New red carpet, Have a question

[Creetin]

Just got a large red haddoni from a local reefer, It was sold to him as a gig. Looking at it i say haddoni, There is no bumps like a gig on the underside, It does not like flow.
BUT it has a yellow mouth. Can this happen? If it had a red mouth i would definately say haddoni, the yellow is making me question.
Its about 14+ inches
I'll get a pic later today.

 

[elegance coral]

I don't remember ever seeing a red gigantea. Not that it's impossible, though. From your discription, I'd have to agree with you. It's probably haddoni. Need pic's though.

 

[Creetin]

Heres a pic, He is on the move, He was in one spot for a couple days seems like he wants a more sandy spot. On a good note he ate a nice clomp of chopped up clam meat.
You cant see his mouth because he is in between rocks.
I'll get a pic of the mouth when he is settled in his new spot. I have all but one powerhead off till he is done moving. He is getting good light must have been the brittle star bugging him.

 

[elegance coral]

That's haddoni. A rather large haddoni. Once the haddoni gets settled, it may just solve that brittle star problem. LOL.

 

[Creetin]

Thanks, I figured. All the info i dug up here on RC said they have red mouths.
Looks like mine is an exception to the rule.

 

[elegance coral]

Mine doesn't have a red mouth. Mine doesn't really have a colored mouth. The color of the mouth can vary. Kinda like eyes in humans.

 

[jdyer88]

Nice nem!!!!! congrats! I suspect that the brittle star will learn the hard way, not to bother it

 

[Creetin]

Nice nem!!!!! congrats! I suspect that the brittle star will learn the hard way, not to bother it

Thank you,,My cleaner shrimp learned with my green haddoni to not mess with their food. LOL They were also food for the nem. LOL I guess its not that funny $25 appitizers.
Trying to get a blue one to add to the collection.

 

[Creetin]

Well the nem was looking funny this morning, I could not put my finger on it. Shrotly after my wife pointed out that my female onyx perc was missing. Looks like she went in to test it out and was eaten.
this nem is a aggressive eater. It wants to feed. I took another piece of clam meat and fed it again and it greedily closed in on it and fed again. My green haddoni ate a nice big clump too.

 

[Virtuoso]

Well the nem was looking funny this morning, I could not put my finger on it. Shrotly after my wife pointed out that my female onyx perc was missing.

Wow! Sorry for your loss. I have always seen people say be very wary of anemones in a reef tank, but eating a clownfish? That's crazy! While I am a long ways away from thinking about putting an anemone in my tank, I will definitely have to do some more research.

 

[bues0022]

I once had a green-striped haddoni that ate three adult B&W ocellaris before I had it, and two juvi percs before it left my hands. Some can be down-right nasty.

 

[Creetin]

Doing good, But the nem hides his mouth a lot by folding up. Its inflated pretty good and mouth is tight when i can see it. Most of he time he hides it. Is this normal? My green haddoni never hides its mouth but its only 8 inches in diameter. This guy is about double that if not bigger.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Doing good, But the nem hides his mouth a lot by folding up. Its inflated pretty good and mouth is tight when i can see it. Most of he time he hides it. Is this normal? My green haddoni never hides its mouth but its only 8 inches in diameter. This guy is about double that if not bigger.

Worry less about whether he is hiding his mouth than your "gut" about his general appearance. Sign of a healthy haddoni is firmness. It they are sick/weak they will start to get limp. It takes a while to get established in a new tank, however, so rounds of expansions/contractions are normal. These should diminish over time and become less frequent.

 

[Creetin]

Thanks!!! Looking at him i would say healthy, I went through a gig loss that devastated me trying another. I tried the green haddoni, and it has/is doing very good for 2 years now. Infact this red one has colored up better since in my tank. In the back of my head the gig i lost is holding a dark shadow in my mind.
I will try to get a pic later today.
The deflation and gaping mouth is not happening with this nem. I don't think i could watch that again.

