Carpet Anemone in Danger?

[miNiChher]

Does anyone know if the Condy could be doing some harm to the Carpet. The Carpet Anemone seems to move around quite a bit and she's been right next to the Condy for about 2 to 3 days now. Today as I peered in I noticed the Carpet's color around the area where she sometimes contacts the Condy has changed. Should I try and "manually" move one? Or will one eventually move before it gets hurt? Or is the Condy not an actual threat to the Carpet?

Here's a pic, I apologize but my old 5.1 mp is all I have...







here it seems as if Clarkii was trying to come to the rescue


It almost looked as if Clarkii was fanning back the Condy

[elegance coral]

Move the Condi it can handle the move better then the carpet in my opinion and it is cheaper. What are you using for lights? Your carpet looks a little bleached.

[miNiChher]

Here's what I have for my lights:

2x175w Metail Halide (14k)
2x96w PC (actinate)

If it is indeed bleached what do you recommend I change?

[Ricepicker]

its probably just a white variety...

carpets pack a pretty good punch, but i think condy might be even stronger, i'd move condy if you can

[airinhere]

oh man, hate to be a downer. Both of those anems look badly bleached. The carpet is likely to die regardless of what you do for it. It should be a green color all over including the foot. The condy is probably going to be allright, but should take about a month to begin showing any improvement. Regular feeding of silversides every 3 days is a good start. How long has your tank been set up? What are your water params? Anems need very well established tanks with very consistent water quality. And yes, the Condy has much stronger a sting than the carpet. It is certainly hurting the carpet to be that close. I know this isnt likely a realistic optioon, but could you return the anem? with the admonition for the petstore that they sold you a bleached and dying animal? If not, look toward one of your local reef clubs and maybe there is someone who has more experience with anems who can help you try to recover your anem.

[Kengaroo131]

is that a Haddoni carpet or a green carpet? if its the green carpet its pretty badly bleached. hopfully it'll come thrue. but i would move the condi its only like 9 bucks or so so if you lose it you'll still feel bad but not as bad as you would if it were 30-90 bucks(depending on what carpet it is) i wouldnt risk the carpet.

[jer77]

Originally posted by Ricepicker
its probably just a white variety...

carpets pack a pretty good punch, but i think condy might be even stronger, i'd move condy if you can

Sorry, but theres no such thing as a healthy white haddoni. Your lights are probably enough, so it may start to color up though. How long have you had it? It takes some time to color up sometimes. How long are your MH's on for? It does look good besides being white.

But about the stinging between the condy and the haddoni, my money's on the condy. You should definately move the condy away or in another tank before its too late.

[airinhere]

I believe you have a Mertens Carpet anem. They live on rocks and the other two types commonly encountered (gigantea and Haddoni) both live in the sand. I cant really tell by the picture though. If the anem has put its foot into the sand, then you are dealing with a Haddoni.

[miNiChher]

I'm not really sure if it is supposed to be more green than it currently is. It is the same color that we bought it at about 2 months ago. It has a very good appetite and has moved around the tank to the spot it is currently at, suggesting to me that it is fairly healthy. It holds primarily to the rock not the sand. Our lights could be brighter. 2x 175 MH and 2 x 96 actinate. But they were strong enough to nurse back another anemone that we purchased bleached (I liked that it was white with purple tips - at the time I did not know that was a sign of poor health). It is nice and dark in color now.

[airinhere]

It is probably moving low in the tank to get away from the light. Sounds wierd, but as pale as it is, its going to be very sensitive to bright light (175 halides). Leave it be and try to move the condylactis. It should slowly gain color as it builds a population of zooxantheline (sp?). You also could try to dose with phytoplancton regularly when you turn out your lights. I have read about carpets eating phyto during the night. (But that could have been one of the other types). Good luck man.

[jer77]

Definately not S. mertensii. Even though its pedal disc is attached to a rock doesn't mean its not a haddoni. Haddoni's are normally found in the sand, but their pedal disc is usually attached to a rock or the bottom of the tank. So haddoni's can and do live sometimes by just buring into a crevice in aquariums. It may be that it has found the best spot under the lights, or that there isn't any room in the sand for it without being stung.

There is little evidence that haddoni's feed off phytoplankton, but they do however mostly feed from zooplankton in the wild. Cyclop-eeze is a great zooplankton food that is great for feeding anemones. The frozen kind is the best.

Your lighting is definately good enough and should not shy away from being directly under it.