Is this carpet anemone a good buy?
- Thread starter mobert
- Start date
55semireef
Moved On
Doesn't look to healthy.
mobert
Active member
Thanks for all your opinions. That Gigantea is/was at a store that I can drive to so maybe I'll monitor it and see if it plumps up. It has been very hard to find a healthy gigantea and my ideal color would be green but that yellow one looks like it might glow under actinics.
Here is another one that I saw at a different lfs:
I didn't like the gaping mouth and bleached look so I didn't consider it. Can you tell me what kind of carpet it is? The picture was taken with my camera phone so sorry for the poor picture quality.
Here is another one that I saw at a different lfs:
I didn't like the gaping mouth and bleached look so I didn't consider it. Can you tell me what kind of carpet it is? The picture was taken with my camera phone so sorry for the poor picture quality.
OCDP
New member
Yeah I think most carpets have a bumpy verracue (sp?) .
All's I know is that carpets are quite a challenge for most... well, gigantea and what not.. S. Haddoni seems to do fairly well, at least this is my understanding.
Good luck, hopefully a carpet expert will chime in for ya soon.
All's I know is that carpets are quite a challenge for most... well, gigantea and what not.. S. Haddoni seems to do fairly well, at least this is my understanding.
Good luck, hopefully a carpet expert will chime in for ya soon.
phender
Active member
I'm getting in here a little late but.... IME, giganteas that don't hold themselves open so that at least part of them is held a above the sand, are going to be tough to keep alive. The one you pictured is a mess.
Giganteas usually do have blue or purple spots on the underside on their oral disk (where the tentacles are), but not always. Combined with the short, blunt tentacles and the red/brown ring around the mouth, the lack of spots (colored verrucae) would make that second one a haddoni.
Even though it might end up being red, the bleaching and the open mouth would make me want to observe that anemone for a couple more times over the course of several days before I jumped at that one as well.
Giganteas usually do have blue or purple spots on the underside on their oral disk (where the tentacles are), but not always. Combined with the short, blunt tentacles and the red/brown ring around the mouth, the lack of spots (colored verrucae) would make that second one a haddoni.
Even though it might end up being red, the bleaching and the open mouth would make me want to observe that anemone for a couple more times over the course of several days before I jumped at that one as well.
I would run away from each of the specimens pictured as fast as humanly possible. The first looks days from death. The second has taken a bruising and that open mouth is not one I would purchase.
You will find much better Mona, be patient.
You will find much better Mona, be patient.
mobert
Active member
Scott & Dan,
LOL, thanks for the additional comments. I will keep looking.
Dan, I am full up on clowns. I think I have the best clown display I could possibly want short of a giant healthy bright green anemone for the left side of the tank! A big Magnifica like in Finding Nemo would be really nice as an alternative to Gigantea.
I've been feeding my Roses on the right side of the tank so it looks like there's a Rose population explostion right now. No shortage of beds at night but all the action is on the right side of the tank.
LOL, thanks for the additional comments. I will keep looking.
Dan, I am full up on clowns. I think I have the best clown display I could possibly want short of a giant healthy bright green anemone for the left side of the tank! A big Magnifica like in Finding Nemo would be really nice as an alternative to Gigantea.
I've been feeding my Roses on the right side of the tank so it looks like there's a Rose population explostion right now. No shortage of beds at night but all the action is on the right side of the tank.
delphinus
New member
Coming in here a bit late too, but since nobody's touched the "yellow" part I might as well add my $0.02.
Agreed with phender, traveller7, et. al., the first is a gigantea. It is, unfortunately, a bit sketchy looking. The second is a haddoni.
But the part I wanted to mention, I don't think there's such thing as a yellow carpet (gigantea, haddoni or otherwise). These are most certainly bleached greens.
I wouldn't necessarily summarily discount the green one, they're so hard to find; but having said that, I wouldn't hold my breath on it coming back either.
I don't know, I have two gigantea's myself, I'm not sure why I didn't really have a huge problem with them when others had, but realistically they just kinda adapted and did OK. Although the green one did have a few hairier moments in the first few weeks than did the brown one. It figures, the more colorful they are, the fussier they are. Why is that? I mean, there's Murphy's Law of course, but I wonder if there's something more. Like, they're more specialized to some environmental parameter.. I dunno.
Amazing LTA BTW.
Oh, one more thing. I noticed you mentioned that you would consider a magnifica instead. Be careful with this one. I too came to that conclusion, after a number of years of fruitless searching for a gigantea, I gave up and said "well why not a magnifica, they're easier to come by". Let me tell you, these things are beasts! You really have to know what you're getting yourself into, and I know this sounds a bit trite, but honestly, you *can* find yourself in the situation on the trailing edge, "If I knew what I was getting into, I might not have gone ahead with it" despite how emphatically you may feel at the leading edge that you DO know what you're getting yourself into.
I still have my magnifica (over five years later) but it has not been without a fairly high cost along the way. For one, mine *really hates* being moved. So much so, that generally speaking, fish just drop dead because it releases invisible death if handled in any manner. I've had 3 almost complete tank wipeouts due to the anemone being needed to be moved .. the only way to prevent it, it seems, is to remove all non-anemonefish from both the tank it comes OUT of, and the tank it goes into, and for at least a week after the actual move. I'm not exaggerating. The emotional cost of "I just lost all my fish" is something I really wouldn't wish on anyone. So.. um .. yeah. I'm not saying "don't do it at all" but I am saying "be warned, you know not what you are wishing for."
Agreed with phender, traveller7, et. al., the first is a gigantea. It is, unfortunately, a bit sketchy looking. The second is a haddoni.
But the part I wanted to mention, I don't think there's such thing as a yellow carpet (gigantea, haddoni or otherwise). These are most certainly bleached greens.
I wouldn't necessarily summarily discount the green one, they're so hard to find; but having said that, I wouldn't hold my breath on it coming back either.
I don't know, I have two gigantea's myself, I'm not sure why I didn't really have a huge problem with them when others had, but realistically they just kinda adapted and did OK. Although the green one did have a few hairier moments in the first few weeks than did the brown one. It figures, the more colorful they are, the fussier they are. Why is that? I mean, there's Murphy's Law of course, but I wonder if there's something more. Like, they're more specialized to some environmental parameter.. I dunno.Amazing LTA BTW.
Oh, one more thing. I noticed you mentioned that you would consider a magnifica instead. Be careful with this one. I too came to that conclusion, after a number of years of fruitless searching for a gigantea, I gave up and said "well why not a magnifica, they're easier to come by". Let me tell you, these things are beasts! You really have to know what you're getting yourself into, and I know this sounds a bit trite, but honestly, you *can* find yourself in the situation on the trailing edge, "If I knew what I was getting into, I might not have gone ahead with it" despite how emphatically you may feel at the leading edge that you DO know what you're getting yourself into.
I still have my magnifica (over five years later) but it has not been without a fairly high cost along the way. For one, mine *really hates* being moved. So much so, that generally speaking, fish just drop dead because it releases invisible death if handled in any manner. I've had 3 almost complete tank wipeouts due to the anemone being needed to be moved .. the only way to prevent it, it seems, is to remove all non-anemonefish from both the tank it comes OUT of, and the tank it goes into, and for at least a week after the actual move. I'm not exaggerating. The emotional cost of "I just lost all my fish" is something I really wouldn't wish on anyone. So.. um .. yeah. I'm not saying "don't do it at all" but I am saying "be warned, you know not what you are wishing for."
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