JulianHuntToronto
Community Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2020
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 54
After being in the aquarium hobby for 10+ years in the 90's/early 00's I then took 10 years off to actually travel and dive in South East Asia. Malaysia, Tioman Islands, India, Bay of Bengal, Sri Lanka nd the Maldives. I was on my sabbatical from the university to teach somewhat, but I had lots of free time. I was on an anemone mission. I love these animals and since February I have started an anemone only tank. Species specific Entacmaea quadricolor, Epicystis crucifer and Stichodactyla tapetum. Bubble-tip, Rock Flower and Mini Carpet. I am working on my PhD and we have all ascertained that firstly, the slime coating of the clownish/damsel is based on sugar rather than proteins so anemones fail to recognize the fish as food and do not fire their stings. Whether or not the muppets of the aquarium trade believe so or not. Not my issue. I rely on facts. And so back to the thread, my Mini Carpet which is about 5" just ate my Rhodactis) Rhodactis howesii). It, the mushroom, detached itself from the rock and landed on the sand-bed, the current then blew it into the anemone and try as I might, in 20 seconds or less, I was not fast enough to get it to safety... Circle of Life. 3 days later it was stringy faeces coming out of the carpet. I will also caution to be aware that the Mini carpets do have a punchy sting, they are very sticky to the touch and on many occasions they have left my hand in pain. It is not a "bee" sting as many report, to me it is much like a stinging nettle rash. But it definitely does irritate. Since it is my PhD thesis, I would love to hear about your anemone experiences. I am going to exclude/give away my Bubble Tip (Entacmaea quadricolor) mainly for the reason that they move far too much. The Rockflowers and the Mini Carets tend to stay where they are put in the tank so it makes recording of feeding easier. So all this to say, I love my anemone tank, it's easy to keep, the clownfish are ambivalent as they do not naturally seek out these species. Clowns generally "are hosted" not host, by several species of anemones. But to get to the pint, an anemone will eat any protein based invert or vertebrate that it can wrap its tentacles around... there goes another $40!
