Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others??

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 12:00 PM

I have 2 anemones, I am not sure what they are called, but they have long white tenticals with purple tips. One of them has a pink base and the other's is white.

I have a false clown and he does not go to either one. I was doing some research and read that they prefer carpet anemones. I want to get him one, but I have also heard that having 2 is fine, but if I have more than that the other 2 will pick on it. Is this true with all anemones, or just the same kind??

Lots of questions!! Thanks!

Woodstock · 04-03-2007, 12:14 PM

How large is your tank? carpet anemones get VERY large.. and they eat fish.
I have read that different species of anemones should not be kept together. They will fight via chemical warfare. I do not suggest keeping different species together.

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 12:39 PM

My tank is 55 gal. I have som pretty small fish in there though, and deffinitely don't want my fish getting eaten. My false perc. is so cute and seems lonely

He's always swimming around by himself and the other fish seem to all have friends (I know, I'm a dork). I feel bad for him, maybe I should get another one to keep him company??

Woodstock · 04-03-2007, 12:44 PM

Sure, you could get him a friend. Just make sure the new clown is smaller than him. Two females (larger of the sexes) will fight!

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 02:15 PM

Ok, I will try to get a male. The one I have is pretty darn small though, but I'm not sure what sex it is. I will have to ask the fish experts at the store to help me out. Thanks!!

wonderloss · 04-03-2007, 02:32 PM

I have a percula. I am not sure if it is true or false, though it was sold to me as a true perc. At one point, I tried to add another, smaller perc. It ended tragically. Things seemed OK at first. I went to another room for about 15 minutes, and came back to find the larger one assaulting the smaller one. I got the smaller one moved back into the QT, but it did not survive.

If you get another, I would recommend some sort of physical separation when it is first added to keep the new addition safe.

I have also heard that multiple anemone's will engage in chemical warfare. It will be much more pronounced in a smaller tank because the chemicals will be more concentrated. This can occur even within the same species, but is more likely with different species.

Dentoid · 04-03-2007, 02:56 PM

Rebek, I suggest you get a good book and research what you have or use the internet to learn about the specimens you are keeping. The Conscious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner is a great book with a lot of basic information. I discourage you from keeping differing species of anemones in the same tank. I discribe it like this. It's like being in a closed room with three other people and they all have on different colognes/perfumes. You want to get out of there! If you are locked up, then you want to kill the person with the worst/strongest cologne. Anemones are known to go on seek and destroy missions when they are unhappy.

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 05:00 PM

I will deffinitely have to invest in a good marine life book!! I have been trying to research on the internet alot, but it seems pretty hard to find exact answers to the questions I have!! I definitely won't try putting any other anemone's in my tank, we don't need any of them going on a murderous rampage, that's for sure!!

Would anyone have a clue as to what kind of anemone I have?? I think they are sebae, but cannot find one on the net that looks exactly the same!! Both of them have long white tenticles, with purple tips. One had a bright pink base, adn the other has a white base...

Thanks!

lcstorc · 04-03-2007, 05:15 PM

Sounds like they may be condys but without a pic it is impossible to tell. In most cases a white anemone is a bleached anemone and alread in trouble before you even got it. Try posting a pic if you can. We have some really good ID experts on this forum.

Finding the answers to specific questions is one of the wonderful things about this forum. People are really glad to help and share their experience. There is a lot to learn and it will take time. Don't become discouraged just ask and read a lot.

Just throwing my 2 cents in here but I have been reading your posts here today and it sounds like your LFS is giving you some really bad advice. In all honesty your tank has not even cycled yet and you have 2 anemones which are not recommended for a tank less than a year old. Also with anemones one of the very important things is lighting. They require very intense lights. You also have a lot of fish for such a new tank. Take some time and do a lot of research before adding anything else. Your tank needs time to stabilze and develop a good biological filter. This is something that cannot be rushed and if you do rush it now you will be paying the price for some time to come.
I don't want to discourage you. With time, patience, and a lot of reading you will have a wonderful ecosystem that you can enjoy for many years to come. Take a look through the photo gallery and see some of the things that are possibe. Many of our members have truly incredible pieces of the ocean in their homes. Just keep asking questions and you will learn lots.

