Purchased a new green gig this weekend for a decent price. He's about 15" and extremely healthy and surprisingly bright. He'll be the last gig I add however I do have an opportunity to purchase a gold tip mertensii about 3". He is not cheap by any means but they're so rare to come by at least for me. I can't find much about them on forums but I know some of you have housed them or currently housing them. Are they basically like gigs? High flow high light? Do they get sick often from shipping? Pics of the new green gig and mertens that I'm pondering buying (or sunburst bta). Thanks
Mertensii info - new gig
- Thread starter akida
- Start date
anemoneguy
Member
my metins gets what i would call medium flow. it seems really happy with that and i have it on a nice large rock base that it has setteled down into the crevis of. its about 14 inches at least or so and doesnt touch the sand bed because the rock is so big. i went through a lot of them before getting a nice one. i asked the shipper to ship in the smallest amount of water possible and he did and it came in awesome. i have it in with 3 other anemones and one is a gig and it requires much flow. i have a mp40, 2 sea swirls and i ended up buing a small controlable tunze just to add more flow to the gig. the mertins gets nowhere near the amount of flow. as for light i have 2 orpheks and im happy with the light. i thought about adding something in the middle like a mh for my gig and ritteri, but they also seem to love this light so im not changing anything. good luck
Thanks I noticed the mertens I'm considering buying resembles more of a haddoni than a gig but the larger mertens I've seen have long tentacles like gigs, not short and stubby like haddoni? What do you think the color will turn out to look like with the mertens in the photo? It's supposed to be goldish.
D-Nak
Active member
The spots in the photo tend to be stress spots. All of the merts I've seen in person at the small size have these spots. They fade when the nem gets bigger, and when I mean bigger I mean A LOT bigger.
I know we each have our opinions regarding merts, but for me, they're not worth paying a premium. While uncommon, I feel like that's all they've got going for them --they're not much to look at and they get REALLY big and take up a ton of space. I've seen them mis-IDed and sold for $40 at the LFS. I think that's about how much they're worth. Sorry for bashing, I just think they're highly overrated.
Where are you located akida? I know who the seller of the nem is and can check in on it if you like.
I know we each have our opinions regarding merts, but for me, they're not worth paying a premium. While uncommon, I feel like that's all they've got going for them --they're not much to look at and they get REALLY big and take up a ton of space. I've seen them mis-IDed and sold for $40 at the LFS. I think that's about how much they're worth. Sorry for bashing, I just think they're highly overrated.
Where are you located akida? I know who the seller of the nem is and can check in on it if you like.
anemoneguy
Member
i wont touch much on the whole "stress spots" thing, but i have had green and white striped hadonis over the years that with time only colored up their spots/striping and i have also seen numerous photos of hadonis and mertins in the wild with these markings. mine has certain tentacles that are longer then the rest and are throughout the body of the nem and they are not exactly white, but more a yellow color to me.
D-Nak
Active member
Sorry -- I think I rushed my response. More specifically, of all of the merts I've seen that were less than 6" all had the spots you see in the photo. Even the orange on the rim. However, then they got bigger, the spots disappeared and they become almost solid brown.
Here's one example:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2524895&highlight=mertensii
I would say that they're most like haddoni than gigantea, but they live in the rockwork.
Here's one example:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2524895&highlight=mertensii
I would say that they're most like haddoni than gigantea, but they live in the rockwork.
D-Nak
Active member
I've seen a lot of photos and videos of merts with stripes and spots in the wild, but none in a captive environment. We call them stress spots because once acclimated, they typically fade. It may be something that we aren't replicating in our tanks, but for some reason, the spots only seem to "stick" in the wild.
D-Nak
Active member
And here's a fun thread from a couple years ago:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21384215
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21384215
D-Nak
Active member
And another thread that discusses the spotting:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2176887
When I re-read it, I think my use of "stress spot" should be amended. I don't think it's directly stress related, but what's worth noting is that they typically fade the longer the nem is in captivity.
In other words, don't jump on a merts with spots or stripes hoping it'll stay that way when it get bigger.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2176887
When I re-read it, I think my use of "stress spot" should be amended. I don't think it's directly stress related, but what's worth noting is that they typically fade the longer the nem is in captivity.
In other words, don't jump on a merts with spots or stripes hoping it'll stay that way when it get bigger.
Rare Angels
New member
That's beautiful!
D-Nak
Active member
You mean like these "stress" spots?
Hey hey, I tried to retract my statement. :hammer:
I challenge you to find a photo of an established mert in captivity with those same types of markings!
Winwood
New member
They are fairly uniform in tentacle length. When they are small their tentacles tend to be shorter and stubbier. As they grow and relax their tentacles tend to lengthen. Unlike other carpets however, the tentacles closest to the mouth often become substantially longer than the peripheral ones.
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
I'm not discounting what you said because I have seen the same thing and honestly don't know. I used to see those markings on haddonis all the time, but haven't seen one in a LFS in years - let alone someone's tank.
Generally, I associate it with uber bright, shallow water lighting. I hypothesize that it is like sunscreen for anemones
However I have no proof - and certainly no experience with bringing an anemone in with those markings, and have them fade/disappear over time in a tank.
P.S. A perfect example of exocoelic tentacles on a S. haddoni. S. gigantea don't have them...
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Winwood
New member
I'm not discounting what you said because I have seen the same thing and honestly don't know. I used to see those markings on haddonis all the time, but haven't seen one in a LFS in years - let alone someone's tank.
Generally, I associate it with uber bright, shallow water lighting. I hypothesize that it is like sunscreen for anemones
P.S. A perfect example of exocoelic tentacles on a S. haddoni. S. gigantea don't have them...
Very interesting that this haddoni appears to have it's foot buried in a rock crevice and not sand.
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Yeah. Not my photo, so I don't know where it was taken. The only haddonis I have seen in the wild have been in the sand. They might be NEXT to a rock, but they always have their foot in the sand.
D-Nak
Active member
If anyone is looking for one, this seller just dropped his price:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2524896
Unfortunately, I'm guessing this is what happens to many captive merts --people simply get tired of them. As expected they get very big and with limited real estate in our tanks, people want their space back and need to protect their other inhabitants from getting stung or eaten.
It's more proof that merts are only suited for those people who have very large tanks. Even this 300DD wasn't big enough.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2524896
Unfortunately, I'm guessing this is what happens to many captive merts --people simply get tired of them. As expected they get very big and with limited real estate in our tanks, people want their space back and need to protect their other inhabitants from getting stung or eaten.
It's more proof that merts are only suited for those people who have very large tanks. Even this 300DD wasn't big enough.
