What's a good price for a 24" red haddoni?

[sonofgaladriel]

My LFS has some incredible colored carpets in this week. I almost passed out when I walked in and saw the brightest red, a bright yellow/green, and a super royal blue carpets.
The red is at least 24" in diameter, the yellow 30", and the blue around 20". They all are attached in the sand bed, with good tentacle movement, are reactive to touch and light, and are all inflated. They are waiting a few days before attempting to feed them, but they did add some clowns last night.
The big red is being offered at $450, which at first seemed incredibly high priced, but after a few days of research, this price does not appear to be extraneious, especially for a healthy specimen.
I've heard the red's are very rare and can be difficult but I've also read that haddoni's are quite hardy.
From what I've described, would this be an anemone worth purchasing and dedicating a tank to?
Oh, I did buy the cutest baby royal blue carpet from the same store yesterday. It is only about 3" in diameter when fully expanded, but incredibly healthy looking and eating mysis on day one! I thought it was a mushroom at first but its a true baby carpet. I'll take some pictures and post tonight.
Thanks for any tips on the big red one.
Sean

 

[slcw]

I am not sure.

I read many full moons ago that red haddoni is not possible, no red haddoni.
At 1 time I was interested and was on the look out.

don't flame me...

 

[sonofgaladriel]

I was told by a fellow hobbyist (who has 'some' experience with carpet anemones) that it was a haddoni, but of course, that could be wrong.
I've read as many 'carpet anemone' related posts in this forum over the last day as I could find and there are many hobbyists here that have reported red haddoni.
I'll post some pics tonight and hopefully someone with experience will chime in.

 

[slcw]

i have a pic of red carpet until my pc crash. let me dig out from my past post

 

[criccio]

Reds are no more difficult than any other haddoni, and yes, there are red haddonis (it's red giganteas that I still have never seen). That price seems to be the going rate, and since it doesn't have to be shipped it's even better. Check my gallery for a pic or two.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Thanks Chris. Great pics by the way. I'll be swinging by the LFS this afternoon and maybe put a deposit on the big red.

 

[phender]

Reds shouldn't be any harder than any other color. The simple fact is that most anemones at LFSs (haddoni and bta's included) die. The difference is that you can pick through a tank full of brownish green haddonis and choose the healthest one to take home. That one has a good chance of living. The ones in the tank you didn't choose likely won't make it. When you see a red specimen, you don't have the luxury of choosing the best one because it is usually the only one. Then you have decide if you think that maybe it might have a chance to make it, and usually end up buying a speciman that you never would have purchased if it hadn't been for the color.

When you go in to look at this anemone again, pretend that its brown. If it is not in the condition that you would demand from a brown haddoni, then don't buy it just because it is red. You will just be contributing to the "reds are hard to keep rumor", and that is a lot of money to be throwing in the garbage. (at least it is for me)

Cricco, I have seen a few red gigantea. It was many years ago. I saw them all at the same wholesaler on the same day. When I walked in the floor manager called me over all excited (he knew I liked anemones) and showed me 3 red giganteas. When I asked what the price was, he said "Oh, their expensive, but I won't let you buy any of these. Even though they look good now, they all have holes in the bottom of the foot." He showed me the little holes with the little filaments poking out. He said they had received several reds the week before in the same condition and the ones that they still had after 4 days all died.
This was before I had ever heard of a red haddoni and blues haddonis were just sort of rumored to exist. (and I used to have to walk to school in the snow.........)

 

[criccio]

Maybe one day Phil.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Thank you phender! Excellent advice and perfect reasoning for sure.
I'll definately take your advice on this. If it still meets the description above; foot well anchored in the sand, reactive to light and touch, well inflated, and with moving tentacles, all of which I believe to be good signs at this point, should I consider it more? I'll ask to check the foot for any holes or tears. What else should I consider or inspect before purchasing?
Thanks all. I'll be heading that way in about 30 minutes.

 

[criccio]

and sticky with a tight mouth and also firm to the touch, not mushy.

 

[bluerug]

Also ask them if you can see it eat, and if they tell you it has allready eaten today, tell them to feed it again, b/c carpets are pigs,lol.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Ah yes, sticky. It was very sticky Wednesday. But, I'll check that again and the 'firmness' too. This carpet is going to expect a 'tip' with all the 'attention' I'm going to be giving it
bluecarpet- I was hoping you'd see this post. I've seen that you have quite a bit of experience with them and success. Thanks. I'll ask them to feed it as well.

 

[bluerug]

No problem, glad i could be of help. And good luck and i hope everything works out, and if you do get it, be sure to post pics right away b/c i will be very excited to see it, ttyl. And good luck once again.

 

[phc567]

$450 is retail for a red carpet. Before you head on out. try calling Aquiarium Concepts in Hayward. ask for Jake. My friend got me a Blood Red Carpet ( super healthy ) yesterday for way cheaper than what your gonna pay. I know they dont have anymore as of right now but they may get more in. I know your in LA but its worth a try to save a bunch of money.

 

[phender]

Just to piggy back on what Bluecarpet said. With haddonis sticky isn't enough. If had haddonis stick to my hand as it was decomposing in my tank. Make sure it takes the food into its mouth and the food disappears, and it should happen fairly quickly, within a couple minutes.

When they start to peel the base off the glass, if the anemone doesn't contract violently, tell them to nevermind.

If it is a haddoni anemone, I wouldn't expect to see vibrating tentacles. It is not a bad sign, but that is not a characteristic that haddoni carpets are known for.

Good luck

 

[dgasmd]

I may be off base here, but the price seems a little high to me. It is the going price for online places, but not the price for a LFS. At least not in my area. They are hard to come by. I have been looking for a nice and healthy specimen for a couple of year, but I refuse to buy them online in fear I may be described something and get another. Some of the LFS in my area have had them in the last cople of year and were priced at $200-275. Some looked OK, just enough to tempt anyone, but not enough to say looks maazingly healthy. Hence, I do not have one yet!!!

 

[sonofgaladriel]

Hi guys. Thanks for all the great advice.
I went by the LFS this afternoon and the red haddoni looked good, a little bit deflated compared to the last time I saw it, but still looked healthy.
Unfortunately, the owner decided to raise the price. I guess it was $450 'out of the bag' so to speak, but as its looked better and better, he's raised the price to $550!
I decided to pass on it regardless of how healthy it looked at this point. I just couldn't justify that kind of cash for something with this much 'risk factor'.
I'll still take some pics of this big red, the HUGE yellow gigantea, and the big blue gigantea that they have. They are truly amazing specimens, just out of my reach right now.
Thanks again for all the suggestions and words of wisdom. I'm not out of the race totally though. I've asked another LFS owner, one I trust 100%, to look for a nice smaller red haddoni for me. I know he'll be much more reasonably priced and if anyone can find one, he can.
Look for pics tomorrow night.
Sean

 

[rkelman]

$550 is crazy I think. For a creature that has a low survival rate? Maybe if he kept it for 6 months and made sure it was going to survive the shipping it would be worth it. I paid $109 for my blue haddoni and that's about all I would pay for any anenome.