Anybody have advice on carpet anemones?

[Reefer_Madness]

Just a little curious about them. I've heard mixed opinions. I'm starting a shallow reef and love the colors. I'm just starting my research on nems. I had a bubble tip about 10 years ago, but that doesn't really count.

 

I'm blown away by the colors.

[roni]

In general, haddonis are a lot hardier then gigantea...Both can and will catch fish though ime the giganteas are a little more safe.  

 

Green, purple, blue are common colors in gigantea...red is rare.  

 

Neither ship well, though again haddonis are tougher in that regard. 

 

Haddonis generally like to have their foot partially buried in sand and a little less flow

 

Giganteas are a little higher flow and I've kept up on the rocks.  

 

Ultimately, if you're thinking of the the 45 and keeping small fish in a shallow tank, they might not be the best option (unless you're willing to lose fish occasionally).  

[dave w]

In the wild these beautiful creatures live for 150 years.  If you're an expert aquarist it will live for 5 years.  I'm sorry to say, but it just isn't fair to take 145 years off their live because it's pretty.  Leave it in the wild to enjoy the life it deserves.  Especially the brightly colored ones.  They are very rare on the reef now.  The vast majority of them quickly die.  Why should we push them into oblivion?

 

Everyone has had the same thoughts as you.  Colored anemones are almost too beautiful to resist.  But please resist them.

 

There is nothing wrong with red bubble tips, they have great color and are very sustainable.  Same with a cousin of the carpet anemone, the maxi mini carpet Stochydactylum tapedum (sp).  They have extremely nice colors and can be propagated by slicing them in half just like a ricordea florida.  I don't know if anyone is actually propagating them, but for the sake of the wild stock, they look like good candidates for propagation.

 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I'm just letting you know the reality of keeping carpet anemones.  There are easier ways to learn lessons than by killing these beauties.  Wait until someone learns to raise the planuae through sexual reproduction, then buy all the little babies that you want.  If you make the decision to buy one now, nobody will start hating on you, because we all love their color.  But please don't learn a lesson the hard way.

[ChrisTran]

+ 1 for all of the above.

 

IME haddonis needs deep sand bed, if not it would move around until it finds a sweet spot. Haddonis is much easier to keep and is much cheaper compare to gigantea. If you want to keep gigantea you should have antibiotic and treatment tank on hand.