moovinfast Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I think I want to try to keep a carpet anemone in my tank for my little clowns to host. Its a 72g with 4x54w ts and they have reflectors and would have lots of flow. Think it would be happy at the bottom of the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Carpet anemones are more difficult to care for than bubble tips. They also tend to eat other fish. Carpets get fairly large, up to 2 feet in diameter. I don't know if a 72g is large enough for one. Also, 4x54w T5 may not be enough light. You could consider alternate hosts for your clowns. BTAs, hammer, frogspawn, torch, leather, and xenia corals are all common alternate hosts for clowns. You do not say what kind of clowns you have. It makes a difference as to what kind of anemone you put in. Some clowns prefer different anemones, and reluctantly take to others (or not at all). I have a pair of false percs that ignore BTAs, but finally started to host a cluster of frogspawn that I have. On the other hand I have a false perc that instantly dove into a Ritteri anemone when they were put into the same tank together. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 If you haven't had an anemone yet I think I would start with a BTA first. Most clowns will host a BTA and they are fairly hardy in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 If you haven't had an anemone yet I think I would start with a BTA first. Most clowns will host a BTA and they are fairly hardy in comparison. Not to mention cheaper. You can usually find a BTA on here for $40-50. A nice carpet can run $80 on up to the hundreds. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 I have a pair of false percs and I also have a BTA but they just ignore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 How long have they been together? It can take months for them to host. I've also found that false percs are not much more likely to host a carpet than a BTA. (Mine actually chose the BTA over the Carpet) I currently have 2 orange clowns (Undetermined if they a false or true percs) that host a Rose BTA, 2 Cinnamon Clowns hosting 2 Green BTA's and a Frogspawn occasionally (They seem to go back and forth between all 3 but end up in the Green BTA's at night), I also have 2 Black and White Ocellaris (False Percs) that are very large (4" plus) that have no real interest in any anemone. They had the opportunity to host 2 different BTA's, a Ritteri, and a nice green Carpet. They sort of hosted the Ritteri but not with the same gusto the others host. They seem perfectly happy without an anemone and even eat from my hand. (I have seen them chase larger fish from their area of the tank though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I have a pair of false percs and I also have a BTA but they just ignore it. Your BTA is still very small. They will probably host when it gets larger. I have 2 RBTAs and they are probably 8-10 inches across. My clowns ignored it for about a month until it got bigger before it split. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 but I like the carpet anemones....... I guess me getting one would be more for me than the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate213 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 There is no doubt that carpet anemones are beautiful. I would love to have one. The size and difficulty level have kept me away.... for now. If I can keep my RBTAs alive for a few years, then I will attempt one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 There is no doubt that carpet anemones are beautiful. I would love to have one. The size and difficulty level have kept me away.... for now. If I can keep my RBTAs alive for a few years' date=' then I will attempt one.[/quote'] I'm kind of in the same boat. Except I've been there, done that, don't want to repeat it. I.E. The carpet I had lasted a few months and then just flopped to the bottom of the tank and disintegrated (It looked healthy the day before). I think the unhealthy Ritteri (Which I was told was a BTA) that disappeared behind the rocks 2 days before had something to do with it but for all I know it was something I did that made both give up. For now I'm sticking to the BTA's. (Whatever happened they survived) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Go ahead and get a carpet anemone if you want one... You'll never get any better at keeping one if you never get one... Get a smaller one, put it in and leave it alone....trust me, you can have the perfect place picked out and it will insist on going somewhere else. Be careful with a few things... 1) They will find every powerhead intake you have...you've been told! 2) They sting and hold on like superglue...my trick, give it a try...if you must handle or move it, vigorously wave your hand over the anemone, making strong water waves that "massage" the anemone for 10-15 seconds...like a giant clownfish...that prevented hand attachment every time. 3) They will eat fish that stray too close! 4) They should have metal halide lighting. 5) They will sometimes crash for no reason...but don't mistake cleansing regurgitation for dying. If it starts to "melt", get it out immediately;it will polute the whole tank. Good luck...DrMerle(rock2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxx155 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I have 2 Carpets and a BTA. One of the carpets had a moment a month ago where I thought for sure it was dieing (looked to be disintegrating into the sand), but I let it be and its been fine for the last 2 weeks. I had a mated pair of oscellaris and a saddleback in there, but they just kept fighting over the anemones. So, I took out the mated pair and put in my refugium for a week. I added a large Tomato during that time, then put the oscellaris back in. The tomato took over all 3 anemones for about a month, but then chose the largest carpet and bta since they are both on one side of the tank. The oscellaris have since taken over the other carpet and the lonely saddleback seems to be alright (he is getting huge though). Green Carpet - 12", Pink/tan Carpet - 16", BTA - 8" I find the carpets like moderate-high flow and lots of light. The BTA likes medium-moderate flow with moderate light. The carpets like both sand and rock (so I keep mine both next to a rock, but their base in the sand). The BTA definitely prefers rock. They all need to be fed well, I put a healthy supply of meaty food that either they get through the flow or the clownfish bring to them (I have seen the clownfish actually bring large chunks into the carpets mouth and drop). Keep your anemones well fed and they should stay put and leave other things alone. Just my two cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 Feeding it a high protein diet was in my plan, but I really don't want to run Halides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpd4308 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 We have a Carpet at Davy Jones Locker that we will make you a very good deal on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moovinfast Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 I could get a deal on one, but would it be happy in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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