Haddoni Question

[E.intheC]

I'm looking to eventually have a Haddoni in my tank.. it's a 20 inch cube. (Yes, small.. but I'm going to be moving in about 1 year. Larger tank will be able to handle him then.)

I don't have a light fixture yet, but I'm hoping the NEP 6x18 watt T-5 fixture will be sufficient lighting.

Thank you for your input.

 

[The_cold_one]

I wouldn't bother with it at all. Haddon's need room to spread their wings. Even if you bought it small, ANY anemone needs a good amount of water volume so the parameters inside your tank will be somewhat stable. 20 gallons minus all the displacement from the rocks, pumps and sand will only be about 15 gallons and 15 gallons isn't an optimal environment.

Just my .02

 

[E.intheC]

that's a good point too, the_cold_one. My tank is actually 34 gallons. It's 20 x 20 x 20 inches.

Not that it makes a huge difference but just for reference.

 

[clowns101]

I see no problem with keeping a Carpet anemone in a 34 gallon.I know a few people who have done it befor(Toddrtrex mainly)Check out his threads on his haddonis.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Speak of the devil.

It can be done, but I wouldn't go any smaller. The hardest part is going to be finding a healthy one that isn't too large to start with. I moved one of my existing ones over to my cube about a month ago. It is pretty much taking up the whole tank. So you are going to be limited on what else you can put in that tank. While I have been lucky about my Haddonis not eating fish, most aren't that lucky. So with a smaller tank you will have to take that into account.

In addition they do produce a decent amount of waste, so will have to stay on top of the water changes. As for your lights, I have only used T5's for supplemental lighting, so don't want to comment on how they would work. I currently have a single 250 watt MH over my cube --- though I did recently added a 20in PC over the tank, mainly to balance out the color and to provide dusk to dawn. If I get off my butt I will take an updated picture showing how much of the tank it is taking up.

Truth be told I actually have 2 Haddonis in there, but the newest one most likely will be transferred into my 75 at one point. If there wasn't another tank to move it into at some point I would be a bit more hesitant about doing it. Even with very limited feedings my still are growing.

 

[E.intheC]

Thanks for the help Todd. I'll have to research more about the Haddonis. I may end up having a mixed reef with the Solana (sans Haddoni) but we'll have to see.

I agree that it's truly important to buy a healthy specimen first. Are there any tell-tale signs that I should watch out for?

Thanks again!

 

[E.intheC]

Couple other quick questions: will an RBTA be a bettert choice? I'm a bit concerned about their tendency to roam, but how likely is this?

Also, where is everyone buying their haddonis?

 

[TheHotOne]

If I were you I would in fact go with the RBTA, plus IMO they look nicer in a smaller tank than a Carpet Anemone. Which ever one you choose I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15673973#post15673973 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by E.intheC
Couple other quick questions: will an RBTA be a bettert choice? I'm a bit concerned about their tendency to roam, but how likely is this?

Also, where is everyone buying their haddonis?

I never had an issue with my BTAs moving -- however the clones would move until they found a good spot. The clones moving and the fact that BTAs stay on the rocks are the 2 reasons I stopped keeping them. Should note that I keep SPS -- on the rocks -- so I wanted to go with a sand dwelling anemone. That may or may not be an issue for you.

Of my 5 Haddonis, 2 are from the Diver's Den section of LA. 2 are from a LFS, and the last one I bought off of a local reefer, not sure where he picked it up from.

 

[E.intheC]

Thanks for the help and the well-wishes everyone.

I think I'm going to wait until I move to buy a Haddoni, but this thread still has good potential to help out others