Help me decide new nem for my picassos

[davocean]

So after seeing my picassos lose alot of black from being hosted by my BTA's, I've decided to go w/ something new.
I'm condensing from a 60g and 67g to a 120g, so this will basically be a swap up w/ established LR/LS.
Lighting will be T5's, 6x54w for now, may increase that a lil later.
Right now I'm eyeballing carpets, Malu's, and possibly ritteri, or even an LTA maybe.
Checking for opinions from Peeps that are exp w/ these and percs for their input/advice.

 

[MyTank]

h. mag (ritteri) can be just as bad when it comes to fading, I havent kept a malu or LTA, but personally, I like the gigantea that my onyx percs host. They have kept all of their black so far.

 

[davocean]

I've heard the gigantea are very difficult to keep, though I have no personal exp w/ them.
I do have many years exp w/ Crispa's and M doreensis, and feel I could keep a challenging nem unless my light simply isn't strong enough, but at this moment I'm kinda leaning towards a Malu.
One other thing is I prefer to have a sand dwellar I think, to keep traveling to a min as I do have sps.
Either that or a seperate island to keep seperate.

 

[MyTank]

Sand dweller is definitely gigantea. I have a tan one under a 4 bulb ati powermodule, so t5 should not be a problem. Mine loves his flow. They can be difficult, but if you research them, and get a healthy one it should do fine. I cannot stress researching them enough.

 

[davocean]

Agree, that's why I'm here.
My exp is mainly crispas and doreensis, some BTA.
Even when I'm pretty confident on something I always research here first before going in.

 

[ILLiDaN]

wouldn't it be easier and try to find a strain of bta's that don't make clowns lose their black?

 

[Ben_Im]

wouldn't it be easier and try to find a strain of bta's that don't make clowns lose their black?

No

 

[davocean]

Lol, agree w/ that guy ^^^
Bottom line, after having 5 BTA's, I'm done w/ them and their wandering.
Also, as I'm condensing to one reeftank, and no longer keeping a nem species, it makes sense to me to keep something I can control better.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Sand dweller is definitely gigantea. I have a tan one under a 4 bulb ati powermodule, so t5 should not be a problem. Mine loves his flow. They can be difficult, but if you research them, and get a healthy one it should do fine. I cannot stress researching them enough.

Gigs aren't normally sand dwellers, most of the time they will be found on the rocks. Haddonis on the other hand are sand dwellers.


"Davocean" --- My SI percs lost a lot of their black when they were hosted by an LTA. Now that they are hosted by a Haddoni they are slowly gaining back their black.

 

[MyTank]

Gigs aren't normally sand dwellers, most of the time they will be found on the rocks. Haddonis on the other hand are sand dwellers.

My gigantea never leaves the sand, when I had it my haddoni was all over the bottom half of the tank, rock and sand. It may just be me idk

 

[velvetelvis]

I've never kept a gigantea, but I've read that they're found in very shallow areas, on hard substrates or among coral rubble, with their feet buried in a crevice. I've never heard of them actually living on top of rocks--interesting. This site shows a lot of images of S. gigantea in their natural habitat (in this case, in Singapore), along with hosted ocellaris and commensal shrimp:

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/actiniaria/gigantea.htm

 

[elegance coral]

I have a Picasso and a WC perc. They bounce back and forth between my malu and haddoni. They have only been with the anemones for a few months, but they seem to be getting more and more black.

This is another pair I had. Both wild caught.

This is the same pair a few months after living in a haddoni.

I'm not sure what that proves. They may simply be changing color as they mature. Just thought I'd share my experience.

 

[davocean]

"Davocean" --- My SI percs lost a lot of their black when they were hosted by an LTA. Now that they are hosted by a Haddoni they are slowly gaining back their black.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Todd, was hoping you'd chime in on this one.
I do want to try something new this time around anyways, so this eliminates LTA.
I was following your thread and seeing the black come back, and in fact I think it was from your post a while back that made me pay attention to loss of black, and I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, until I saw same results first hand.
Leaning toward carpet or Malu now(So wish I launched on the purple carpet Doni was selling!)

 

[davocean]

I'm not sure what that proves. They may simply be changing color as they mature. Just thought I'd share my experience.[/QUOTE]


Thanks Elegance, nice pics.
When my picassos were hosted by frogspawn, it was obvious they were getting darker w/ maturity, and then when I added BTA's, that black quickly started to fade, so if you are seeing good color continuing, I'm sure both those are working for you on keeping good color.
I would love to hear first hand exp w/ the Malu, and pics of it would be great as well.
I saw a purple on DD that looked really nice, though I think they may be hard to come by right now(the one on DD was gone way too fast)