Carpet anemone behavior problems

whysohigh

whysohigh

Member
i have to issues i would like some advice on with my carpet.
i dont know the exact species, i just know its a carpet and its huge, on a good day its bigger than a dinner plate. its in a 75 gal tank. had it since may of 2010
my first issue is that it never stays put. during the day it slowly moves thru the sand, along the rocks and glass just pissing everything off, if it touches any corals they stay shriveled up for days almost weeks. i tried isolating it on one half of the tank but its pretty good at bench pressing rocks out of the way. all my rocks are 5lb chunks, it can easily lift 2-3 stacked rocks around if it desires. everytime i think i have it boxed in the corner good, it gets out. ive named it houdini. at night it usually detaches itself completely from the rocks, sand and tank and tries using the water flow to move around.
second, i have a black and white clown, i got him on 7-21-10 when he was very tiny and he now hosts in my hawaiian feather dusters, sleeps in them at night and everything. i just moved into my new house, during the move i thought it would be a good idea to put the clown and anemone in the same bucket. when i got ready to set the tank up again, i noticed in the bucket that the clown figured it out, it was swimming thru the carpet like it was loving it. as soon as i get them into the tank he went back to the dusters.
does anyone have any suggestions or information to help me with these situations?
 
whysohigh

whysohigh

Member
i have 6 of the 54 watt t-5's. as far as my water goes, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates, copper, calcium, ph, temp is all spot on. i do a 20 gal water change every saturday and use a 6 stage r/o deionizer to filter the tap water.
when i began this hobby i lost some great animals due to poor water quality, i now pride myself on the cleanliness of my tank and constantly get compliments from fellow hobbiests.
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
Can you post a FTS and a pic of the nem? I have some ideas floating in my head and the pics would help point me in the right direction.
 
whysohigh

whysohigh

Member
lights just went out, will put some pics in the morning. thank you for taking the time to read that, i know its a long one.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Following....They do have a mind of their own....and will search till they find a spot they like, but want to hear more of what Gemmy is thinking!!!!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
They will move around to a spot where they don't feel irritated. They can be annoyed by lighting, flow, substrate, etc.
As for your clown in the feather dusters, have you tried chasing him back into the anemone? I can't keep dusters in my tank because it's the one thing my Coral Beauty likes to eat, but before I had here, my clowns always went in the dusters.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
IMO, that anemone is a ticking time bomb in a 75, especially without your powerheads covered and it doing what you're explaining.
 
whysohigh

whysohigh

Member
the first night i got it, it ended up wrapped around the powerhead. lucky for me they regenerate quickly. i have a serious sleeping disorder and am awake every hour, since the incodent i check on it regularly through out the night, ive had it since may of 2010, im not worried and i know it wont happen again, thank you but that is not the issue i am seeking advice on.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by whysohigh http:///forum/thread/382859/carpet-anemone-behavior-problems#post_3345040
the first night i got it, it ended up wrapped around the powerhead. lucky for me they regenerate quickly. i have a serious sleeping disorder and am awake every hour, since the incodent i check on it regularly through out the night, ive had it since may of 2010, im not worried and i know it wont happen again, thank you but that is not the issue i am seeking advice on.
What I mean is that you're stating that it never stays put. This means it's unhappy, it could be unhappy due to light, flow, water quality, etc. Anemones are picky. If it's unhappy it's going to continue to move around your tank, sting things, etc. A carpet anemone moving around in a 75 gallon spells doom for your corals, you already stated that it has stung some of them and that it moves rocks around. I mention the powerheads not being covered as being an issue because you mentioned that it detaches at night and floats freely though the water column. Yes, the anemone may be able to regenerated quickly, BUT, if it gets chewed up by a powerhead, it will kill everything in your tank.
My question, when you find it somewhere that you're unhappy with it being, do you move it?
My suggestion:
Dig out a spot at the base of a rock, turn down flow for a few days and place the anemone in this location and over it's food with sand. Leave flow lower for a few days and try feeding it daily or twice a day (mysis shrimp is best). If it feels comfortable here, it may stay. It's recommended to leave the flow lowered when introducing Carpet Anemones, did you do this?
 
whysohigh

whysohigh

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/382859/carpet-anemone-behavior-problems#post_3345044
Quote:
Originally Posted by whysohigh http:///forum/thread/382859/carpet-anemone-behavior-problems#post_3345040
the first night i got it, it ended up wrapped around the powerhead. lucky for me they regenerate quickly. i have a serious sleeping disorder and am awake every hour, since the incodent i check on it regularly through out the night, ive had it since may of 2010, im not worried and i know it wont happen again, thank you but that is not the issue i am seeking advice on.
What I mean is that you're stating that it never stays put. This means it's unhappy, it could be unhappy due to light, flow, water quality, etc. Anemones are picky. If it's unhappy it's going to continue to move around your tank, sting things, etc. A carpet anemone moving around in a 75 gallon spells doom for your corals, you already stated that it has stung some of them and that it moves rocks around. I mention the powerheads not being covered as being an issue because you mentioned that it detaches at night and floats freely though the water column. Yes, the anemone may be able to regenerated quickly, BUT, if it gets chewed up by a powerhead, it will kill everything in your tank.
My question, when you find it somewhere that you're unhappy with it being, do you move it?
My suggestion:
Dig out a spot at the base of a rock, turn down flow for a few days and place the anemone in this location and over it's food with sand. Leave flow lower for a few days and try feeding it daily or twice a day (mysis shrimp is best). If it feels comfortable here, it may stay. It's recommended to leave the flow lowered when introducing Carpet Anemones, did you do this?
when i got it i only had one power head and it was at the opposite end of the tank as the anemone, the corner it is in has no current, the power heads are above it but when my eel moves around and sand gets stirred up you can see that water flow. i feed it shrimp twice a week, sometimes once a week because it drops the food as if its not hungry. i never move it when it gets out of the corner, i just wait for it to make its rounds and hope it finds a suitable spot. as you can see in the pics its already at the base of a rock, if i look under the tank i can see its foot on the glass. it has never stayed in one spot for more than a day in the last 8 months. there have been times when i saw it getting ready to move just before lights out, and i tried to feed it thinking it was in search of food but it was not hungry. ive fed it silver sides, regular shrimp, squid and unfortunately it got my green Mandarin dragonet. never seems happy. i have honestly been researching this since i got it, talking to other hobbyist ive found on youtube or other sites, talking with employees at local fish and pet shops and just plain old google searching anything i could. i test the water every week after i do a water change because that was my first suspicion, then alternating the foods, then just letting it roam and hoping it settles in. im ready to get rid of it but its just so amazing to me i really dont want to.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Honestly, this may be one of those specimens that just can't find a happy place, and you might want to try a different one.
You're saying there's little to no flow in the corner that you put it in, this may be the issue, they do like a lot of flow. They just need to be acclimated with lower flow until they find a place they're happy with.
 
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