loss. It does look nice. How does it like your substrate?

 

[Pastey]

I don't pick it up until tomorrow so we'll find out. His substrate looks more course than mine. I have Pink Fiji or Fiji Pink...whatever it is from Caribsea. I have some more course sand (Reef Flakes). If I get the impression that the hadonni doesn't like the fiji pink, I'll probably try Reef flakes into a PVC tube to encourage it to stay put.

 

[OrionN]

Any size sand is OK with Haddoni. I would not worry about the grain size.

 

[Pastey]

Good info. I was under the impression that the haddoni liked a more course substrate. Current owner sent me video of the nem but it was slightly obscured by the container that was holding it. From what I could tell, it looked healthy. Just in case, I've got 50 gallons of new SW mixing and treatment tank set up if it shows signs of infection. I was informed tha haddonis have a less consistent reaction to antibiotic treatment when compared to the gig. Fingers crossed!

 

[Pastey]

Seller went ahead and "boxed" up the haddoni so it will be easy to remove this afternoon and sent me some pictures. From what I can see, the color is pretty spectacular. He SAYS the mouth it tight and it has not deflated so I'm hoping my optimism holds out.

 

[MelloW33]

Looks like a gem! Good luck with it!

 

[Pastey]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y270/deadwrx/7072970A-754D-4EB7-97A7-87579B18D18B.jpg

Opened up to roughly 7" before lights out. Took it a while to put its foot down but it finally grabbed hold near where I wanted it to.

 

[Pastey]

 

[Pastey]

Seems as if the haddoni is acclimating well to the tank and new lighting. Clowns have shown no interest in it at all which I think is a good thing for now.

 

[Pastey]

Introduced Friday evening. Here it is now 3 days later. The white spot near the mouth is krill that fell on it while feeding the fish.

 

[worm5406]

Very nice. Very happy to see it 'playing nicely with others' in your tank.

 

[Pastey]

I really should knock on wood after posting progression shots. I woke up to it partially deflated this morning. I have my treatment tank ready to roll and decided that if it deflated one more time, I was pulling and treating. I'll start a new thread this evening once the tank is up and the anemone is in it.

 

[jcdeng]

TBH, mouth looking like its getting bigger (not as tight) from your 2nd and 3rd picture. Did you ask the seller what light he used on the haddoni?

 

[Pastey]

After about an hour of trying to get it to detach, I give up for right now for fear of damaging the foot. It is being incredibly stubborn and has its foot tucked away very well (very bad for removal). Treatment tank is set up and running so I'll have to try again later. 27" deep tank makes doing these types of things a real pain :-/

 

[Pastey]

Here it is laughing at me:

 

[jcdeng]

if u have a spare dry rock laying around u can swap it with the rock it is attached to? most of them actually is attached to the rock instead of the bottom of the tank.

 

[D-Nak]

For a haddoni, I actually think it looks fine. I'd expect its mouth to open a bit and its tentacles to be contracted, especially since it's acclimating. The fact that it planted its foot is a good sign, and even more so since it's not letting go. The sick haddoni I've had never planted their foot.

In the last photo, it appears that the tentacles are more inflated, and you can no longer see any "striping" of the tentacles where it looks like there are rows of tentacles and bald spots in between. This is also a good sign because it means the nem is filling up with water. I'd expect to see it get larger as it gets used to your tank.

I personally would leave it alone and let it settle in. I would keep an eye out for full deflation (where the tentacles are shriveled up and looks like an empty balloon) or a gaping mouth (where it appears lose and unable to close it) or if it detaches and doesn't reattach. If any of these occur, then I would consider treatment, but removing it from the DT -- especially if it's hard to remove -- may do more harm than good.

Definitely keep us updated. These bright neon green haddoni are my favorite (even more so than reds or blues) and I think you've got a nice one.

 

[Pastey]

I took your optimism but kept a close eye on it all evening. Unfortunately, it went through a couple of phases of open/loose mouth, tight mouth and finally deflated. I uprooted my rock and pulled it while it was deflated. I didn't want to wait any longer since time is important. Better too soon than too late. It's in HT now and has started its first round of cipro. I'll do 5 gallon changes from my DT and add cipro in the evenings after lights out to maximize potency of antibiotic. I'll start another thread with pictures tomorrow to follow each day of treatment. Thanks for your help everyone and cross your fingers for me.