Safe to keep multiple Carpet Anemone's?
- Thread starter kinerson
- Start date
Jamie1210
Active member
well, first off, there's several different species of carpets ... giganteas, haddonis, maxi-mini's, just to name some.
Are you talking about mixing different species? or same carpet species? I've seen maxi mini's growing next to each other w/no problem, but definitely not a good idea for different carpet species to be touching each other--sometimes just being in the same tank might not be a good idea (do a search and you will find several ppl's experiences posted)
Are you talking about mixing different species? or same carpet species? I've seen maxi mini's growing next to each other w/no problem, but definitely not a good idea for different carpet species to be touching each other--sometimes just being in the same tank might not be a good idea (do a search and you will find several ppl's experiences posted)
So can they be placed close enough that they physically can touch each other? I have a section in the middle of my display that is a sandy section between two rock piles. It gets a good amount of light and currently has one bright green haddonis living there. He has been there for about 8 years. There is room for another but it is likely when they fully expand that they may touch a little bit.
Thank you all for your help!
Thank you all for your help!
That's what I wanted to know! That looks very much like what I want to do. I'm sorry to hear you lost the tan one. 12 years is a long time. My bright green one has been in my care for about 15 years now. The thought of loosing him is heart breaking.
Can you explain in further detail about why you would qTing it first? I do understand the importance of qTing livestock before introducing it into an established reef but is there something specific with these nems? What happened so that you lost them both?
Thanks!
Can you explain in further detail about why you would qTing it first? I do understand the importance of qTing livestock before introducing it into an established reef but is there something specific with these nems? What happened so that you lost them both?
Thanks!
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
It appears that some S. haddoni will come in with some sort of "infection" (( used "quotes" because not sure what it really is )) that doesn't allow them to settle in, and eventually die. It appeared (( nothing else changed in the tanks, yes plural, I moved the new/sick one to another tank, with had the tan one )) that the "infection" can be easily passed to existing and otherwise healthy S. haddoni and take them down too.
So, I would want to keep any new ones separate from any existing ones (( nothing shared )) for at least a month.
So, I would want to keep any new ones separate from any existing ones (( nothing shared )) for at least a month.
Gotcha. Oh that must of been a heart breaker. The nem I will be getting is a red one. If I had the room I put a blue one in there too 
I'm toying with the idea of adventually fragging the red one after it settles in. I almost tried it on my green one but I am just to attached!
I'm toying with the idea of adventually fragging the red one after it settles in. I almost tried it on my green one but I am just to attached!
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
Gotcha. Oh that must of been a heart breaker. The nem I will be getting is a red one. If I had the room I put a blue one in there too
IMO, there is no way I would risk fragging an S. Haddoni, they don't naturally split. A certain expert (( with the initials A C )) has claimed to successfully fragged them, but has never shown any proof.
I have never noticed any change in behavior when they are touching, similar to it touching itself. As long as the conditions are correct, it should stay in place.
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
For clown anemones same species is generally ok - though this is NOT the case with all anemone species. And for what it's worth anemones can tell the difference between same species neighbors and clone neighbors (via scientific paper). I have found with clown anemones that they are aggressive towards non-species, detente with same species, and friendly towards clones. For example H. magnifica will not sting other individuals of the same species but seem to prefer some space between individuals that are not clones - while clones will pile right on top of one another and seem to prefer to be tucked up one against the other so you can barely tell there is more than one individual.
As far as fragging goes... I wouldn't try it. Success rates with most clown anemone species are 0% - there is not a SINGLE reported success. With S. haddoni, there are scattered reports of limited success, but success rates are lower than death rates so you will probably end up with two halves of a dead anemone.
E. quad and H. magnifica are the only two species of clown anemone that asexually reproduce in the wild with any degree of frequency. They are the only two species of clown anemone that can be "fragged" with a degree of success - i.e. that you can be reasonably assured that you will gain anemones over the long haul. Please note that even with these two species the success rate is NOT close to 100%. I would guess that you are probably just as likely to gain anemones by letting them asexually reproduce naturally than by forcing them to split when they might not be ready.
