Questions about blue carpet anemone

[wswftball02]

I am interested in purchasing a blue carpet anemone in the near future, but have some concerns and looking for advise. I have read that they need high lighting requirements, does that mean only halides or could I get away with t5s? Also I have read that they can eat some of your fish which is a concern to me because I have expensive fish, if so what kind of fish would fall victim to it? One more thing, I have read that they tend to not move around as much is this true? Thanks again.

 

[faze07hd]

I just got rid of a Haddoni anemone. The main reason i got rid of it... It was eating almost every new fish i put in my system!

I dont know if it would be ok with you adding it after the fish, but all of my new fish were curious and eventually, swam in it!

I run 2x250w halides with 2xt5's on my 90. I placed it in my tank and at almost 2 years, it moved a total of 8 inches.

I hope that helps a ton... Good luck!

 

[wswftball02]

Thnx for sharing your experience, this is what I DO NOT want to happen to me. My fish include a male rhomboib wrasse, flame wrasse trio, male lineatus wrasse, two picasso clowns, and a potters angel. As you can probably guess I would not want one of these fish to get eaten, thats one expensive dinner!haha

 

[jacksonpt]

DISCLAIMER: Comments below are based on my limited first hand experience. Every tank is different, every animal is different, which means your experience could be VERY different.

So with that said...

I kept a carpet in a previous tank found it to be the easiest to keep of all anemones I had tried over the years. It didn't seem as fussy about light/flow, so it didn't move as much as, say, a bubble tip.

It was MUCH "stickier" than other nems I'd kept, which might be why there are stories about carpets eating entire tanks of fish. I had no problems, but I only had a pair of clowns in the tank.

I kept mine in a 44g pentagon tank under a 175 halide, so I can't comment on how they do under T5s. Perhaps some time searching in the anemone forum would give you some good info.

I eventually sold it to a local reefer when I broke down the tank. I would have one again if I had the room for it.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

tip

tip

research species of anemones...

NOT their color

 

[rjmayes34]

I have a tealish greenish Haddoni anemone. I have had him for about 6 months and he has grown from 7ish to about 9ish inches across. He has only tried to eat two crabs(emerald crabs) but they were too big for him,either way they died. Other than that no problems with him. He has not moved that much from where i set him. In light flow under my t-5s,i have a four bulb 80w each tek light above my 5' 120(25.5" deep and the lights are another 4" above the water) he seems happy. Colored up nice in my tank. I got an anemone crab (porcalin) for him a few weeks ago and just yesterday they paired up,now the crab is walking all over him hanging out and what not. My clowns have hosted my other 2 anemones(seabea,and long tentical) and have not bothered the carpet. My other fish are a yellow tang,yellow eye kole tang, fox-face, coral beauty, spotted mandarin, six line wrasse, and leopard wrasse. Got a few after the carpet and have not had a problem. I think it is a beautiful addition to anyones aquarium!!!!
I have heard that by them having the crab host them it helps keep fish away(crab defends its territory) And im not sure if their is any truth to this one also but that moonlights help the fish see that its their at night?????

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

fwiw

fwiw

I don't recall anyone ever suggesting a moonlight w/ Haddon's until yers trooly.

fwiw2 I use ambient room light (ie: night light)

 

[magdelan]

fwiw2 I use ambient room light (ie: night light)

So does my son. He hasn't eaten a fish yet

 

[Johnny C]

IMO they are difficult to keep and don't deal well with fluctuations of any kind. I wouldn't recommend one [long term] in smaller tanks, they get very large and in a smaller system that can lead to issues (like you mentioned, eating fish).

I don't recall anyone ever suggesting a moonlight w/ Haddon's until yers trooly.

fwiw2 I use ambient room light (ie: night light)

Stop that! :wildone:

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

So does my son. He hasn't eaten a fish yet

works well, doesn't it?

Haddon's carpet anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni) is the fish eater in this family.
I've seen them hunt. They will position themselves to snag a fish.
IME healthy fish in a large enough aquarium won't get eaten by Haddon's carpet anemone. There are exceptions: small slow moving Dragonettes, Gobies, etc.
Don't try and keep a Mandarinfish with Haddon's anemone!

Night time is a great time for Haddon's anemone to hunt because visibilty is low and fishes are more likely to blunder into it. If you have a Haddon's anemone make sure to run a night light or moonlight. I've helped many people in the past with this suggestion and it works. (Sorry,J!)

