Carpet Anemone Removal

[cj02]

I need some help removing my Green Carpet. Beautiful, but eating too many specimens, and expensive ones too. I have tried all of the traditional methods without success. He is at the bottom of my 300-gallon display, with the foot wedged under the base rocks, deep. Removing the rock would upset the entire system, not possible. Is there some other way to remove him? Inject his mouth with an irritant, etc. I have no idea, but unfortunately, it's time for him to go. He literally ate an entire blue ribbon eel that was established and eating, and then rejurgitated the remains. See the photo below. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Condolences. That's why I've got a nem system where all fish are considered to be possible future carpet food.

If getting to the foot isn't an option, you'll likely need to make the current location inhospitable. That could be changing the flow or light.

Let's see the location in tank.

My first try would likely be putting something opaque over it forcing it to move to get to the light and flow, hopefully being able to nab it in transition.

If I was going to try this I would probably krylon on a piece of acrylic and lean it over the carpet, dug into the sand on the end. Not super close but enough to disrupt light and flow.

 

[exnisstech]

In addition to the above recommendations maybe also remove as much sand as you can from around the base to make it uncomfortable. Sorry for your loss, been there done that. I lost hundreds $ in fish to my first one. The ones that weren't eaten were badly stung and died.

 

[Hungrypede]

I wonder if the PVC method would work, although a thicker pipe.

I searched around and couldn’t find the exact thread, but here’s another post from @Lost in the Sauce on ideas for removal - including the PVC method!

Moving Bubble Tip Anemones

Hello all, I am finally ready to move my remaining livestock to a larger tank. I have two RBTA’s that I need to move, but the rocks they are on are covered in stuff I don’t want in my new tank. Lots of algae, haven’t seen any Aiptasia yet. How do I move them? Do I try to remove them from the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I've reached out to @Eagle_Steve to see if any modification to the nem cannon would work for a carpet.

Based on how they move, I'm going to guess no.

@OrionN got any tricks to share?

Edit: Steve got back to me. Said the nem cannon will work for a large carpet as well.

Obviously a larger diameter pipe and no sponge should be needed.

All other rules/best practices apply. Don't point the opening at the light. Make it long enough that the nem can't just extend out of the top and open up.

A pic still may help with orientation.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[OrionN]

I am sorry.
You just have to upset the tank. If you want to keep the anemone alive you just have to dig down to the foot attachment and use a sharp blade to remove it from the glass. If it is attached to the rock, then just have to remove the rock.
you can irritate it so it moves and remove it while it is moving, thus not attached to anything. This is risky since all bets are off when the anemone is moving, and you are not there.

 

[cj02]

Thank you all for the responses. I have tried all methods, even a long 4 inch pvc pipe using the pipe/cannon method. No success. Seems I will will have to go digging. I have been planning a big water change, so I will take that opportunity to dislodge him. Thanks again.