Strange Blue Carpet

R

Reef_Master

New member
OK, So I seen this anemone in a pet store in Jersey somewhere near new york city when I was there for work.

2011-05-06 20.13.25.jpg

I have never owned a carpet and I know they are finiky and hard to take care of long term. I bought it in hopes of saving it ( I know, I know). I left him there for the next week then when I got home I drove up to get him. I packed him up(LFS let me remove him from their tanks myself) and then drove the eight hours home to put him in his new temp. home.

2011-06-02 10.21.53.jpg

I am really looking for suggestions on how he looks to be doing to the more experienced eye. Also an ID for this guy would be great. His name is Max. The picture below was taken this morning. He is sticky and active when eating. Actually in the picture he is re-opening from a big feeding of PE mysis just 2-3 minutes prior to the photo.

I thought he was bleached but after 3 weeks at home he looks really good to me. Nice and white with beautiful blue tentacles. The pictue is from my phone so it dosnt do it justice. He is a very dense white and some tan showing up in the base of him. What do you think?
 
Nice find. He looks healthy and happy to my amateur eyes. I've been wanting another carpet-red or blue and unable to find one locally. My experience is with a green carpet and I've had him for 14 months and he's done great. I feed him occassionally but he obviously picks up food from the water column or his clown brings him bits. He found a corner and has stayed there. Enjoy.
 
Reef Master, nice nem. Unbeknownst to me as a BRAND new newbie, the LFS sold me a Yellow Carpet Nem when we had the tank for 1.5 months. BAd idea He even told me that he would "help" me by loaning me a small 24 inch Compact Fluorescent light, because the Carpet needed "some" light. BAD Advice. After that death, I did some research. Okay, in my Top 10 Dumbest Newbie Mistakes, that's in the top 5. Do you have Metal Halides or LEDs?? Later, my wife had a huge desire to get another Nem for the Saddleback Clown pair, until I found out that most people recommend that you have to have MHs or LEDs. Also, I've heard that they are very sensitive to high phosphate levels. There's a separate Forum here for Inverts and I think there's one JUST for Nems. BTW, do you think it's dyed? I've seen BEAUTIFUL green Haddoni carpets and Red ones, but never a blue one or a neon yellow one. I've heard that blue and yellow are dyed, so if it turns to a dark pale or brown color, dont' be surprised. I sure hope not because that's a beautiful blue. Can anyone comment on whether the blue and yellow carpet nems are natural or dyed??
 
Thanks for the compliments.

Well there are blue carpets, but rare in the trade from what I have read. It is not dyed. I have it in a species only tank. The only thing in the tank is 'Max' the blue carpet and 'Flo' a purple tiped white sabae. I put a clam in there while cleaning and he attached too firmly to a rock so i left him in there. The lights I use for them is a 250W bushke MH with 4 T5 actinincs.
 
That sounds GREAT. How much did you pay for it? How often do you feed it? I'm asking because I want another Carpet. How do I tell if the one I'm looking at is dyed?
 
It appears to be an S. Haddoni. IME, Haddonis don't mix will when keep with other anemones -- and your "sebae" (( H. Cripsa )) is bleached if it is still white.

What are your water parameters?

It looks fairly healthy, but it is bleached.

Back when I had mine -- can see how deep blue the color can be

pinkandblue.jpg
 
To be fair to the concept of a species tank, having two fairly aggressive, different species of anemone in the same tank does, at least in my humble opinion, take away said designations. Maybe..... Anemone tank? That works. Species(although I admit the lines between what separates many marine species are often blurry at least, non-existing at most), not so much.
 
I payed 170.00 for Max and 20.00 for the Flo. The price is why i decided to make an 8 hour drive home with it. I couldnt pass it up. All the carpets I see of that size and color are usually 500-1000. I thought it was a great deal. As long as I can keep him healthy till he gets put in his permanent home (600g System).

I feed them both daily, mysis in the morning and copepods or enriched brine shrimp at night when he stretches out in the water column looking for food. I closly monitor phosphates and do a WC consistantly. I test Iodine daily also.
 
My favorite anem is the white sabae, It is not bleached. I promise you that. I have grown them from 3" to 10" and the color has always remained beautiful snow white with purple tips. The ones I had as a kid were the exact same. I am sure the carpet is bleached, but i know the sabae is not.
 
Yes i run lots of carbon and change particle filters 2x a week and overskimm.

PH 8.4
Temp 80.5
nit 0
phos 0
calc 430
sal 1.025

oh and Flo is coming out. she is in there temporarily.
 
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One last time -- what are your water parameters? (( just trying to help you with the recovery of the S. Haddoni )).

Would like to see a picture of that H. Crispa -- if it is truly white, then it is bleached, white is not a normal/healthy color for an H. Crispa.
 
I should also mention that they are target feed with no flo and reamaing food is syphoned out before the pumps and skimmer restart. I think i was over feeding for fear of it being bleached and phosphates ran high I just backed it down to less amount and that worked out well.
 
It is a 600 gallon system with 360 gallons dedicated to live rock and minature lagoon that houses macro so I can add and subtract tanks as I need. They are plumbed right into the system using overflow boxes. There is about a 1000 lbs of live rock. 400W MH and lots of t5's. it is in the basment in a locked and air cooled room. The pipes run to the upstairs display tank which is where the carpet will be moved after quarantine.
 
Last edited:
Toddrtrex said:
One last time -- what are your water parameters? (( just trying to help you with the recovery of the S. Haddoni )).

Would like to see a picture of that H. Crispa -- if it is truly white, then it is bleached, white is not a normal/healthy color for an H. Crispa.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your help. It is definitly what I am looking for. I am not sure what you are asking for in parameters other than what I have posted. If it isnt, could you please be specific. Sorry, I have trouble reading between the lines when it comes to specifics. I am new to the forum and try to read as much as i can, but things get lost in written converstaions. I am truly grateful for you taking anytime at all in helping me. Thank you all.
 
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