Neon Green Carpet Anemone

[dickenscd]

I bought a beautiful florecent neon green carpet anemone a month ago, but it's shrinking and does not do well.

I tried to feed it with small shrimp and fish, but it has not taken any of them.

The same reef tank houses RBTA with couple clown fish for years without problem. Only a black Ocellaris clown goes to the subject anemone at night, not during the day.

The anemone is on the bottom of a 24" deep tank, but have enough light from 250W MH and T5.

Appreciate any advice.

James

 

[dalilgriffith]

A lot of people that I have spoken to about these special colorations report that they sometimes can have issues in captivity. My LFS rarely gets them in and when they do, they are so stressed from transport, they rarely make it. They usually stop eating sometime after that and slowly wither away.

 

[Toddrtrex]

What are your water parameters?

And is this a Haddoni?

I recently got two -- one from online, the other from a LFS --- though I have a feeling that they both use the same wholesaler.

Mine are both showing the same behavior that you are seeing. They are in two different tanks. There is another Haddoni in each of those tanks that are doing great. One of them is a year old, and the other is over 7 years old -- so I have some experience with Haddonis.

Wish I could offer some more insight, but I am stumped. All I can do now is make sure that I keep my water in check and keep an eye on them.

 

[puter]

IME with Haddonis, getting through the first month is not sufficient to predict whether the anemone will make it.

If you have "The Reef Aquarium, Volume 2" read page 401 for suggestions. In a nutshell:

• Treat with Neomycin 10 ppm to address common shipping related bacterial infection
• Give a percula or ocellaris clownfish immediately
• Provide strong light
• Provide moderate to strong water motion
• Provide sand and rocks and initially place on rocks

Two strong indicators of health are whether the mouth is gaping and whether the foot is firmly attached.

Without exception every new Haddoni I've received has, within the first few days, gone through contortions during which the brown leftovers of something it ate before arriving were expelled.

But, it tends to go through the contortions and then expand again. When it stays shrunk down for an extended period the prognosis isn't good.

Mark

 

[dickenscd]

It's a Hoddoni. The mouth started to gap and the foot started to lose his attachment to the rock.

The total water volume is more than 700 gallon, and lots of SPS and LPS are doing well together with 4 RBTA in the same water system.

Is a sand bed helpful?

James

 

[puter]

Is a sand bed helpful?

Yes. The vast majority of Haddonis I've seen in aquariums settle at the interface between some rocks and the sand. In the wild they're known to retract completely beneath the sand when disturbed.

Mark

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12269929#post12269929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by puter
Yes. The vast majority of Haddonis I've seen in aquariums settle at the interface between some rocks and the sand. In the wild they're known to retract completely beneath the sand when disturbed.

Mark

Yep, if I even tick one of my off a lot, it will completely disappear under the sand/rock. All of mine prefer to be right at the sand/rock interface.

You can see that my blue one is right against the rock with its foot under it, in the sand, attached to the bottom of the tank.

And its foot.

 

[elegance coral]

Yep. They really need the rock sand interface. They are sand dwelling anemones. This is mine. His foot is under the rock, stuck to the glass. He will also completely disappear under the sand and rocks if startled.

 

[dalilgriffith]

And for a lot of reasons, keeping a carpet in anything less than MH is strictly frowned upon. While they may survive, they do not thrive.

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12272198#post12272198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dalilgriffith
And for a lot of reasons, keeping a carpet in anything less than MH is strictly frowned upon. While they may survive, they do not thrive.

I am going to disagree a bit with that. If other factors are in check, a haddoni can be kept under PCs, sure MH is better, but it can be done. My tan Haddoni was kept under PCs for 5 of its 7 years I've had it.

 

[puter]

Todd,

Have you ever had the opportunity to take any readings that would indicate how much PAR your Haddonis are receiving? I'm trying to gather some data on the conditions under which Haddonis that have survived in captivity for at least two years have been kept.

Mark

 

[Toddrtrex]

Sorry, no I haven't. But, can give you the info I know. (( the early years might be a off by a month or two, but the light info is correct ))

My tan haddoni

Years 1-3 in a 58 gallon with 3*96 of PC ( 2 10K bulbs, 1 actinic )

Year 3-4 in 58 with 2*175 MH + 2*96 PC (( MH were the Hamilton 10K on an Eballast ))

Years 4-6 in a 75 with 6*65 PC all 50/50 bulbs

Years 6 to current in 75 with 2*250 MH ( Phoenix 14K on Hamiton HQI mag ballast ))+ 2*54 T5 actinic

Blue Haddoni.

Months 1-9 in 75 with 2*250 MH ( Phoenix 14K on Hamiton HQI mag ballast )) + 2*54 T5 actinic (( was in the same tank as my tan one ))

Months 9 -12/current in 58 with 2*175 ( Ushio 14K and XM 20 K in on the left side under the Ushio ) + 2*96 PC actinic

 

[puter]

Thanks Todd,

If you have three things:

1) Bulb distance above the water;
2) Depth of the anemone below the waterline; and
3) An approximate offset from the bulb (if the anemone wasn't right under one)

given your ballast/bulb info I can put together some pretty good estimates.

If you don't mind I'll bug you offline with some feeding and other questions...

Mark

 

[Toddrtrex]

Sure thing. Ask anything you want.

I will give exact measurements tomorrow, but except for the last two months with the tan one in the 75 all the light fixtures have been sitting on the tank.

And for the other two questions, that will be tomorrow evening when I have the tape measure out.

I am off to bed, so I will answer any questions tomorrow after work.

 

[elegance coral]

I have to agree that they do much better under MH. This is a pic on mine under 175W 10K MH, 4 55W compacts, and 2 40W standard florescence. This is in a standard 55gl tank.

This pic was taken after about 2 weeks with no MH. The anemone hadn't moved in about a year and a half, until the MH went out. Then he went on a walkabout. If you compare the distance between the tentacles in this pic to the other one, you will see that he has widened the gaps to allow more light to reach his zooxanthellae. The green color has faded and he is turning more brown. He also simply doesn't look as healthy to me. I have fixed the MH and he seems to be recovering. He hasn't moved again either.

I don't think he would have died, especially if I kept up the feeding, but he clearly does better with the MH.