Mertensii Questions

hansonfam

New member
HI there.

I have just recently aqquired a fairly healthy Mertensii and am curious as to your thoughts of mixing it with 2 gigantea's?

I am going to upgrade my gigantea tank and would like to put the Mertensii in with them. Of course run lots of carbon as always and keep them away from each other.

What are everyones thoughts on this idea?
I guess i can always try and if i see any reactions of any kind remove the mertensii.

The mertensii is still a baby at about 4 inches and recovering nicely from bleaching. It had been in the LFS for 2-3 months and is regaining colour and is sticky.

So what to do???...lol
 
The one they will be going into is a 90. For right now its the 35 gallon cube. They are all together right now as i had to put it in today. I am running fresh carbon and with the way the giganteas are sitting he is on the other side of the tank so no touching....

I did a google search and did find someone who had a Gig in one tank and a Mert in another but they were feed off the same sump. So i am hoping if they don't touch i may be okay???
 
I have had one of the two gigs I have start 'hunting' the other. It would follow the other no matter where I moved it. Finally, I used some open areas with strong flow to keep them apart. I will say this: with regular feeding - each of your gigs will be 10-12" within the year.

Edit:That would be within a year. I don't know about Mertensii carpets, though. Always wanted one. You found one in a LFS? You Canadians can get some really cool stuff in (for as much as you all CLAIM not be able to get any of the good stuff!! ;) )
 
I had a mertens about two months ago

I had a mertens about two months ago

With a gig, i wouldnt suggest it.

The mertens came in with a huge tear in and died anyways but my gig didnt like it at all.
 
Sorry

Sorry

I would def give it its own tank. I have been trying to get a healthy one for a pair of leucs.

Any pics id love to see it.
 
LOL.....Yes i found it at the LFS and they were not sure what it was so it basically sat in the tank...We do get lucky occasionally....

Yes i so know how big they are going to be:)....Hence the going to a 90 within the month...LOL..The Gigs do stick together. The yellow is always bugging the purple. I shouldn't say bugging as the purple doesn't seem to care as he is still huge and no shrinking. But they are on the same rock and touching all the time. The Mert is on his own little rock secluded per say from the other two. Kinda dug himself inbetween the rock he is on and the rock behind him as the lights are pretty bright for him and he is still bleached.

I guess its trial and error and if i see any of them go down hill then i will have to move the mert...
 
I will post some tonite....Its not looking great yet as apparently it came in white but it is getting beige to it and the tips of the tentacles are orange!!
Fed it this afternoon and it ate like a champ and is super sticky so i am hoping thats a good thing..
 
Okay so here are some crappy pics..:)
And yes i have a aptasia and majano issue...I just keep zapping them and the nems take care of them when they touch them...One stupid coral and all hell breaks loose:(
It has now moved to the rock face and hasn't moved in a few hours and lights are now off...
It is not as white as the pics make it look. It is getting noticable beige to it and the tips are all going orange.

PIC_0587.jpg


PIC_0584.jpg


And some of the Verrucue
PIC_0586.jpg


And the gigs for good measure..:)
PIC_0589.jpg


PIC_0585.jpg
 
awsome

awsome

congrats its def a mertens.

Looking good a little bleached but good. you will notice a couple sweeper tentacle close to the mouth when it fully expands. They might be discolored or white and there alot long then the other tentacle.
 
Ahhhhh, reef envy. You lucky dog. It's funny though, check out my shot of my two gigs that I later seperated due to the same competition you have. The touching is definitely an aggressive posture, IMO. Eventually, the carpets went from touching:
Picture232.jpg


To this:
Picture267.jpg


That would be why I seperated them. The purple definitely perked up within a day of moving. If you don't see any decline in either of your gigs, they are likely evenly matched and have reached a sort of equilibrium. Still not sure you are safe to say there is no stress being caused by competition, but you can say it hasn't been enough stress to manifest itself.
 
Good Luck

Good Luck

I gotta tell ya from what ive seen your in luck man. Supposedly Mertenssi are very hardy.

Feed it mysis or small stuff no chunks. If i can find a picture of the one i had you can see a defined sweeper tentacle. Ill post in a little while.
 
Thanks everyone.:)
And i am a she...lol
I never thought of it as the gigs were competing...So i am hoping when i move them to the 90 and can seperate them maybe they will both get bigger. Which is a scarey concept for the green as he is massive already!!

The Mertensii stayed in the same spot all night. It is now fully up on the rock face. I fed it yesterday some mysis and he ate it all fairly quickly and didn't spit it all back up. For the time being untill i transfer to the 90 i am running an obscene amount of carbon in hopes of knocking out any chemical stuff. Should i see a problem in any of them then i am gonna move the mertensii somewhere else.
His foot was clear of any damage so that was a good thing.

Now all the info i can find about flow is moderate. For people that have had them what are your thoughts on this? As he is in a tank with insane flow for the gigs. Although i found a spot for him with a little less but is still getting a fair amount.
 
Info

Info

ive seen some videos of mertens and they do like a stronger flow but more of a rocking motion. no like gigs where is crazy.
 
here

here

Check out the sweeper tentacles in white

<a href="http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s234/ClownBailey24/?action=view&current=IMG_2166.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s234/ClownBailey24/IMG_2166.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
Yes

Yes

But mine also showed up with a 6 inch tear down its side. I kept it alive for a month and finally it succumbed to dying tissue.

They are the most beautiful anemone u can have besides mags
 
Okay so out of sheer nervousness i moved the Mertensii to our sps tank...
I figured i wasn't willing to chance the health of the gig or the mert's so this was my answer untill the other tank is set up. I still don't know if i will move the Merts back with the Gig's.
Anybody know what the light requirments are on the Mertensii? Our sps tank is on a Aquatincs Constellation T5 fixture so that will be easier for him as he came from a tank with 175 watt halide and the halide over the cube is a 250watt phoneix 14k in a Lumenmax reflector so its pretty darn bright.
I will post some pics of him tonite in the new tank once he is settled.
 
Back
Top