Roll out the green carpet...anemone that is

[fishcounter]

Well, if there is one anemone that I love, its the green carpet. I am really considering getting one with an ocellaris, but I am concerned about its agression. I want to put hime in the tank before I put any coral in there so that he can pick his spot and not sting anything as he moves around. Hopefully, he wont move afterwords, but who knows. I have ben listening to the anemone podcast whcih covers a lot of care requirements which has been great. I was hoping to get some real world experience from you guys on how your carpets have done. My questions are:
1. How agressive is your carpet?
2. How often do you spot feed it?
3. Has the spot feeding helped control agression?
4. How did it respond to your lights? (If I get one, I am using 2x250 MH
over a 90 gallon display)
5. How big did you carpet get?
6. Any tips on what I should look for when buying one?
7. In one year I want to get a mandarin fish. Do you think the anemone will eat him since he is a slow mover?
8. Did your anemone attack other inverts such as snails and crabs?
9. Where did you place your carpet in your tank? Did he stay there or move?

Thanks everyone

[dadonoflaw]

i recently decided to try one as well and hope that someone will answer this post because i am also interested.

[gwen_o_lyn]

Your mandarin and all ur other fish are soooo dead!

In the Atlanta Reef Club, we go on tank tours (sorry to those that have heard this story.) So one guys house we stopped at had 2-3 large green carpets and he told how his carpet ate his tang that he had for many years, along with several other fish. He was very tore up that his tang was eaten. Now, he calls his tank a semi-aggressive reef because of those carpets.

I don't agree 100% with anemones being kept with beginner hobbyist. They require an established tank, lots of light, and many people don't have the abilities to keep them live. Many articles say they belong in the ocean.

[stokessc]

Hi there,

I purchased a beautiful green carpet for my 2 percula's about 2 months ago. The percs loved it but fought intensively over it(which really stressed my poor male perc).

Within two weeks, the carpet had killed my favorite purple tang and my scooter blenny(I guess they were just a bit too curious). Not wanting to lose the rest of my fish, I traded in my anemone at the LFS(Sayonara Mr. Carpet) and have since shifted to a combination of green hairy mushrooms, frogspawn coral, and pulsing xenia all of which the clownfish loves(they are much easier to maintain than a killer anemone)

While I had him, he stayed put at the bottom in a nice spot and he thrived on the 4 x 150 watt vho's in my 60 gal. tank. Unfortunately, that experience really weened me off the thought of another anemone of any type in the future(I've also seen the results of a bubble tip (aka bta) dying in a tank(not a pretty sight or smell and the rest of the tank is almost doomed.

Good luck if you continue in the purchase.

Steve

[gwen_o_lyn]

Welcome to TR Steve.... thanks for sharing your experience.

[wwest]

I agree with gwen, also speaking on my friends behalf he has a carpet and so far he has lost two star fishes among other smaller creatures. The last star he lost he sat there and watch the carpet eat it. We messured his carpet the best we could in the tank and not fully extended and it was around 19inches. ( i beleive, it was awhile ago ) These things under the right light and fed well can grow to the size of a man hole cover. I really like his but for reasons such as, its not in my tank. I dont think i would personaly own one. Also he does not spot feed it. He has a clarii that keeps it well fed. IMO i would look at something esle..

Also i have heard that they are very hard to get established in tank when you first get them.

[Boz]

"I was hoping to get some real world experience from you guys on how your carpets have done. My questions are:
1. How agressive is your carpet?
2. How often do you spot feed it?
3. Has the spot feeding helped control agression?
4. How did it respond to your lights? (If I get one, I am using 2x250 MH
over a 90 gallon display)
5. How big did you carpet get?
6. Any tips on what I should look for when buying one?
7. In one year I want to get a mandarin fish. Do you think the anemone will eat him since he is a slow mover?
8. Did your anemone attack other inverts such as snails and crabs?
9. Where did you place your carpet in your tank? Did he stay there or move?"

Thanks everyone[/quote]


Hi Fishcounter. I am new here but I thought I would share. I have had considerable success keeping carpet anemones 5+ years in my reef tank. Unfortunately, one of the side effects or trade offs is that from time to time you will lose some livestock - and you can never chose which one! However, with that said, I was always fortunate in that I had never lost a beloved fish. Typically an invert (crab) or a star fish. So to answer some of your questions from my experience IMHO:

1. Not overly aggressive if kept in the "right environment" (morre on that below)***
2. I fed twice a week, 1 silverside, clam or peeled raw shrimp only
3. I think the agression can be controlled with the proper environment ***
4. Lighting was originally power compact and now is 150 W x2 MH - hasn't made a difference from what I can see....
5. My first one was about 18" across and occuppied an entire corner of the tank.
6. Excellent, even coloration, no damaged tissue. Foot firmly planted in the substrate (no floaters), buy from a tank with some circulation ***
7. The mandarin may be doomed (sad to say), because it is a bottom dweller, and runs a good chance of "bumping" into the anemone.
8. Both of my carpets never attacked anything. It was a case of other creatures running or falling of live rock, into the anemone.
9. *** this is the environment issue. I strongly believe from personal experience that carpets require a deep sand bed in which to root their foot, and a soft steady current washing over them which will allow them to respirate and remove mucous and metabolic slimes from their surfaces. My old blue carpet would literally "wash" itself everynight in the gentle current. It would turn over "folds" of itself in the current and actually bathe. I just recently obtained a second carpet to replace him and put him in the same area of the tank as the former one, and it has settled in beautifully and engages in the same behavior. This was planned, as I was trying to test a "theory". I would recommend looking at Dr. Shimek's pamphlet entitled "Host Sea Anemone Secrets". I would also recommend buying a "smaller" carpet and larger fish. I have never had any issues with the Tangs I own (Purple and Yellow), nor have either of my carpets ever once moved from the spot I placed them in, and this is 5+ years...... I find them to be fascinating. I have attached a photo of my most recent carpet with clarkii clown....

