ABSOLUTLY HEART BREAKING :(

clownfish chris · Sep 16, 2016

Babygecko1233 said:
@clownfish chris since im not adding my other anemone to the other tank...would the carpet anemone do good by itself in the big tank until we get clown fish? And when we do...what breed is more compatible with the carpet anemone? The only things that we want in the 30 gal are :

Carpet anemone
2 paired clown fish
Our 200+ zoas/palythoas
MAYBE a BTA
MAYBE a hammer coral.
Any ideas on suitable cleaner shrimp?
And i want one or 2 star fish..
The reason im not listing other fish is because i foolishly (i know TRUST me) have 2 sargent majors.... One is very very territorial and an ******* to any other fish we put in soo until they pass (because im too big of a baby to get rid of them) i cant have any other fish. Bonnie and clide is thier names. Bonnie (the bigger one) keeps clide ( the smaller one) forced into the live rock and only lets him out when feeding time comes...ik hes a bully.

A carpet needs a large tank. If you are seeing the behavior that you are out of your Sgt. Majors, they are in too small of a tank themselves. you are not doing them any good.

I commend you for wanting to give the livestock a good home but it appears that you cannot at this time. Don't think purely with your emotions. To give them the lives that you want to, you have to be able to give them what they need- and not just the bare minimum. Google "Carpet Anemone Care" and read the first two articles. Ignore liveaquaria's suggestion that a 30gallon is okay. That is not realistic unless there is nothing else in the tank and your filtration is extremely good. In the second sentence of there article, they point out that it can grow to 3 feet in diameter. Also, these animals do not usually do well in a reef setting. They need a soft substrate. Also, they can sting the heck out of you.

If you really want this nem, Get a large tank. Look on craigslist or on here. You can get a good deal. Do not reuse the sand but defiantly reuse liverock. Have good lights. They are photosynthetic. As you pointed out, also have good flow. Research... otherwise, you are taking out of the frying pan and throwing it into the fire.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

RudyB · Sep 16, 2016

I just went to Petco two days ago to see if they had a fake sea urchin to put in my tank in the hopes that my Banggai will place its babies there and maybe some would survive. I found all of their tanks infested with ick. They had a beautiful purple tang, and a lot of other fish in such distress. I would think they only had a couple of days to live left. So I went over to the person from the fish area and he had no clue what he was doing. I told him that they would need to medicate the fish in a hospital tank or something and the guy looked at me like I had three heads. I would assume those fish are dead by now. I feel sorry for whoever buys salt water fish from them. It is a disaster waiting to happen. They are the type of store that gives the rest a bad name. They should really get out of the salt water business.

Babygecko1233 · Sep 16, 2016

Okay thank you guys

im going to take your advice and just start small. What do you guys suggest for a 30 gallon??

Lokipsl · Sep 17, 2016

If you have a problem with a corporate chain stores fish department, you can call corporate and complain. If corporate gets a call about one of their stores selling sick and dying animals, they will have the disrtict manager get in touch with that store manager. This usually lights a fire under the store managers butt. If you see no signs of improvement in a month or two call again

dacostas · Sep 17, 2016

I live in Jacksonville, FL and luckily, the Petco Fish dept is taken care by people who know what they are doing. Every time I go in there both the fresh and saltwater tanks are clean. Sad to hear all Petco stores are not like this.

vxcvxc · Sep 17, 2016

The Petco in Kyle Texas is impecable, the fish are healthy and the water is clean. I think it depends on the store, these stores are franchises and if the owner is interested in the health of the livestock the animal habitats will be clean.