Carpet Anenome

[natclanwy]

I recently purchased a carpet anenome and I was wondering if anyone had any tips on getting it to stay put somewhere. Everything I have read says that they will move around until they find a place that they like. Which if fine but I just had to dismantle all of my live rock on one side of my tank to remove it from a cave that it had gotten wedged into. So if there is anything I can do to persuade it to stay in one spot I would like to hear about it.

 

[o2ngk]

unfortunatelly there is nothing you can do .. as long as it crawls on your LR instead of rolling/flowing unattached to LR, your anenome should be OK. It could take up to 2 weeks before it decided on a spot .. and yes, a lot of flipping of LR is necessary or it will die in a cave/trapped.
However, make sure you check the water param & temp. Also what kind of light does this anenome came from (LFS)? Sometimes light deficiency or too much could be the case, try to match your LFS light setting if you can .. also it could be too much flow .. so try to re-direct the flow if this is the case.

 

[natclanwy]

LFS actually had it under a regular flourescent

but it had only been there a few days when I purchased it. It seems to be healthy to me for the moment if I can keep it from getting trapped in the dark. I have two 250w MH with 4 65w PC's 2 actnic 2 10000k. It wasn't attatched to anything when I purchased it but it started to attatch right away when I added it to my tank thought maybe I had gotten lucky and it would stay put I even redirected my spray bar so it would blow it off the rock but when I got up this morning it was at the bottom of the tank and a couple of hours later it was in the mouth of the cave and then by this evening it was completely inside it

. So now I am trying a different location on the sand bed this time.
I have read that some types like to anchor to the substrate and some like rock how do you tell the difference since this was just labeled as a carpet anemone? BTW this one has very short tenticles and is green in color I believe it is a S. haddoni but I am not an expert by any means.

 

[o2ngk]

If you can try to turn off your MH .. please make sure you don't have anything in the tank that needs MH .. and see if that will make your carpet happier a bit .. as far as attaching to what is not the issue as long as it attached to anything .. once the carpet chose a spot, you can then try your MH again .. if the carpet moves again, then you know the MH is the issue.

 

[natclanwy]

LFS actually had it under a regular flourescent

but it had only been there a few days when I purchased it. It seems to be healthy to me for the moment if I can keep it from getting trapped in the dark. I have two 250w MH with 4 65w PC's 2 actnic 2 10000k. It wasn't attatched to anything when I purchased it but it started to attatch right away when I added it to my tank thought maybe I had gotten lucky and it would stay put I even redirected my spray bar so it would blow it off the rock but when I got up this morning it was at the bottom of the tank and a couple of hours later it was in the mouth of the cave and then by this evening it was completely inside it

. So now I am trying a different location on the sand bed this time.
I have read that some types like to anchor to the substrate and some like rock how do you tell the difference since this was just labeled as a carpet anemone? BTW this one has very short tenticles and is green in color I believe it is a S. haddoni but I am not an expert by any means.

 

[natclanwy]

I will try that tomorrow it looks like it may have found a spot for now it looks like it's foot is starting to attach so I will keep the MH off for couple of days and see what happens, I have a clam that definently need the MH but it should be fine for a couple of days. I was only wondering about where it would be more likely to attach ie sand or rock so that I could try to put in the best location I do not currently have a lot of area on the sand bed so if it prefers the sand I will have to move some rock to make an open area.

 

[o2ngk]

that's good .. don't worry about sand or LR because they will move anyway .. each anenome has different taste .. even if you make space, it doesn't mean the anenome will go there .. so let it be and it will find it's spot.

 

[natclanwy]

Well after moving all of my rock to remove the anemone from the cave I managed to upset my clam and it decided to jump of the rock it was on and land on top of the carpet anemone. I moved the clam and the carpet wasn't looking too hot it was all shrivled up but after I got home from work it had inflated again and is still in the same spot but still hasn't attatched to anything yet so I will let it be and hope for the best.

 

[reefmate75]

what size of tank do you have...IMO 250 MH are over kill on 55g tanks but alot of people do it, i was thinking it could be tring to hide from the light..and if the LFS had it under floresants thats probly going to be the case no matter what you put it under

 

[nigerbang]

Like above... If it was under flour. And going to MH's its going through light shock.... Remember, carpets and famous for eating anything they can, even clown and will sting and kill anything it touches... Nems are not reef safe

 

[reefmate75]

Originally Posted by NigerBang
Like above... If it was under flour. And going to MH's its going through light shock.... Remember, carpets and famous for eating anything they can, even clown and will sting and kill anything it touches... Nems are not reef safe

they are not reef safe at all...its like a moveing coral...hahaha, sure it will stay put for long times, but as your tank grows your flow changes and it decides it needs a new spot..and BAM your prized coral is now dead and that anemone is #1 on your KILL list haha

 

[natclanwy]

Well here is an update the carpet has finally settled in the corner of my tank which is actually a pretty good location but I still am not real sure whether it will make it or not it has been deflated for the last two days but I don't see any disintegration yet. The oral disc seems to be gaping open and I assume this is a sign of stress? Is there anything more that I can do?