My New Carpet Anemone.

[NemCrazy]

Well said Nick. Beauty of a nem!

 

[1guydude]

im looking at mini maxis.... do u know the size a carpet will get nemcrazy?
or anyones...
thxs
d

 

[NemCrazy]

Mini-maxi's get up to 6" and are awesome at that size. Haddoni's up to 3' across but in a tank it won't necessarily reach that size. There are exceptions to that I'm sure. My haddoni grew fast and big with regular feedings.

 

[Maxx]

im looking at mini maxis.... do u know the size a carpet will get nemcrazy?
or anyones...
thxs
d

Depends on the type of mini-maxi anemone. Last I've seen there are some that will reach up to about 6 inches, and others that never get more than 2 inches in diameter. The two I've had for the last two years havent gained anything in size and are still in the 1.5 inch range.

As far as carpets go.....it depends on the species.

Of the clownfish hosting species of carpet anemones:

S.gigantea is the smallest of the three at about 12-15 inches in diameter
S.haddoni comes in next at 24-30 inches in diameter.
S.mertensii can reach over 48 inches in diameter.

The non clownfish hosting species are generally smaller in size, for example, S. helianthus is a Caribbean species that can reach approximately 12 inches in diameter IIRC. These are occasionally brought into the hobby and clowns will acclimate to them in captivity, but will generally move to a clownfish hosting species of anemone if given the chance.

Nick

 

[seakingaquariums]

Giganteas only 15 inches? This one didn't get the memo

waikiki blue gigantea rotate - YouTube

It looks smaller in the video than it does in real life. EAsily 2.5-3ft

 

[Maxx]

I should have clarified....
The sizes listed are for average anemones in the wild. In public or private aquaria, things can change significantly.

Rod Buehler has a brown S.gigantea that I've seen personally, which is over 18 inches in diameter and he's had it somewhere in the vicinity of 15 plus years....
The Long Tentacled Anemone (M.doreensis) is supposed to reach a max size of approx 15-18 inches in diameter. MojoReef here from this board has told me of a friend of his who fed his Purple LTA very heavily and it completely outgrew the 55 gallon tank it was in.....it was the only occupant of the tank and was over 36 inches in diameter.

If you had an anemone in a healthy environment, and fed it heavily and regularly, it will grow well beyond what is commonly found in the wild.

The biggest anemone's I've personally seen were in home aquariums....

A local guy here in StL had an H.magnifica anemone he'd had for over 10 years and it was well over 24 inches in diameter when I saw it. He fed it a whole U12 cocktail shrimp, (raw, w/o the shell) two times a week. It was hosting 2 deleriously happy ocellaris clowns.

The others were a pair of H.crispa anemones in Indianapolis that were wild collected and were well over 36 inches in diameter.

My personal anemones are much smaller.

I've got a brown based yellow tipped H.magnifica anemone that was 12 inches in diameter until it split in Dec/Jan of 2011/2012. The clones are now 8 inches and 5 inches in diameter and I've had the original anemone since March 10th 2006.
I have a purple based purple tipped H.magnifica anemone that is about 9-10 inches in diameter that I've had since Nov of 2010 I believe.
I have a purple H.crispa anemone that is about 5 inches in diameter that I've had since 2007....it has been the slowest growing anemone I've ever kept. It was about 2.5 inches in diameter when I first got it, and it has slowly grown over the years.... I suspect that if I kept it in a tank by itself with no clowns it would grow faster.....

Nick