trouble with blue carpet.

[bocafish]

My green carpet is looking great and eating well. My New (24hrs old) blue carpet has yet to attach and I don't want to stress it. I wanted to see if you guys/gals have any suggestions/tips on what to do that may help.

I tried digging a hole and left the pumps off all night....nothing. He's not sticky to the touch and opens it mouth wide then closes it. He looks good, plump and inflated. When I bought it was told he was healthy and that light blue is normal color, I thought it was a little light in color but was told otherwise.

 

[MarinaP]

Is it from reefhotspot?

 

[bocafish]

nope, I bought locally.

 

[MarinaP]

I see. I was about to tell my saga of that purchase

What is your dKH measuring at?

 

[Toddrtrex]

My green carpet is looking great and eating well. My New (24hrs old) blue carpet has yet to attach and I don't want to stress it. I wanted to see if you guys/gals have any suggestions/tips on what to do that may help.

I tried digging a hole and left the pumps off all night....nothing. He's not sticky to the touch and opens it mouth wide then closes it. He looks good, plump and inflated. When I bought it was told he was healthy and that light blue is normal color, I thought it was a little light in color but was told otherwise.

IMO, that is a Gig, which, unless Haddonis, don't usually dig a hole to be on/in the sandbed.

I would really question the info given to you, IMO that anemone is slightly bleached -- I have seen worse, but still bleached nonetheless.

 

[bocafish]

that sucks, no one likes getting fooled. I amno expert and I trusted them. I had a feeling... well now that its home any tips, should I put it on a rock? I really don't want to touch it, I don't want to stress it but I do want to help. I put coral life target food in the corals and a chuck landed on it seems to have loved it....dont know what that means...just trying to give more details.

 

[rkelman]

I agree the nem is a Gig for sure. I disagree that its bleached. If you look close at the pic I think its just overexposed. Leave the powerheads off and leave it alone. Let it attach itself. Every time you try and intervene you are stressing it further. Don't feed it. Don't touch it. Its beautiful please keep us posted on its progress.

 

[Pinkskunk]

from my somewhat extensive reading on gigs, yes it looks like a gigs for sure, if it does NOT inflat and deflate, it is a somewhat good news. If it inflats and deflats frequently, that is very bad news. mouth open whne newly introduced is not so bad news.

like someone suggested, leave it alone. if you turn off the poweheads i suppose you are not shutting down circulation completely?

 

[bocafish]

It is inflating and deflating but not much almost looks like its trying to move. Yes, the circulation is cut off, I have been turning the slow pump on every now and then. It barely moves the nem. Tonight I am leaving the light pump and skimmer on all night.

I did however(against my will) have to move the nem because it was completely upside down. I am at a loss with this thing and I really hope it attaches and does fine.

I've had 4 nems in the past, lost one and I don't want this to be the second : (

 

[5Starreef]

Post a picture of the mouth.

 

[OrionN]

I can see the purple veracuae on the column. It is a S. gigantea. They are very difficult to keep and require high light, attach on rock and require high flow.
I am sorry that you did not get good advices when you buy the anemone. I do not think that the LFS is at fault. They are not Saints and they must make a living too. You can see the anemone prior to buying it, it is your decision and your responsibility, not the LFS.
Good luck with him.

 

[bocafish]

I hope it does well too. Know that I have done my reading on gigs I think I can provide everything it needs.

As for the LFS I am not blaming them. I actually really like the place but they do have a responsibility to honestly answer my questions and properly inform me. If I go by your logic I should just become a marine biologist so I can identify all marine species and instantly be able to asses there health. Its not like I pointed at it and said put it in a bag. I asked a bunch of questions. I was misinformed.

I'll post more pics tomorrow, I am crossing my fingers its attached by morning : )

 

[marc price]

looks nice, you may have got a good one. bear in mind it'll be many months before you're out of the woods with this species and by all means ask if anything seems amiss. good luck with it.