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 05:26 PM

I think I'm getting some pretty bad advice too!! How long does it usually take a tank to cycle? I really hope they are all ok, they SEEM to be, but who knows! Can I add some more live rock now that there are already fish in it? Do you think that may help a little with the cycling?? I'm worried now and I want to do everything I can to help it along!

I will see if I can get any decent pictures of the anemones and put them on here to see if I can figure out what kind they are. I can't believe they bleach them! That's horrible!! Poor things, I think they are pretier with color anyways!

Thanks so much for your help, I'll take all I can get!!

lcstorc · 04-03-2007, 05:38 PM

Unfortunately with anemones you may not know for an extended time period. They have a very slow metabolism and it takes some time for them to show illness etc. The only thing you can do is give them the best water quality you can and hope for the best.
Yes you can add more live rock but that is not going to help in the short term. Long term it could be a really good idea if it is fully cycled. How big is the tank and how much LR do you already have? What type of filtration are you running? What kind of lights?
These things are all very important in a saltwater tank particularly a reef.
A normal tank cycle runs from a couple of weeks to a month or more. It depends on a lot of factors such as the rock and other filtration in the tank. For a tank to be well established the general rule is a year or more though some people say 6 months. I know my tank is still maturing and it is about a year and a half now. Unfortunately the first 6 months or so I was getting bad advice and killing a lot of fish and yes anemones as well. I had to learn the hard way before I found this place.

rebekwl · 04-03-2007, 08:08 PM

For some reason, it will not allow me to reply to the "is my anomone dying" post so here it is. He did not smell, but tenticals were NOT sticky. I put him back in the tank, hoping for him to recover. Then all of the sudden I noticed that the Raccoon Butterfly was nibbling on him. Apparently they like to eat sick anemones!! We saw him rip open the top of the anemone

then my husband decided that we needed to flush it. He said that even if it wasn't dead, dying from shock would be alot less painfull than being eaten alive!! Poor thing. So that ananome is a thing of the past. He won't even go near the healthy one, probably because his stingers work very well, the clown is also protecting it, so I think it will be ok. Sad ending

lcstorc · 04-03-2007, 08:13 PM

Sorry to hear that.
Did you get the other test kits?

aquaman3680 · 04-03-2007, 08:26 PM

Just to give you a size refrence of how big they are, i bought my carpet about 3-4 months ago, it was about 6-8 inches... in that 3-4 months the carpet is now around 15 inches... they get HUGE! I have not had my carpet any fish but i can see how it is possible! Also be aware that your clown may not go in the carpet either if you should get another one!

Matt

rebekwl · 04-04-2007, 09:52 AM

Whoa! That is pretty big!! I think I am going to hold off on the carpet for now. We may be investing in a 175 gal tank in the near future, and will probably be doing a big reef in there!! I f we do that I will probably consider getting a carpet anemone...

I realized that we did have a nitrite test and they ended up bing high. We did a 10% water change, and will check on water quality today. Should I continue to do mini changes daily???

04-03-2007, 12:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? I have 2 anemones, I am not sure what they are called, but they have long white tenticals with purple tips. One of them has a pink base and the other's is white. I have a false clown and he does not go to either one. I was doing some research and read that they prefer carpet anemones. I want to get him one, but I have also heard that having 2 is fine, but if I have more than that the other 2 will pick on it. Is this true with all anemones, or just the same kind?? Lots of questions!! Thanks!