Haddon's is much easier to keep than S. gigantea ("gig", "gigantic") carpet anemone. Either species can be blue in coloration.

JMO: I wouldn't keep either species in anything smaller than a 40 breeder and I definitely wouldn't place a Haddon's in a smallish aquarium filled with expensive fishes.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

IMO they are difficult to keep and don't deal well with fluctuations of any kind. I wouldn't recommend one [long term] in smaller tanks, they get very large and in a smaller system that can lead to issues (like you mentioned, eating fish). Stop that! :wildone:

IME carpet anemones (Haddon's, gigantea, Merten's) deal with environmental fluctuations much better than many corals do. I'm not ony referring to calcium and alkalinity levels but salinity and temperature as well. I've seen Merten's anemone (HUGE!) kept in reef aquaria that would kill Acropora (due to poor water conditions).

 

[wswftball02]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and such, I think I will stray away from the carpet anemone because I think it would kill me to wake up one morning wondering where my fairy wrasses went haha thats a chance not willing to take especially because my tank isnt huge only a 75 gallon. thanks again guys

 

[rjmayes34]

whenmy tank leaked and i had to temporally hold everything in a rubbermaid bin for a week, most of my fish died(did not relise the importance of flow and oxygenation) my corals and my other two anenomes all suffered but my haddion carpet did well. Really was unaffected IT took about two weeks in the new tank for my other anenomes to get to their regular size,for him it was about an hour or two in the new tank. I agree with gary that they deal with fluctuations pretty good!!

 

[wswftball02]

wow that is pretty impressive!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

further clarifications

further clarifications

the fact that carpet anemones can apparently deal with environmental fluctuations fairly well should not be mis-interpreted to mean they are easy to care for in aquariums. They're not

In fact, I would recommend that only extremely experienced reefkeepers attempt Stichodactyla gigantea with Haddon's being a few notches easier. Neither species are "beginners anemones".

 

[Johnny C]

IME carpet anemones (Haddon's, gigantea, Merten's) deal with environmental fluctuations much better than many corals do. I'm not ony referring to calcium and alkalinity levels but salinity and temperature as well. I've seen Merten's anemone (HUGE!) kept in reef aquaria that would kill Acropora (due to poor water conditions).

You must have better luck than most. IME most of them (I'd guess 60% or more) don't make it past shipping... especially the pretty ones. Once the mouth starts gaping, there usually isn't any coming back at that point.

 

[Kent D.]

I have had one green, one red, and one blue haddoni in my tank for 7 months plus. Two were wild caught when I bought them and had been in captivity my guess is a for a month or so before I bought them.

The green was in someone's tank for a year plus.

My suggestion is to stick with Haddoni's and try to get one that has been in someone tank for some time or go on Divers Den and attempt to buy one from them since they have a 14 guarantee a second choice. Gigs are even harder to keep and I have not had success with the two I have had in other tanks. Keep in mind only Clarkii's and some Tomato's are really the only clown fish that might house in the haddonis. I have read on rare sititations that some percs and ocellaris but yet to see it. My platniums hosted in mintues in my gig.

Most people out there do not suggest mixing haddoni and Gig as Mr.Gary mentioned. I would suggest not mixing them and no RBTA's or LTA's. I have several Mini / Max's in the tank with the HAddoni's and they all play well in the sand box.


AS for fish hunting, my carpets yet to this day have not touched any fish. I have a larger black blenny, a pair of platinum clowns, Christmas Wrasse, Black Tank and Hippo Tang in the tank. As mentioned, smaller fish like manderians and goby would not be good fish.

please note the condy anemone is not in the tank anymore.


so if your beginer with these guys, I would say stay away from gig's unless they have been well established in a tank for some time. Try to get a haddoni from someone who has had it for a while instead of online.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

You must have better luck than most. IME most of them (I'd guess 60% or more) don't make it past shipping... especially the pretty ones. Once the mouth starts gaping, there usually isn't any coming back at that point.

shipping is another thing entirely. My post was in regards to anemones already established/acclimated in an aquarium (LFS)

The art of shipping of anemones is getting better but shipping/acclimation stresses take a huge toll on carpet anemones.
This is another important reason to support a LFS

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

fwiw

fwiw

I helped put together an EXCELLENT anemone FAQ that's located at the very top of the Clownfish/Anemone Forum here on RC.
It's FREE and better than most books currently available on the subject. Definitely worth printing out