Haddoni Carpet Anemone Placement?

[ac7av]

I purchased a Haddoni carpet anemone. I have had it for about a week now. From the information that I read about this critter is that it needs strong light medium flow.

When I put it in the tank I had it at the half way down point under a 250 HQI with medium flow. Over a few days it worked its way down and crawled over to the left front corner of the tank and has put its foot down into the sand and attached to the bottom of the tank (or the egg crate in the bottom).

The question is, should I just let it go where it wants because it knows what it needs or do I try and place it back up higher in the water column and hope it stays some ware closer to the light:?:

 

[returnofsid]

These anemone are naturally sand dwelling anemone, and won't want to live half way up the tank.

 

[ac7av]

The depth it is in is at 27 inches from the water surface if that helps at all. I also noticed that the green color in it seems to be much darker then it was with it up closer to the light. When it was closer to the light it looked almost white with a tint of green to it.

 

[ac7av]

These anemone are naturally sand dwelling anemone, and won't want to live half way up the tank.

Oh thank you, that makes me feel much better about it. It does look much happier in the sand. It’s really not in a bad spot but when it gets big it could be blocking the view. I understand this thing can get really big, like 2 feet across.

 

[Madmike]

yes they will get big, the more you feed the bigger they will get!

 

[DBM Reef]

Mine is in the sand in a 27 in tall tank under 250 watt 20k se . and is doing
fine he was in my 180 under 400's but in my new tank i switched to 250's for the heat and energy savings and its been up for about a month and a 1/2 and doing great he is also attached to the bottom of the tank. I personally wouldnt touch him because i had another one and thought i knew better and kept moving him and he didnt make it. so since then ive just left them alone .

 

[Madmike]

how much sand do you have yours in? mine is only in a couple of inches at most but will move around from time to time.

 

[DBM Reef]

how much sand do you have yours in? mine is only in a couple of inches at most but will move around from time to time.

Ya me to im like 1 1/2 to 2 inches

 

[Madmike]

any problems with it moving? I've got a gigantae and a h.mag in the same system and they stay put, but the haddoni keeps moving around and around a rock pile I have... I guess I just haven't found the sweet spot for flow and light yet.

 

[ac7av]

I have about a half to one inch above the egg crate in the bottom of the tank. It seems to be staying put where it is not so I’m not going to mess with it. I have tried offering it some food a couple of times since I’ve had it in the tank and it is not taking anything. The tentacles do not seem to be sticky but it look healthy , normal green color from the ones I’ve seen on line, and responds quickly when I touch it with a silver side or clam (without the shell) but it retracts from what is offered. Am I offering the wrong kind of stuff?

 

[Madmike]

I usually feed mine mysis or krill, I've heard too many things about silversides going bad and can poison anemones. A healthy haddoni will be VERY sticky... like super glue sticky. I would start offering very small pieces of food like mysis and go from there.
good luck

 

[ac7av]

Ill have to get some krill or mysis the next time I go to the pet store. I tried to feed a small piece of silverside to it again and the tentacles are sticky today and pulled it off the stick but let it go after about 30 seconds. I don’t know I will just keep offering something every day until it starts taking it.

 

[returnofsid]

If you have adequate lighting, to meet it's needs, you don't need to feed it. Feeding it will cause it to grow much faster, and much larger. Keep in mind that this particular anemone can grow to a huge size. Some have been known to reach 36" in diameter.

 

[ac7av]

I know they get most of the food they need from light. I would like it to grow, it’s only about 6 inches now. If it stays in the corner it could grow to 24 inches across and not be too much of an issue. It probably would we nice to have it about that size. If it started getting 3 feet across that could get a bit much but I’m sure I would work it out if it got to that point.

 

[DBM Reef]

any problems with it moving? I've got a gigantae and a h.mag in the same system and they stay put, but the haddoni keeps moving around and around a rock pile I have... I guess I just haven't found the sweet spot for flow and light yet.

mine stays put so far it has been where i put it when i set up the tank

 

[ac7av]

Well it’s on the move again. It rolled around to the opposite side of the tank and is now in one of the caves in the tank. If it doesn’t come out I may have to blow it out with a power head. This is definitely a low light area.

 

[mimosa]

With anemones, if you can avoid the urge to control where it settles and how it does it, I suggest do not mess with, touch or move it. It should find its spot by itself, provided your water parameters/flow and light are good.

Also keep in mind for the future, if it ever grows to be 24-36" size and all of a sudden starts shrinking/retracting (provided tank parameters are all good), it might be a sign that it is about to divide. Again, don't mess with it if you ever see that happenning, or it will not make it.

Well it’s on the move again. It rolled around to the opposite side of the tank and is now in one of the caves in the tank. If it doesn’t come out I may have to blow it out with a power head. This is definitely a low light area.

 

[ac7av]

Ya I was just going to leave it alone like in previous posts mentioned I should. I didn’t want it to stay in almost total darkness for too long in that cave but today is has come out again. It shrunk and spit out a blob of black junk. It must have eaten something earlier. I have had a couple of hatches in the last few days and I found that the anemone seems to prefer plankton type food more then chunks of meaty stuff like shrimp clam or fish. It really goes nuts when it picking live food from the water.

 

[ac7av]

I pulled the carpet out of the tank today. It doesn’t look so good. Slime and junk is coming off of it. Looks like its dissolving from the inside out. The mouth is wide open and its just nasty. Its been tumbling around the tank for a few days now and has been looking worse by the minute. I took some pictures so you can see what it looks like buy my guess it’s a gone and I feel bad for getting it now. I really thought the tanks could support such a critter but I guess not.

 

[mimosa]

Too bad, probably got some bacterial disease (just a guess). Any chance you can try to rescue it in a separate small tank all by itself, small powerhead, light and air stone, with frequent small water changes?