 

[jdyer88]

Did the GIG toxify your tank when it went or did you get it out in time? Did you lose any livestock from the toxicity?....BTW, This is the first time I have ever heard of a nem eating a clown. I know anything else that is within reach of a haddoni is fair game, but a clown? Since I first started this hobby I've wanted a haddoni, and IMO my tank is stable enough now. 2 years in this particular DT (upgraded once before) and I am seriously looking around to find a nice healthy specimen. I've had my pair of GB maroons for about five years now and don't know if I could handle them getting eaten. HMMMMMM, this is me reconsidering! i know they are just gb maroons and not fancy ORA snowflakes or platinums but they have been with me for a long time.......

 

[Creetin]

Yes its not uncommon for haddoni's to eat clowns too.I think its from clowns that get too comfortable with it. ( I have seen clowns going right over and sometimes in the mouth) And new clowns. Clowns need to work their way into it. My perc had not done that and was just being protective of the nem. She was a mean momma. LOL I can see the scenario that played out. She nipped at the purple tang or sohal tang and they chased her and she dove in without fully acclimating the nem to her. I have had her for 3 years.
The purple tang trys to get at the new clowns in the haddoni so i think that its more like the purple tang that did it.
She will go when i move the tank in a year to its fish room i am building soon. I may just get a 2 ft by 2 ft cube to add on for an anemone refuge.
The pair of black and white false percs were stung like crazy when they were acclimating. I would say each were stung about 10-12 times while i was watching. Now they are fine.

 

[MikeInToronto]

I wouldn't trust S. haddoni with any clown except saddlebacks and sebaes (from the clowns I've tried), or perhaps clarkiis which seem to be magically immune to everything. IMO, if you want a host for your clown, pick one of its natural hosts. Assuming you can care for that anemone properly, it will probably cause you the least grief. For your maroons, a BTA is the best choice and most likely to be accepted by the clowns sooner rather than later.

I just realised I just hijacked the thread. Sorry to the OP.

I had a carpet like yours - maybe it's in my avatar - and it ate every chromis in my tank. At night the chromis would drift and and get too close then BAM! All gone. The half-digested chromis I found that one time was all the proof I needed. Poor fishies.

 

[Creetin]

Thanks mike, I have had a green haddoni for just about 2 years and the only thing it ate was some snails. It did kill my orange shoulder tang, But that was an emergency tank switch. The fish swam right into it when i moved him over. There were no lights on the tank so i give that one to chance. I expect casualties, The sohal would hurt if i lost him. The purple has been on my nerves lately, But i don't want to lose him either i guess, But it would hurt less.
Everything else in there would not be a poblem. The nem refuge is looking pretty good. I may do that and have a trio of haddoni's in there with clowns only for fish tied into my 300 gallon and 150 gallon sump.

 

[jdyer88]

I wouldn't trust S. haddoni with any clown except saddlebacks and sebaes (from the clowns I've tried), or perhaps clarkiis which seem to be magically immune to everything. IMO, if you want a host for your clown, pick one of its natural hosts. Assuming you can care for that anemone properly, it will probably cause you the least grief. For your maroons, a BTA is the best choice and most likely to be accepted by the clowns sooner rather than later.

I just realised I just hijacked the thread. Sorry to the OP.

I had a carpet like yours - maybe it's in my avatar - and it ate every chromis in my tank. At night the chromis would drift and and get too close then BAM! All gone. The half-digested chromis I found that one time was all the proof I needed. Poor fishies.

Actually I hijacked and you just answered me, sorry Creetin...My maroons are happily living in a huge LTA right now. I may just stick with that but the allure of a haddoni is REALLY strong

 

[Creetin]

Not a problem, Oh i forgot to add there was no toxins in the water but the dead nem polluted the tank something fierce. I did lots of waterchanges till i felt comfortable with the tank. The time i had that nem i must have done 1500 gals in waterchanges if not more.
Sure clean water might help, But in my case it did not.

On a good note the red haddoni was nice and open today after about plowing thru a foot of sand pushing a nice sized rock along with it. When they say they are bull dozers its true!!
He probably did not like the flow he was getting. He is in a much slower flow area.
Mouth is not as tight as i would like to see it but i'll take it.