Also, for these two species we are talking about cutting an anemone in half. For those people who have cut their anemones into quarters (or heaven forbid, more pieces) the success rate is 0%.
As far as fragging goes...
I wouldn't try it. Success rates with most clown anemone species are 0% - there is not a SINGLE reported success. With S. haddoni, there are scattered reports of limited success, but success rates are lower than death rates so you will probably end up with two halves of a dead anemone.E. quad and H. magnifica are the only two species of clown anemone that asexually reproduce in the wild with any degree of frequency. They are the only two species of clown anemone that can be "fragged" with a degree of success - i.e. that you can be reasonably assured that you will gain anemones over the long haul. Please note that even with these two species the success rate is NOT close to 100%. I would guess that you are probably just as likely to gain anemones by letting them asexually reproduce naturally than by forcing them to split when they might not be ready.
Also, for these two species we are talking about cutting an anemone in half. For those people who have cut their anemones into quarters (or heaven forbid, more pieces) the success rate is 0%.
I personally have had near 100% success at cutting maxi mini's, mini mini's, rock flower anemone's, and of course BTA's. I will certainly look closely and research before I cut a haddoni. I was under the impression it was being done with fair success. I'll have to look into further. Thanks for the warning
Thanks
Thanks
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Do not confuse success rates of anemones that reproduce asexually (like all the ones you listed) with success rates of anemones that only reproduce sexually.
Show me ONE successful frag of H. crispa, or M. doreensis, or S. gigantea, or H. malu, or H. aurora... as far as I know there has never been one, EVER. Additionally, there is not a SINGLE record of any of these species ever reproducing asexually in an aquarium. In this age of the Internet, where everyone has a camera, and people around the world are recording every minute detail of events that occur in their aquariums, I believe that the odds are far, far against you.
Toddrtrex
Premium Member
And that is the thing, the expert above I mentioned, and an RC member (( who is no longer around )) both claimed to have done with with anemones that don't reproduce asexually, and they somehow never thought to take a picture; hmmmmmm
BonsaiNut
Premium Member
I can't prove a negative. So I can't prove that NO ONE somewhere on this world has not done this and been successful. All I can say is that the proof of success does not exist. Many people have TRIED, and the proof of FAILURE is everywhere. So I keep telling people that they are likely throwing their money away.
On a positive note, at least we have very detailed records of two species - E. quad and H. crispa being raised to adulthood via sexual reproduction
I wish we could get a clown breeder to try to tackle the problem.
elegance coral
They call me EC
Do you have any evidence to substantiate this claim? Especially where the "rock flower anemone", E. crucifer is concerned. Any evidence at all?
The "mini mini"/ S. tapetum reproduces about as fast as aiptasia, so I don't doubt fragging this species could be successful. Although I don't understand why one would want to.
The "maxi mini" (Maybe a form of S. tapetum, maybe a completely different species????) hasn't been in the hobby long, so well documented success with fragging this animal is hard to come by. At least I haven't found it. I've seen evidence of people cutting them in half, but evidence of long term survival seems to be limited.
I've been keeping "rock flower anemones"/E. crucifer for about 25 years. I've seen no evidence of this anemone reproducing through division. I've also seen no evidence to suggest that this animal could survive being cut in half. I've seen individuals die from a small cut on the pedal disk.
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BonsaiNut
Premium Member
Hey Elegance... I was thinking asexual in general and not division specifically. You are right - I am also not aware of asexual reproduction via division for this species.
There have been some reports recently of asexual reproduction of E. crucifer in aquaria, though I think the jury is still out whether it is true asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction via internal brooding. Here are a couple mentions:
Live birth E. crucifer at Morphologic Blog
Live birth E. crucifer at Michigan Reefers
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