Do Green Carpets stay closed when not hungry? (Pic included)

[ClaptonsGhost]

I just got this guy a week or so ago. Up until recently I've fed him with whatever mysis shrimp falls on him when feeding my other fish, but for the past 3 days I've been placing a sizeable chunk of shrimp on him, which he eats. However now he always looks like he does in the included pic. Does that mean he's full and not looking for food at the moment? Should I go a couple of days between feedings?

 

[bang guy]

A couple feeding per week should be sufficient. You probably don't want it to grow too fast anyway. They will curl up for a while before they eliminate but other than that and while actvely feeding they should be wide open to gather light. Another possibility is that it's been in less light than what you have and it needs to acclimate to your lighting.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

A couple feeding per week should be sufficient. You probably don't want it to grow too fast anyway. They will curl up for a while before they eliminate but other than that and while actvely feeding they should be wide open to gather light. Another possibility is that it's been in less light than what you have and it needs to acclimate to your lighting.

OK thanks. Been dealing with some troubling situations with the tank these past few days. Majestic angel eats and swims normally but then hides in the uppermost corner of the tank for hours.

Flame angel fully colored and swims around but stopped eating yesterday.

There is no fighting or stressful situations in the tank. Just wish I could sit back and enjoy the tank for more than one day in a row.

 

[jorge garrido]

It sounds like there's something wrong with the tank .. I would check up on that .

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

From what I understand corals/mushrooms/anemones are far more delicate than fish when it comes to water quality, and they're all fine, plus all of my other fish are doing great, even my blue face angel who was terrorized by my other Queen Angel. Any other ideas?

 

[pegasus]

I don't have a Haddon's, but I do have a large (12" when expanded) Giant. I feed it when I happen to think about it, which isn't too often. Maybe once every week... or two weeks... or whenever. After feeding, it'll stay contracted for quite some time as it's digesting it's food. Back off on your feedings and you should start seeing expansion.

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

OK, thanks! Now I have to wonder what's wrong with my majestic. He went from perfectly fine and eating to looking like he's about to become anemone food, in one day. Grrrrrr.....

 

[pegasus]

OK, thanks! Now I have to wonder what's wrong with my majestic. He went from perfectly fine and eating to looking like he's about to become anemone food, in one day. Grrrrrr.....

Yeah, I've been following your posts on the majestic, but can't offer any info on that. Sorry...

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Do fish get constipated? Seriously. The Majestic, I've noticed, will eat normally, then only pick at a few shrimp the next day, then not eat at the second feeding and look listless, then suddenly explode in a cloud of poop. Yesterday he let the Queen approach him and he tilted over, and the Queen kind of picked at the Majestic's anal fins, until suddenly he bit a little too hard, startling the Majestic who proceeded to pollute the entire tank, after which he started swimming around normally. Today he's acting like he does when he's "backed up". Is this even possible!?!

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Hey peg, my Flame Angel died today. He was perfectly healthy and swimming yesterday, but not eating, but today he was torn to shreds (nobody was picking on him at all. Can't understand it). Anyway, he died about 5" away from the green carpet so I figured, what the hell. I nudged him over to the carpet, he stuck to it, and the carpet just kind of slightly wrapped itself a little tighter around the Flame (who was about 2 1/2" or so, pretty big).

Anyway, nothing happened, so I went to defrost evening numnums for the other fish. When I got back less than 2 minutes later, the Flame was gone! Can it really suck down a whole fish like that, that quickly?

 

[lmforbis]

Those carpet anemones are really fast when it comes to eating, been known to take live fish too.

 

[pegasus]

I can't say that I've ever heard of a fish getting constipated. Perhaps an internal parasite in it's digestive tract? Hard to say...

Anemones have stinging cells on their tentacles called nematocysts. In the wild, that is how they kill their prey before swallowing them whole. Once they're in the grip of those sticky tentacles, it doesn't take long for the nem to devour their newly caught meal. You can find out just how fast this happens by dropping a small piece of table shrimp on the edge of it's crown. Watching them eat never gets old... lol!

PS: Any casualties in my tank usually end up being nem food. It's never killed a fish, but I always make sure the death of a fish doesn't go to waste. Thank goodness it hasn't happened in a long, long time!

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Thanks, guys. It was just that I'd been feeding it big chunks of shrimp for the past 2 or 3 days and it was folded up like it was full. When I placed the Flame Angel on it, it only slightly folded around it and then nothing happened for a minute, so I figured it was just going to hold on until it was hungry again. In the time it took me to defrost a chunk of mysis, less than 2 minutes, the Flame was gone. I really wanted to watch it get eaten, too. Oh well, with my track record there should be more Green Carpet feasts upcoming. Cheers.

btw, peg, I immediately replaced my Majestic with another one of identical size. I picked him up around 6 p.m. and by the time I'd finished acclimating him the tank was lights out, so the next day, my other two Angels didn't even realize he was a different fish. Plus he's eating and acting like a normal fish, so I think this one is going to survive. The other one was kind of weak and low energy from the start.

 

[pegasus]

That's good to hear. A common mistake a lot of people make is to leave the lights on when they add new fish. Of course, they want to get a good look at their new baby, but at the same time, so are all the other fish in the tank. The timing worked out perfectly for you, and by the sound of it, it looks like this one is going to be just fine. Congrats!!!

 

[ClaptonsGhost]

Thanks! So far so good. Did you see the pic and video of the button polyps you asked for? Curious as to what you ID them as.

 

[pegasus]

Thanks! So far so good. Did you see the pic and video of the button polyps you asked for? Curious as to what you ID them as.

I haven't. Will look for them now.