S. Haddoni carpet anemone spawning??

[puter]

Again, while things certainly can go either way, I wouldn't give up hope yet. The fact that your anemone is firmly attached is a really good sign.

The everted stomach isn't. If it were me, I'd lay off the feedings for awhile but not change any other conditions unless there's an obvious change in the status of the anemone.

A healthy, well conditioned S. haddoni anemone can survive being cut in half... so it can certainly recover from having a damaged foot. It seems to be particularly easy to damage the pedal disc of these anemones, much more so than BTAs.

Hang in there...

 

[TEDALLEN80]

I only fed it that once...and he took it in like a champ. I wont give up on him. Tomorrow i will however knock out another water change Probably a 10-15% 35 gallons or so.

 

[TEDALLEN80]

ill continue with the daily pics and thanks for the help so far.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Mine did not look at all like that after it spawned. It was shrunken up a bit, but its mouth was tightly closed the whole time.

Hopefully your is still just recovering from the move and spawning, but any time I have had a Haddoni invert its mouth/guts like that it didn't end up making it.

 

[TEDALLEN80]

same here...here is some of the other carpets i have had over the years mostly in bare bottom systems and none have ever shown this type of behavior:

and for size reference, the clown hosting the mouth

 

[TEDALLEN80]

todays update:
overnight he moved 6" to the left. he is backing into where i made a dam with 2 rocks and he is inflating so that his top overlaps the rocks. I think he might want to have some sand maybe a natural instinct...maybe he wasnt happy in a bare bottom system...

Here is what i am going to do. I have a rectangular rubbermade container i will fill with 4 or more inches of sand. I will cut the end off and have the sand taper down to the foot of the anemone. This way i will not have to disturb the anemone or remove his foot. Hopefully he will go right in the tupperware. When he goes in it i will put the side back on and the tupperware will be full of sand with the anemone in it.

 

[MarinaP]

haddoni like to wedge the foot like that \ in the sand and under the rock.

 

[TEDALLEN80]

yeah all mine have done it. In the tupperware i have i was going to put a rock in there so he can be in the sand and under a rock, but its up to him to move in there or not.

 

[MarinaP]

so far he has been following my train of thought best of luck with him, really. If you have some time, take a few good pics of him, so I can add them to Anemones' FAQ here on RC.

 

[TEDALLEN80]

i will....thanks. I will post up day 5 pics tonight

 

[TEDALLEN80]

here is day 5:

 

[TEDALLEN80]

ok so today is day 6 and the anemone continued to move. I placed the rubbermade tupperware in front of him and blocked his path with a rock so he would move into the sand filled tupperware. Well after a couple of hours he did and the stomach is noticeably smaller (i think) But here he is as of 20 minutes ago

 

[TEDALLEN80]

day 6 9pm update:
a little progress i think although the anemone crab was supposed to be dead 3 months ago. I guess he survived off of scraps??? anyway here is the current status.

 

[puter]

If the anemone is moving around it is critically important, IMO, that you wedge the nearby rocks so they will not move at all. That size anemone will push the rocks pictured around, no problem at all. And, if the rocks move, the anemone will continue to do so as well.

Moving S. haddoni anemones do not fare well.

Also, I believe it is important that the anemone find a place where its pedal disc is 1) exposed to little to no flow, and 2) is completely shielded from light. While I wouldn't add sand so that it touches the anemone, I'd ensure those conditions are met by making sure there's plenty nearby.

If you read the thread on Randy's anemone you've seen my detailed recommendations on how to arrange the rocks so the anemone can bury its column under a sloping rock ledge while its oral disc lays over rocks on the surface.

I certainly don't claim to have all the answers, but that rock arrangement has worked out quite well in a number of cases.

 

[TEDALLEN80]

once he moved into the tupperware on his own i blocked him in, On each side there's a rock buried as you can see in the pics above. I also mounted the rock to the tupperware via acrylic rods so the rocks wouldnt move at all. The sand is roughly 4" deep so the rocks are buried good. Once he got into the tupperware and realized he was in sand he got taller and the mouth shrunk.