 

[OrionN]

bocafish,
Most of the time LFS do not know very much about the animals they sell. Many of them will give you bias opinion to try to not discourage you from buying. You just need to know the animals that you buy. You need to find out about the animal before buying them. You may want to invest in two books below. They will keep you from wasting lots of money buying animals that you should not buy. The price of both book will be less than the price of one or two fish or a piece of coral. Certaily less than 1/3 of what you likly pay for this anemone. Do not make your decision on the advices of the LFS. I am willing to bet that most likely the LFS you bought the anemone from have never keep this species long term, and likely no nothing about them other than "carpet anemone". Most of the can not even tell a S. gigantea from a S. haddoni. I hope you are successful with this anemone, but they are extremely poor shipper and many of this species are doomed even before they get to our tank. Once establish, they seem to be reasonable hardy.

A PocketvExpert Guide to Marine Fishes: 500+ Essential-To-Know Aquarium Species by Scott A. Michael

A PocketExpert Guide to Marine Invertebrates: 500+ Essential-to-Know Aquarium Species by Ronald L. Shimek

 

[bocafish]

OrionN, Thanks for the help. I will be sure to pick up both of the books. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

On a side note it seems to have attached to the side of some LR and seems to be making its way up...Finally! I hope it stays attached, I can't wait until morning to check...lol I am such an aquarium nerd.

 

[lalo809]

I just bought a carpet anemone from a fellow reefer here on RC i did what he told me to do

-DO NOT TOUCH with your hand
-30min floating in my tank
-adding My water to the bag slowly
-put it in the location where you wanted
-turn my koralias off for 12 to 24 hour so it can attach
-just used my return for water movement

after it attached i turn one koralia on the a few hour later turn the other one on.
Hope it help it help me

 

[taylor t]

To me I see a bleached gig. Not bad though. Yes pic is under exposed, but it has no color in parts of it, where it should be brown/blue. If it was mine, I wouldn't cut the flow off, but I'd keep it low until it attaches. Once it attaches, increase it slowly to what it normally is. When healthy, these guys like med-high, even crazy RANDOM flow. They seem to do well with a little "rest" once in a while with flow. I have mine under high flow one minute, off one minute for total stillness.

I would be very careful of light acclimation. IME, new gigs seem to be more sensitive to light acclimation than other species of anemones, especially when bleached. I've often wondered how many die from light shock that gets blamed on poor shipping. Looking back, I'm guilty here too. Maybe try the window screen idea. The ones I have that have made it didn't get any MH for atleast the first week. Just shaded T5 or PC. Looks like you've got one with a fighting chance as long as your water quality is good, and stable. Good luck!

 

[BonsaiNut]

Adding to what people are saying. Yes, it is a gigantea. No, it will not be happy in the sand - it will NOT dig in and will continue to contort and expand its foot - it is trying to move off the sand.

For what it's worth, even sea anemone larvae have strong preferences for substrate. If the substrate is not to their liking, they will not settle out and undergo metamorphosis. Sand anemones (S. haddoni, H. crispa, M. doreensis, etc) need the sand / rubble. Rock anemones (S. gigantea, E. quadricolor, etc) need rocks.

It is bleached but doesn't look too bad. Get it high up on your rocks where it will be close to lights and get good flow across the top of the oral disk (not directly at it).

 

[bocafish]

update

update

Will its moved all over the front of the tank. Kinda semi attached to the glass and rocks at times. I have not touched it. Also, it found my saddle carpet and now the saddle carpet is retreating.

I also have both pumps on and the current on it is med-high. I am also thinking since I moved the power head a little the current might be hitting my saddle carpet the wrong way and thats why it might by retreating. You can see the mouth in this pic. This is about as wide as it gets then it closes, I am not concerned about it. Should I be?

 

[bocafish]

the saddle is completely under the rock, its never done this before. I hope its not because of the gig.