04-03-2007, 12:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
Woodstock The Wand Geek was here. ;) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22,857 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? How large is your tank? carpet anemones get VERY large.. and they eat fish. I have read that different species of anemones should not be kept together. They will fight via chemical warfare. I do not suggest keeping different species together. __________________ ~Doni Marie~ *GOT ICH???* ~120 Reef Chronicle ~ *~Breeding Picasso Clownfish~* "Energy and persistence conquer all things." Benjamin Franklin __________________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 120 mixed reef, dual Reeflux 10k 250 MHs, dual Geiseman Actinic T5s,Neptune AC III, ASM g3, 2x Korallia #3, Mag 9.5 return

04-03-2007, 12:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? My tank is 55 gal. I have som pretty small fish in there though, and deffinitely don't want my fish getting eaten. My false perc. is so cute and seems lonely He's always swimming around by himself and the other fish seem to all have friends (I know, I'm a dork). I feel bad for him, maybe I should get another one to keep him company??

04-03-2007, 12:44 PM	#4 (permalink)
Woodstock The Wand Geek was here. ;) Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 22,857 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Sure, you could get him a friend. Just make sure the new clown is smaller than him. Two females (larger of the sexes) will fight! __________________ ~Doni Marie~ *GOT ICH???* ~120 Reef Chronicle ~ *~Breeding Picasso Clownfish~* "Energy and persistence conquer all things." Benjamin Franklin __________________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 120 mixed reef, dual Reeflux 10k 250 MHs, dual Geiseman Actinic T5s,Neptune AC III, ASM g3, 2x Korallia #3, Mag 9.5 return

04-03-2007, 02:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Ok, I will try to get a male. The one I have is pretty darn small though, but I'm not sure what sex it is. I will have to ask the fish experts at the store to help me out. Thanks!!

04-03-2007, 02:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
wonderloss Frequent lurker Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Central Florida Posts: 396 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? I have a percula. I am not sure if it is true or false, though it was sold to me as a true perc. At one point, I tried to add another, smaller perc. It ended tragically. Things seemed OK at first. I went to another room for about 15 minutes, and came back to find the larger one assaulting the smaller one. I got the smaller one moved back into the QT, but it did not survive. If you get another, I would recommend some sort of physical separation when it is first added to keep the new addition safe. I have also heard that multiple anemone's will engage in chemical warfare. It will be much more pronounced in a smaller tank because the chemicals will be more concentrated. This can occur even within the same species, but is more likely with different species.

04-03-2007, 02:56 PM	#7 (permalink)
Dentoid Over Achiever Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 10,239 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Rebek, I suggest you get a good book and research what you have or use the internet to learn about the specimens you are keeping. The Conscious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner is a great book with a lot of basic information. I discourage you from keeping differing species of anemones in the same tank. I discribe it like this. It's like being in a closed room with three other people and they all have on different colognes/perfumes. You want to get out of there! If you are locked up, then you want to kill the person with the worst/strongest cologne. Anemones are known to go on seek and destroy missions when they are unhappy. __________________ Scott Dentoid's Reeforama

04-03-2007, 05:00 PM	#8 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? I will deffinitely have to invest in a good marine life book!! I have been trying to research on the internet alot, but it seems pretty hard to find exact answers to the questions I have!! I definitely won't try putting any other anemone's in my tank, we don't need any of them going on a murderous rampage, that's for sure!! Would anyone have a clue as to what kind of anemone I have?? I think they are sebae, but cannot find one on the net that looks exactly the same!! Both of them have long white tenticles, with purple tips. One had a bright pink base, adn the other has a white base... Thanks!

04-03-2007, 05:15 PM	#9 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 18,454 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Sounds like they may be condys but without a pic it is impossible to tell. In most cases a white anemone is a bleached anemone and alread in trouble before you even got it. Try posting a pic if you can. We have some really good ID experts on this forum. Finding the answers to specific questions is one of the wonderful things about this forum. People are really glad to help and share their experience. There is a lot to learn and it will take time. Don't become discouraged just ask and read a lot. Just throwing my 2 cents in here but I have been reading your posts here today and it sounds like your LFS is giving you some really bad advice. In all honesty your tank has not even cycled yet and you have 2 anemones which are not recommended for a tank less than a year old. Also with anemones one of the very important things is lighting. They require very intense lights. You also have a lot of fish for such a new tank. Take some time and do a lot of research before adding anything else. Your tank needs time to stabilze and develop a good biological filter. This is something that cannot be rushed and if you do rush it now you will be paying the price for some time to come. I don't want to discourage you. With time, patience, and a lot of reading you will have a wonderful ecosystem that you can enjoy for many years to come. Take a look through the photo gallery and see some of the things that are possibe. Many of our members have truly incredible pieces of the ocean in their homes. Just keep asking questions and you will learn lots. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

