My Carpet/Haddoni ate $200 worth of fish : (

[Tangwich]

I just witnessed something real sad about twenty minutes ago. In the last two weeks, my 4 inch Regal Angel and 3 inch Golden dwarf angel went missing and not a single piece of evidence of them and they were eating and very healthy. In that time, I have also noticed my carpet anemone grow from like 8 inches to like 12 inches WITHOUT me feeding it anymore. Well tonight, I witnessed it close up real fast without being fed, so I started doing a head count of fish and sure enough, my Purple tang was missing, I got a "claw" type device and opened the anemone and sure enough, the PT was dead and the carpet was having a VERY expensive dinner : (

So now I realize that the other two fish must have been caught as well and eaten so this little sh*t (Haddoni) is gone. But it has attached itself through the sand and onto the glass that's underneath the sand and part/side of a rock. How can I get the anemone off the glass without polluting the tank? Any suggestions are appreciated as I obviously don't want it snacking on anymore of my fish. Thanks

 

[reef rico]

You might want to try and cover its source of lighting in that area and it might just move by itself. It will take a while though.

 

[Haddonisreef]

Tear the tank down will be the only way w/o harming tha anemone good luck!

 

[nevolved]

Could try to slide a credit card underneath. Just do it really slowly, he may start to release and do most of the work for you.

 

[OrionN]

I am sorry, but the animal just does what it does naturally. I hope you are able to remove it unharmed.
Regal angel, Purple tang, Golden dwarf angel... ouch. I feel for you.
The only way is to remove some of the rock, move the sand aside and then use a credit card to get the foot of the anemone loose. I just did the same thing several weeks ago to change my carpet from one tank to another. Be careful and it will tolerate the removal just fine, the tank will be OK also.

 

[Tangwich]

Thanks guys for the info, I'll try the credit card thing and see if it works. This thing is massive and removing all rock and/or tearing my tank down are not an option as I have over 250 lbs in LR. But I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[Atticus]

I feel your pain. I lost 2 spawning pairs of clowns to an elephant ear mushroom of all things... As stated above, take your time and try not to let your anger get to you when you remove the anemone. Just slowly work that card under the foot and you should be fine. I personally would get a shoulder length glove also for working that close to that sticky monster.

 

[Tangwich]

Great point Atticus and sorry about your loss as well. Yesterday while trying to get the Purple Tang out from its grasp, it kept grabbing the "Claw" and sticking to it. When I first introduced the anemone, I wore rubber gloves and plan to do it again.

 

[osprey3883]

Hello,
That sucks. I have been having a similar issue on a cheaper scale, my haddoni keeps eating occelaris. Very annoying.
Good luck on the nem removal!

Matt

 

[Tangwich]

Sorry to hear that Matt...that's very interesting to me as I didn't know that any nems were capable of eating any clowns. And thanks, not looking forward to the removal, but it has to be done.

 

[jubjub]

i heard if you take a ice cube around the foot it will release

 

[scotmol]

I second what jubjubrsx says. Guy at my LFS used an ice cube along the foot of a BTA I bought a couple of weeks ago. He just rubbed it along the edge of the foot until a portion released then slowly worked it under the foot until it completely released. Didn't seem to have any lasting effects...within 30 minutes of being in my tank it had already attached itself to a rock.

Scott

 

[Tangwich]

That's great advice..thanks guys. I will try that. I just hope I can reach down the 30" to use the cube on it. I have to move the sand from around its base to do that. What a production to remove this thing but it beats being left with a fish tank with no fish. lol

 

[Toddrtrex]

Be very very careful. Haddonis will hold onto the bottom of the glass like you wouldn't believe. Need to take your time with it, and if it isn't working, stop and take a break.

It is easy to damage their foot while trying to do this -- I speak from experience.

 

[J.R.L.]

point fast direct flow on it and it will move and then you can catch it

 

[Tangwich]

ice cubes, credit cards, fast direct flow, lots and lots of patience..got it, i think..lol.

i wish i was home trying all of this now to let you guys what did and didn't work.

 

[Tangwich]

correction: to let you guys know what did and didn't work.

 

[seafansar]

I second the turning off the lights. I turned off my tank's lights for a day and my sun anemone detached and started crawling around. It was easy to remove it when it was crawling around. But I didn't have anything else that needed light at the time.

I've also tried the credit card thing with a condy in a bucket. Go really slow! I went too fast and tore it's foot a little, but he's doing fine a month later.

 

[Tangwich]

Ok, guys, thanks for all the great responses. I got it off the glass AND rock. Ultimately what did the job was a handy dandy algae scraper with lots of patience. The anemone isn't happy but looking like it will pull through. Thanks again.

 

[rkelman]

I'd can't believe it ate that many otherwise healthy fish that fast... They aren't the quickest of predators. Your fish swam into them I would be asking why they did that. That is your biggest problem. You have sick fish for some reason. Of course the anemone will eat anything that swims into it. And they will get the odd fish that makes the mistake of getting too close but you lost too many too fast for it to be the anemone's fault.