Now this could have a direct result from being in a bare bottom system. The foot extends/stretches down into the sand or through the sand causing the anemone to make itself taller. Once he's taller it would pull the stomach/mouth together back into the column. Seems logical right?

 

[BonsaiNut]

I am curious about your water parameters - particularly pH and alkalinity. Do you know the pH and alkalinity of the tank/supplier you received it from? How are you maintaining calcium levels in your tank? How was the anemone acclimated?

To me, it looks stressed but healthy. Your water appears to be high alkalinity (which is fine once the anemone is acclimated). Try to avoid changes in its environment. I disagree with people who are suggesting lots of water changes unless you have a definite reason to do so.

How is the water movement and dissolved oxygen? Don't forget - haddonis are shallow water anemones that live in the surf zone. Once established they are very hardy, but if stressed I have found they do better with more water motion and high levels of oxygen. I have had haddonis wrap around heaters and burn almost in half, and then recover, so I wouldn't worry too much about hardiness as long as proper environment is maintained and the anemone acclimates well.

They ARE sand anemones - so they would prefer the sand. In the past, mine were always in the sand at the bottom of the tank, regardless of where I would chose to locate them. As long as their foot and column were in sand they seemed happy and did not wander frequently (as long as other parameters were met).

I would not feed until it acclimates. When you decide to feed, try extremely small pieces of food a few times a day (no larger than a pencil eraser).

 

[TEDALLEN80]

current water parameters:
alk 10dkh
calcium 400
mag 1300
ph 8.1
salinity 1.025-1.026
temp 78-81
po4 .02 hanna
nitrate undetectable
dissolved oxygen is unknown


Drip acclimated anemone for 2 or more hours. He was in a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 way filled and i filled it 2 and a half times before removing to the system.

How am i maintaining calcium??....I have a big GEO calcium reactor for alkalinity and i manually dose calcium if it falls below 400. Starting to drip kalk 24/7 to keep ph levels at bay. I do not have a second chamber for the reactor but i am thinking of adding a cup with an airstone and having the effluent drip into the cup to burn off some of the excess co2

I received the anemone from a hobbiest and his water parameters are unknown. I didnt think to test the water.

Water movement is slow/mild. Not turbid, and no direct flow. Roughly 2500 gph in a 4'x3'x18" deep tank plus the return. Just enough to move the oral petal just a bit but not make the oral petal flap over.

I havent fed since the first feeding, and right now he us buried nicely in the rubbermade tupperware surrounded by a dam of rocks and hasnt moved since he got there yesterday

Also as far as water changes i have only done 1 so far and that was because of the spwan

 

[BonsaiNut]

Once settled, he won't need a lot of flow (unlike gigantea).

I have found these guys to be particularly sensitive to changes in pH and alkalinity. In the photos it appears you are dosing calcium, so depending on what process you use, you may have swings in pH (i.e. the acid/base swing of CO2 / Kalk). Additionally, if your friend does not dose calcium, he may have a very different water makeup than yours - including much lower alkalinity and different pH.

From everything you describe, your water is good - but we don't know what water he came from. This may be a simple case of too much of a change in water chemistry too quickly (especially given the triggered spawn behavior). I think he looks better in the most recent photos. I would try to keep the environment as stable as possible and let him continue to acclimate and hopefully he will recover. At this point doing "nothing" is probably the best course of action. Based on everything I have seen I am optimistic...

 

[welldigger]

In the photos it appears you are dosing calcium, so depending on what process you use, you may have swings in pH (i.e. the acid/base swing of CO2 / Kalk).

What did you see in any of these pictures that would give that away? He states his process for dosing but I'm wondering how you picked up on that from pictures?

 

[TEDALLEN80]

What did you see in any of these pictures that would give that away? He states his process for dosing but I'm wondering how you picked up on that from pictures?

i was thinking the same ......??????