Is this carpet anemone a good buy?
- Thread starter mobert
- Start date
phender
Active member
It is very true that many "yellow" carpets are simply greens or browns that have bleached. However, I did have a haddoni carpet for 7 years before I gave it away, that was somewhere between brown mustard and yellow mustard in color. I will see if I can find some pics. Unfortunately I had him before the digital camera age. (I'm old
)My merten's carpet (which you are not likely to see very often anyway) is not bright yellow, but it is certainly yellow.
Oh, and the other thing. $200 for a 10" green gigantea ?!!!!!
That is about 5x the wholesale price. (Not to mention that it looks near death)
There were some beautiful 14 - 18" blues and purple down here that were ranging from $125 - $175 and they were at regular LFSs.
delphinus
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8051478#post8051478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phender
It is very true that many "yellow" carpets are simply greens or browns that have bleached. However, I did have a haddoni carpet for 7 years before I gave it away, that was somewhere between brown mustard and yellow mustard in color. I will see if I can find some pics. Unfortunately I had him before the digital camera age. (I'm old
My merten's carpet (which you are not likely to see very often anyway) is not bright yellow, but it is certainly yellow.
I'd call your merten's "yellowish" but to me I even see greenish hints in there. Mind you I thought mobert's RBTA's were purple LTA's, so I guess I've already demonstrated that I'm slightly delusional
Still, you mentioned your haddoni was yellow but that it was more of a "mustard" yellow, to me that sort of implies "not the bright popping yellow" (like say highlighter yellow), so I'm still wondering if then my claim of yellows are just bleached greens still hold true but only for those that are really brightly yellow. At any rate, I guess I stand corrected on the general assertion/overgeneralization. I'd love to see a pic of your yellow haddoni if you do ever find one that you can post.
cheers
bureau13
New member
I don't fully understand this. Are you saying its engaged in some kind of chemical warfare? I'm aware of anemones poisoning tanks by dieing and creating an amonia spike when they decay, but nothing else.
My Magnifica hasn't harmed anything in any way other than trampling it. It seems to love being on my front glass up near the top. Not exactly where I had in mind, but at least he's not running rough-shod over my other corals!
jds
My Magnifica hasn't harmed anything in any way other than trampling it. It seems to love being on my front glass up near the top. Not exactly where I had in mind, but at least he's not running rough-shod over my other corals!
jds
delphinus
New member
I guess chemical warfare of a sort ... I have no way of knowing exactly what. My best guess is that as a last resort of defense, the anemone will release an explosion of nematocysts into the water column, in a closed system like an aquarium they can't be diluted to the point of harmlessness, and they gum up the gills of the fish, and they suffocate to death. The first time it happened, I attributed it to the stress of a tank move. The second time it happened, I attributed it to the stress of a tank move on top of a house move (I just thought I didn't do the move well enough). After the third time, I knew something was up, I had been moving tanks all the time, never losing fish unless this anemone was involved. The fourth time, last December, I thought I had the problem licked, I would move the anemone into its new tank, and have no fish in the new tank, surely that would do it. But within a half hour of the anemone being removed from the tank it was coming out of, my wrasse was dead, and within a few hours after that my cardinal was gone. All I had left was my pair of ocellaris. Who, incidentally, survived every incident prior. (So it was always the non-symbionts who perished.)
I too have heard the stories of massive fish death but it usually involves an injury (fatal or not) to the anemone. In my case there was no injury, just handling. Even when not trying to disturb it off the rock, but taking the rock with it. But mind you it's an extreme challenge to move a 24" anemone and any rock it's attached to.
In fact, my ritteri has been, otherwise, a more or less model citizen. When you create the right conditions for the individual, you should not have difficulties with the anemone moving. A trick that I've found that works well, is to have a coral bommie (aka "a pile of rock") directly under a halide. As long as the currents are nice and strong and alternating at the top of the bommie, and the anemone can not sense a path upwards (i.e., sufficiently far away from the tank walls), it should really stay put quite well.
But my eyes have been opened as to how formidable they can be if disturbed.
(Apologies for the hijack BTW.)