Sorry that was so long - I hope it helps!

[Amphibious]

Boz and stokessc,

to Talking Reef Community and Podcast.



fishcounter,

aggressive, quick to attack or act in a hostile fashion. That, according to "The American Heritage Dictionary".

Anemones are not "aggressive" by definition. It, in fact, is a passive animal that lies in wait for it's next hapless victim to stumble into it's short but potent tentacles. If nothing happens along and touches it's tentacles it will starve to death in the act of waiting. Once touched, the anemone reacts quickly stinging it's victim with hundreds of tiny darts ( can't remember the correct name and don't want to look it up right now) and draws the victim toward it's mouth and consumes it. That's not being aggressive.

If you feed it, it will grow. It's quite capable of growing to immense proportions and can literally out grow an aquarium. Feeding a carpet anemone will not lesson your chance of losing a fish or other critter to it's potent tentacles. They are beautiful and some clowns will host them, some will not. A. ocellaris seem to prefer them over other anemones but may mouth the tentacles for a day or two before exposing it entire body to the potent sting. As far as I know no one has definitively explained how a fish builds up immunity to the sting of their host anemone. But, clearly some take longer than others to become hosts.

Q 7. The anemone will eat your Manderin if the manderin stumbles into the anemone.

Q 8. As mentioned above, anemones do not attack anything. They react to touch.

Q 9. Where an anemone decides to live within the confines of the home you provide is not up to you. The anemone will make it's own decision based on it's needs under less than ideal conditions. After all, our aquariums offer less than ideal conditions no matter how elaborate or fastidious we are with our set-up.


Hope this helps.

[Boz]

Thanks amphibious! Nice to be here.

You are quite right regarding the aggression - as we are misusing the term. Anemones don't "hunt" for food, nor do they leap out at your prized Tang and smother it. They seem to have acquireed that reputation from their "wandering" in our tanks in search of the right conditions, then anything they touch may become fair game. The nematocysts in carpet anemones especially pack quite a punch.

One other item that I forgot to mention before is providing a clownfish for the anemone to host. I like to add a pair of juvenile Clarkii clowns when I keep an anemone. The things that I have noticed is that the clowns seem to help stabilize it and also aid in keeping other fish away. They tend to protect their territory and in my experience the other fish tend to stay away - reducing the chance of an "accidental" collision.

[Amphibious]

Originally Posted by Boz

Thanks amphibious! Nice to be here.

You are quite right regarding the aggression - as we are misusing the term. Anemones don't "hunt" for food, nor do they leap out at your prized Tang and smother it. They seem to have acquireed that reputation from their "wandering" in our tanks in search of the right conditions, then anything they touch may become fair game. The nematocysts in carpet anemones especially pack quite a punch.

One other item that I forgot to mention before is providing a clownfish for the anemone to host. I like to add a pair of juvenile Clarkii clowns when I keep an anemone. The things that I have noticed is that the clowns seem to help stabilize it and also aid in keeping other fish away. They tend to protect their territory and in my experience the other fish tend to stay away - reducing the chance of an "accidental" collision.

nematocysts, that's the word I didn't want to look up, thanks.

Good and true point you brought up about hosting clowns protecting their territory and keeping must things at bay.

[stokessc]

I noticed with my "ex-carpet"(a lot like an ex-wife but much less expensive to get rid of) that my clowns quickly hosted to it but that created an extremely hostile environment for my smaller male percula. The female became so possessive of the carpet that she wouldn't allow the poor male anywhere within 3 feet and began a nasty habit of pinning the male in the corner of the tank. I eventually began to wish evil to the female because she turned into such a beeyatch(pardon my language but she was like the antichrist version of "NEMO" )

So..it was quite an eye opening experience to me relating to both anemone behavior(good point Amphibious..they're not mean..they're just misunderstood) and how aggressive those cute little clown fish can become when they get something that they think is theirs(which also relates back to the ex-wife example)

I think my current percula has a fetish with my pulsing xenia...he stays in it all day long.

Steve

[rprisock]

So far my green carpet has been a good member of my tank. Perhaps its because I feed it twice a week. I purchase fish filets from the supermarket and cut them into approx. 1" cubes. This month it is feasting on grouper
When I got the carpet it was approximately 8" in diameter. I've had it almost 8 months and I would estimate that it is now 14" in diameter. I placed it near the front of the tank when I brought it home and it moved to the right side of the tank and buried its foot in the substrate and hasn't moved since.

Interestingly enough, the fish seem to have a natural fear or respect for it. They will swim near it but always stay a few inches away.

I expected my clown fish to host to the carpet (I have maroon clowns) but they chose a rose bubble tip instead and have never shown the slightest interest in the green carpet.

I have had a yellow head sleeper goby and a sand sifting star disappear and I suspected the carpet was the villian but I never saw it eat them so I can't say for sure.

Hopefully it will continue to do well in my tank as it would be very difficult to get it out as it is firmly attached to the bottom of the tank and it getting larger and larger.