New carpet feeding

E

ezfelker

New member
I got a new carpet last weekend , ~ 6" diameter stripped haddoni (I think). Acclimated for several hours, then adjusted to lights over 4 days.

It looks good, inflated with mouth tightly closed. It deflates at night and the mouth will open a bit, but doesn't seem extreme. During the first couple of days the mouth was open slightly and there was a little bit of brown stuff coming out. I assumed it was waste.

Tried to feed it a couple of times, shrimp and smelt, but nothing doing. It doesn't seem to be very sticky and not interested in the food. Should I be concerned or is this just part of acclimating?
 
There is a chance that the brown stuff that was coming out was actually zoax -- the internal algae. IMO4 days is very fast to acclimate to lights, I usually do it over 3 weeks.

I usually wait to fed them, but would be a little concerned that yours isn't very sticky.

How much is it deflating at night? It is normal for them to get smaller after lights out, but deflating isn't.
 
Agree with Todd. You might want to try triggering a feeding response by placing the food in the tentacles and shaking it fairly hard until it triggers a response from the nem - like a live fish stuck in it might act. Don't push it in the mouth. If it won't eat, give it another week and try again.
 
Try feeding smaller items, mysis maybe, not being sticky is weird to, mine is the stickiest anemone I have ever owned and was like that from day one
 
Thanks for all the help.

I don't think it was zoax. It was really thick (not stringy). Plus the nem still looks to have all it's color. I was going to acclimate to the lights longer, but it looked really good - fully inflated and mouth closed. I kept taking off screens each day and no change.

Deflating is probably the wrong word. It shrinks to about 2/3-1/2 the size.

The non-sticky is the part that bothers me the most. I was able to stimulate a feeding response by shaking the food in the nem, but was nervous that I might hurt it so I stopped. I'll try again in another week with a small piece of food.

Are nems less active at lower tank temps? I had another heater go bad (shocked me pretty good), but haven't replaced it. Tank is around 76.
 
Still not eating. It reacts, but still isn't very sticky and won't grab onto food. It wraps, but then just unwraps and lets the food float away. It's been a couple of weeks and now is starting to look like the tentacles are shrinking a little bit. Not sure what to do.

My clownfish have found it and love it...Guess I should just wait it out and keep trying to feed every few days?
 
If you anemone is like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktb9TPoHrO8

You must wait at least two weeks until trying to feed it, first it has to acclimate to your lights and to your water parameters.

The clowns are going to be better for it to acclimate.

Try to feed PeMisys to your clowns, and if they have enough food they will feed the anemone.
 
A carpet that is not sticky is a bad sign. If the clowns are large, they could kill and anemone that your are acclimating. It takes finding a healthy carpet.
 
kevorkian said:
A carpet that is not sticky is a bad sign.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm worried about. I guess there is nothing to do, but wait it out...

Not to be morbid or anything, if it is unhealthy and not going to make it, how long does it take? Will it hold on for months?
 
ezfelker said:
That's what I'm worried about. I guess there is nothing to do, but wait it out...

Not to be morbid or anything, if it is unhealthy and not going to make it, how long does it take? Will it hold on for months?
Click to expand...

They can go fairly fast, once they start to go -- a matter of days.

Is there a chance that you could get a picture of it? Would be helpful in determining what state it is in.
 
a few pics. clownfish is about 1-1.5" for size reference.

IMG_2201.jpg


IMG_2200.jpg


IMG_2199.jpg


IMG_2198.jpg
 
Not really, it's been kind of hitched up on rock since I put it in.

I did a water change on Sunday (pics are from right after) and it's been looking really rough since then. Mouth was wide open this am :(. I'm afraid of what waits for me at home...
 
Well it was still alive last night when I got home. Not looking great, but not really any worse. This AM it looked bad again, mouth wide open, but it closed up as soon as I approached the tank. Hoping the response was a positive sign...
 
I might give that a try tomorrow. It moved 4-5" yesterday, but it did not bury it's foot. Regardless, I'm encouraged that it's moving...figure that means it's adjusting.
 
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