I too have heard the stories of massive fish death but it usually involves an injury (fatal or not) to the anemone. In my case there was no injury, just handling. Even when not trying to disturb it off the rock, but taking the rock with it. But mind you it's an extreme challenge to move a 24" anemone and any rock it's attached to.
In fact, my ritteri has been, otherwise, a more or less model citizen. When you create the right conditions for the individual, you should not have difficulties with the anemone moving. A trick that I've found that works well, is to have a coral bommie (aka "a pile of rock") directly under a halide. As long as the currents are nice and strong and alternating at the top of the bommie, and the anemone can not sense a path upwards (i.e., sufficiently far away from the tank walls), it should really stay put quite well.
But my eyes have been opened as to how formidable they can be if disturbed.
(Apologies for the hijack BTW.)
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
I've experienced this phenom with H. magnifica as well. It's not often mentioned in any publications. I don't know if it's chemicals or nemotocysts, but whatever is released can be lethal to fishes in a closed system. Oddly enough (or maybe not), Clownfish are seemingly immune.
bureau13
New member
That is scary as hell. I guess mine will stay stuck to my front glass as long as he wants! The weird thing is, when I first got him, he was flying all over the place as I would try to place him, and he would move some place bad, etc...I had no fish deaths, I guess maybe I was lucky.
jds
jds
OrionN
Moved on
I never have any problem with my Magnifica. I end up with 4 after several divisions. I move them sometime but never have tank wipe out like Tony said. About Gigantea, I have not sucesfully keep one yet, 0 out of 2. I think I did not have enough flow in my tank for Gigantea. Either that or I just have sick Gigantea to begin with. My water flow was OK for my Magnifica. 20000 g/hr in a 400 g tank.
Yellow carpets are bleached green ones.
Too bad I live here in Corpus where there never any Gigantea here. I am setting up a tank in the near future for one and will need to mail order one and try again. I will use a surge tank to make sure that there will be enough flow for a Gigantea.
Yellow carpets are bleached green ones.
Too bad I live here in Corpus where there never any Gigantea here. I am setting up a tank in the near future for one and will need to mail order one and try again. I will use a surge tank to make sure that there will be enough flow for a Gigantea.
phender
Active member
It looks like a nice little gigantea. I would like to see a little more tentacle density between the edge of the anemone and the mouth, but it seems to have all the other positive things I would look for in a gigantea. (tight nipple mouth, long tentacles, firm body held above the substrate, not bleached, eating)
mobert
Active member
Thanks Phil,
I almost brought it home but since it was on a really big rock I passed on it for now. Also, the guys tried to get it off the rock and the more they messed with it the less I wanted it. They said they get stock in on Tuesday's maybe I can get one before it is out of the bag.
Dan,
Thanks for scoping the shops for me. This last one was at King Aquarium out in San Jose.
I almost brought it home but since it was on a really big rock I passed on it for now. Also, the guys tried to get it off the rock and the more they messed with it the less I wanted it. They said they get stock in on Tuesday's maybe I can get one before it is out of the bag.
Dan,
Thanks for scoping the shops for me. This last one was at King Aquarium out in San Jose.
dantodd
New member
Looks like more nice blue gigantea at atlantis....
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=924538
I know you're looking for yellow/green but gotta check 'em out...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=924538
I know you're looking for yellow/green but gotta check 'em out...
mobert
Active member
Thanks Dan! I'll have to drive over there just to look. I've never seen a blue one in person. Still working on the nitrates. Added a coil denitrifier & took the bags of carbon that were in the sump for months out. Squeezing a lot of the juice out of the frozen food before feeding...
mobert
Active member
Blue one sold, purple one flat and gaping and yellow one RIP.
Atlantis had some beautiful SPS' and generally great looking corals. There was a very big magnifica that could have been healthy but the color was not appealing. Their beautiful corals makes me think I should go back to my original plan of SPS's on the left.
Aquatic Gallery had two day old Goldbar Maroons and beautiful RBTA 's that they propogated (forced division). Corals looked great too.
Atlantis had some beautiful SPS' and generally great looking corals. There was a very big magnifica that could have been healthy but the color was not appealing. Their beautiful corals makes me think I should go back to my original plan of SPS's on the left.
Aquatic Gallery had two day old Goldbar Maroons and beautiful RBTA 's that they propogated (forced division). Corals looked great too.
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