04-03-2007, 05:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? I think I'm getting some pretty bad advice too!! How long does it usually take a tank to cycle? I really hope they are all ok, they SEEM to be, but who knows! Can I add some more live rock now that there are already fish in it? Do you think that may help a little with the cycling?? I'm worried now and I want to do everything I can to help it along! I will see if I can get any decent pictures of the anemones and put them on here to see if I can figure out what kind they are. I can't believe they bleach them! That's horrible!! Poor things, I think they are pretier with color anyways! Thanks so much for your help, I'll take all I can get!!

04-03-2007, 05:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 18,454 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Unfortunately with anemones you may not know for an extended time period. They have a very slow metabolism and it takes some time for them to show illness etc. The only thing you can do is give them the best water quality you can and hope for the best. Yes you can add more live rock but that is not going to help in the short term. Long term it could be a really good idea if it is fully cycled. How big is the tank and how much LR do you already have? What type of filtration are you running? What kind of lights? These things are all very important in a saltwater tank particularly a reef. A normal tank cycle runs from a couple of weeks to a month or more. It depends on a lot of factors such as the rock and other filtration in the tank. For a tank to be well established the general rule is a year or more though some people say 6 months. I know my tank is still maturing and it is about a year and a half now. Unfortunately the first 6 months or so I was getting bad advice and killing a lot of fish and yes anemones as well. I had to learn the hard way before I found this place. __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

04-03-2007, 08:08 PM	#12 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? For some reason, it will not allow me to reply to the "is my anomone dying" post so here it is. He did not smell, but tenticals were NOT sticky. I put him back in the tank, hoping for him to recover. Then all of the sudden I noticed that the Raccoon Butterfly was nibbling on him. Apparently they like to eat sick anemones!! We saw him rip open the top of the anemone then my husband decided that we needed to flush it. He said that even if it wasn't dead, dying from shock would be alot less painfull than being eaten alive!! Poor thing. So that ananome is a thing of the past. He won't even go near the healthy one, probably because his stingers work very well, the clown is also protecting it, so I think it will be ok. Sad ending

04-03-2007, 08:13 PM	#13 (permalink)
lcstorc Sunshine Reefer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cocoa Fl Posts: 18,454 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Sorry to hear that. Did you get the other test kits? __________________ Peace LYNN You can't change the past but you can change how you view it. A reef tank is like a racecar. The faster you go the harder you crash. Lynn and Franks saltwater adventure Lynn's 20g clown tank Lynn's 90g of sunshine Every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

04-03-2007, 08:26 PM	#14 (permalink)
aquaman3680 Golden Moray Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 2,130 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Just to give you a size refrence of how big they are, i bought my carpet about 3-4 months ago, it was about 6-8 inches... in that 3-4 months the carpet is now around 15 inches... they get HUGE! I have not had my carpet any fish but i can see how it is possible! Also be aware that your clown may not go in the carpet either if you should get another one! Matt __________________ Check it out! The 90 gallon Road Trip

04-04-2007, 09:52 AM	#15 (permalink)
rebekwl Achilles Tang Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 846 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Can I put a carpet anemone in with my 2 others?? Whoa! That is pretty big!! I think I am going to hold off on the carpet for now. We may be investing in a 175 gal tank in the near future, and will probably be doing a big reef in there!! I f we do that I will probably consider getting a carpet anemone... I realized that we did have a nitrite test and they ended up bing high. We did a 10% water change, and will check on water quality today. Should I continue to do mini changes daily???

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