Randy's Red Haddoni

A little off topic a this point in the thread but I have a bad story about LH cowfish in tanks. It was a full grown cowfish in an 800 gallon tank that got attacked by a trigger. The trigger mauled its eyes one day after living peacefully with it for years. After that there were inexplicable fish losses for weeks. Obviously, we figured out that the cause was the ostracitoxin a couple of weeks too late. However, it does happen and if it does just do a big water change with some carbon, they are really cool fish though. I'm sure you're more than prepared/capable to handle any kind of issue like that. Beautiful anemone. If you want to feed it a little, just squirt it a little cyclopeeze, that can't possibly hurt anything.
 
It looks much better in the last everyone's.


I've got my fingers crossed, but I know the risks are high. Thanks for everyone's help so far. :)
 
You may want to think about shortening your photo period. At least with the strongest lights. If it is crashing around the same time late in the day, it may be due to excessive light exposure. Just a thought.
 
It's looking alot better than the first couple of pics. I hope it makes it through, I lost 6 red/pink since I started out in the hobby.
 
Just curious, do you have a hydrometer or a refractometer. And if refractometer is it calibrated. Just reading the original post and difference in saliently lead me to think that maybe something is amiss.
 
Just curious, do you have a hydrometer or a refractometer. And if refractometer is it calibrated. Just reading the original post and difference in saliently lead me to think that maybe something is amiss.
 
Randy literally "wrote the article(s)" on calibrating refractometers, salinity, etc. Pretty safe bet he's got that covered.

For reference see: articles

Randy, FWIW, I consider the anemone not moving around to be a good sign. I found they moved most often within a day or two after being fed. Unfortunately, I don't know of much you can do at this point except wait it out.

It's a beautiful speciman and I've seen them pull through after looking a lot worse than yours does. Here's hoping....

Mark
 
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The anemone is nicely reinflated this morning, with the mouth not much different. I'm going to check it after a few hours of bright lighting, and either shut off the mh over it, or block it with a shadow to see if that helps prevent it from deflating later in the day. :)

Just curious, do you have a hydrometer or a refractometer. And if refractometer is it calibrated. Just reading the original post and difference in saliently lead me to think that maybe something is amiss.

Yes, thanks. I used an Orion conductivity meter, and since there was such a difference, I later double checked it against a true commercial seawater standard (made by IAPSO and with a salinity of 34.993 printed on the label; which was kindly given to me by Lou Dell of American Marine/Pinpoint). My tank was about a half ppt higher than I'd like it to be, so I've lowered it over the past week.

FWIW, I think a conductivity meter is a great way to monitor initial equilibration as mine continuously reads salinity and temperature.

I consider the anemone not moving around to be a good sign.

That's good, as it hasn't moved at all, aside from slipping its foot down into the sand against the rock.
It's a beautiful speciman and I've seen them pull through after looking a lot worse than yours does. Here's hoping..

Thanks, I think so and am hoping so too. :)
 
Very nice nem. I have a beautiful neon green haddoni that I collected in a lagoon here in Okinawa. I must admit that my husbandry with this nem is nothing like I would have ever considered back in the states. I was forced to go with the plan I have kept because I was awaiting supplies form the states. I am now going to use those supplies on the larger tank I have planned as the nems and fish in the current tank are doing fabulous.

First of all, I was amazed at the water it was found in. The water in the lagoon is horrible. maybe 2 to 3 feet of visibility and algae everywhere.....but that's what lagoons are for....they are the natural reef filters. And the floor is covered with silt and what looks like detritus...yet this nem was thriving. I have placed it in a 20 gallon aquarium with a mertensii and 4 percula clowns. I am amazed at how well the nems are doing and the fish are thriving as well. The haddoni is the only one that has ever moved and it moved right next to the mertensii and they were in direct contact for over a week before the haddoni moved back. No problems at all. Neither of them retracted a bit and both kept opening fully. I will admit to experimenting a bit with this seeing as to how I could immediately replace them were I got them if issues arose. But, no need. The touching and small tank are not causing any issues and it is going on 3 months together now and they are as healthy and sicky as the day I collected them. I feed them what many call teddy bear crabs and they love them.

My point to all that is that this nem has grown in size and the color intensity is amazing. It is in a skimmerless tank that only has a Marineland 150 HOB filter. Parameters are all good...except PO4 gets up to 0.1 ppm...then I just do a NSW water change. They seem to be able to thrive in water that is not what we consider ideal. In fact, I only see crispas and E. quadricolors out on the pristine part of the reef. All the mertensiis and haddonis are in the lagoons where the water is more turbid.

Great find and great pics. Thanks for sharing.

I cannot post a pic of mine because it is in jpeg format...or I would.
 
One other thought: Having tried both ways a number of times, I'm of the opinion that the presence of clownfish somehow helps S. haddoni anemones through the transition. So, this is one of the few anemones where I introduce clownfish just as soon as the anemone has burrowed its foot under a rock. It'd be interesting to hear if other's impressions/practices are similar?

I use Ocellaris clownfish which may not be as agressive as others. Also, note that ocellaris do not natively host in S. haddoni anemones. I just happen to have ones available that are used to S. haddoni anemones and tend to go right in. Ocellaris that have not previously hosted can take a couple weeks to move in, IME.

Mark
 
I have a well established haddoni, and I had to remove some large saddle backs because they were to rough on the anemone. I have a much smaller clarkii in it now and she plays nice.
 
FWIW, there are two pairs of clowns in tank with the red haddoni (ocellaris and pink skunks), but neither has shown any interest in the anemone.
 
What lights do you have? How deep is your tank? Is it directly under strong lighting? Can you put a few layers of plastic window screen between the light and the top of your tank?
 
The light is quite bright mh. I use double ended 250 w 10k XM bulbs overdriven by a PFO HQI ballast. The tank is a 120 that is 24 inches deep. I'm looking into options regarding temporary shading or light cycle reductions. :)
 
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OK, I put 3 strips of aluminum across that section of the tank blocking a good percentage of the light. At not quite half way through the bright part of the light cycle, it was still well expanded and the mouth was similar to the last photo.

So if it seems to like this better, I'll leave it as is, and then eventually slowly move and remove them to boost the light back up. :)
 
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