Did my Anemone Just eat a Hermit??

[dedecv3]

I just purchased my first Anemone from the LFS 3 days ago. Yesterday while watching him he expelled what appeared to be a hermit shell. There was no sign of life in the shell and it looked a bit smaller than my hermits but I was only able to find 5 of my 8 hermits in my 55 gallon. Anemone is a Purple Tip Haitian.
Anyone have any experience with an Anemone eating hermits or snails???

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by dedecv3
http:///forum/post/3149492
I just purchased my first Anemone from the LFS 3 days ago. Yesterday while watching him he expelled what appeared to be a hermit shell. There was no sign of life in the shell and it looked a bit smaller than my hermits but I was only able to find 5 of my 8 hermits in my 55 gallon. Anemone is a Purple Tip Haitian.
Anyone have any experience with an Anemone eating hermits or snails???

Anemone will feed on anything that gets in its tentacles. They are not hunters, but opportunists.

 

[scopus tang]

Originally Posted by dedecv3
http:///forum/post/3149492
I just purchased my first Anemone from the LFS 3 days ago. Yesterday while watching him he expelled what appeared to be a hermit shell. There was no sign of life in the shell and it looked a bit smaller than my hermits but I was only able to find 5 of my 8 hermits in my 55 gallon. Anemone is a Purple Tip Haitian.
Anyone have any experience with an Anemone eating hermits or snails???
Yep, Nems will eat hermits or snails; have a buddy with a 210, a green carpet and two saddleback clowns that host the nem. The clowns will actually pick up snails and hermits and drop them into the nem to feed it. The nem is surrounded by a shell graveyard.

 

[julie853]

I saw my anemone once eat a snail that was allmost the size of a ping pong ball.
I got the pictures to prove it too.

 

[dedecv3]

I've been watching my Hermits very closely since the incident and it amazes me how close they crawl to the Anemone....Several times they've been within a quarter of an inch of the tentacles. I hope he doesnt eat anymore!!

 

[deon nyc]

i think my anemone ate my yellow tang

 

[btldreef]

Some anemones have "stickier" tentacles than others, such as the Haitian. My Haitian ate a small mandarin, a cleaner shrimp, 2 peppermints and a few snails and hermits that got brave. They will try to eat anything that gets stuck on their tentacles (like your finger, yes mine tried to do this). You'll probably lose more if they're brave critters, as time goes on.
Just so you know, I don't hear many people, including myself, say good things about Haitians. In my case, I have three BTA's in my tank that move around from time to time and never caused damage to my tank, but my Haitian was a nightmare. They grow quite fast and move around often and can really cause to chaos in your tank. Keep an eye on it, especially if you see it move or have smaller fish.

 

[dedecv3]

Hmmm....I just purchased $150 worth of snails, hermits, shrimp & crabs & my anemone was only $6 so maybe I need to take him back to the fish store before he eats too many of my clean up crew.
What are some of the least aggresive Anemone's that are less likely to eat my other tank inhabitants???

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by dedecv3
http:///forum/post/3150020
Hmmm....I just purchased $150 worth of snails, hermits, shrimp & crabs & my anemone was only $6 so maybe I need to take him back to the fish store before he eats too many of my clean up crew.
What are some of the least aggresive Anemone's that are less likely to eat my other tank inhabitants???
Bubble Tip Anemones and Sebae Anemones. IMO, bubble tips are easier to care for.

 

[dedecv3]

Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3150446
Bubble Tip Anemones and Sebae Anemones. IMO, bubble tips are easier to care for.
Thanks!! I actually went to the LFS last night and looked at a few Bubble Tips they had. Still haven't decided if I want to spend the extra money on a rose or green one.

 

[racingtiger03]

the rose is an absolute beauty under actinics! Look up a little on each too, seems each color species has its little quirks. I don't recall each one, but there was a post on here recently that i remember mentioning them.

 

[lmecher]

Originally Posted by racingtiger03
http:///forum/post/3152373
the rose is an absolute beauty under actinics! Look up a little on each too, seems each color species has its little quirks. I don't recall each one, but there was a post on here recently that i remember mentioning them.
Really? I find that the green glow much more than the rose under atinics.
Are you planning to add it to the same tank?
FYI, it's not advisable to keep more than one species in the same tank. If you do, hope you are running activated charcoal.

 

[racingtiger03]

could just be because I havent seen a green in person before.. just the standard and rose. My rose has a very cool green tentacle base under the actinics though, that with the orange tips and oral disk is very awesome to look at IMO.

 

[dedecv3]

May have to find him a new home. He has eaten at least 2 more Hermits now.

 

[socalnano24]

I've seen mine try to eat my fire shrimp, it was actually kind of entertaining watching him backpeddle away when his antenna got caught on a tentacle. Once he got loose the shrimp kind of bounced around the tank still on flight mode!
I swear the shrimp is actually smart enough that he stays clear of it by 3 or 4 inches now.

 

[dedecv3]

Several days ago I fed my Anemone frozen krill. My peppermint shrimp were going crazy and several jumped right on top of Anemone to try and get the krill. I put the glove back on and reached in to try and scare them away from him but they were not scrared of my hand and still tried to get the kril from the anemone. I've learned that I need to feed my Peppermints BEFORE feeding the anemone!!