Is this a carpet nem?

[1979fishgeek]

I purchased a Magnifica anemone from eBay seller week ago and if unfortunately turned up like soup and was dead, the seller kindly agreed to send me another. But I’m pretty sure it’s a carpet anemone, the colour is unusual on it though, not sure if it’s bleached or natural? It also arrived in very little water, so I’m praying it will survive.

Any info on this nem would be very welcome! Also it’s mouth is very red and slightly protruding, however it is VERY sticky and is also moving so it’s alive...but the amount of water it travelled in worries me.




How it arrived.



I only know carpet nems are fish eaters, so it’s in the same tank as my Red Ritteri, with just a Blue Devil Damsel this tank is four years old very stable calcium reactor, carbon dosing, GFO reactor, heavy skimming, shares sump of mixed reef, tank volume 400l total system volume 1200l

150w Metal halide 14k x 2
DSuny LED
No3 4ppm
Po4 0.012
Alk 8.9
Temp 26C
Salinity 1.025

 

[Taylor t]

Wow that’s an incredibly bleached gig carpet. Keep an eye on it, if it deflates turn your lights down, but a MH 150 is pretty low light for those guys it might be ok with no screening. Plastic window screening works good to cut down light for a week or two. Maybe put a small rock behind and in front of it, they really do well when surrounded by rock with a deeper area for the foot. They can recover from bleaching if everything else is good. Shipping in little water might not be bad, (I wouldn’t do that but some people seem to ship that way with no issues) in nature they can lay exposed out of water for a time with the tides. Tentacles are really short, but those too should get longer as it acclimates. It’s got a long way to recover, but looks pretty good in your picture for what it is. Take pictures of how it looks, if it deflates or at its best so you can look back and see progression.

 

[D-Nak]

I think it could be a haddoni. Gigantea rarely have red around the mouth, but haddoni commonly do. Also, based on the first few photos, the base looks large compared to the disk, and this is usually indicative of haddoni as well. It'll be easier to ID once it's settled in and starts to color up.

 

[1979fishgeek]

It’s plumped up and I think it’s mouth is slightly smaller with less hanging out...?

It’s foot has extended down into the substrate it’s and a inch in diameter, compared to a 4 inch disc.

Here’s a few photos as it’s been about 6 hours now in the tank...










Compared to previous photos, when it was first in the tank.

 

[Captain Quint]

I am really glad to see its mouth not agape now. Looks nice and closed.

Good job.

 

[1979fishgeek]

I am really glad to see its mouth not agape now. Looks nice and closed.

Good job.

Thank you! It’s def tightened up a little, not quite as gapping. It’s so plump now and folds beautifully nestled between some rocks, but it’s very very bleached practically transparent. I’m searching for methods of getting it to colour up again, I’ll try it on a tiny bit of cockle meat tomorrow see if it will eat. Hopefully it’s mouth will continue to close.

 

[Gonebad395]

Really happy to see it’s mouth closed up let it settle if a day or 5 lol and then slowly start feeding it small portions of shrimp and scallops. I would avoid silversides just due to packaging contaminates over the years

 

[1979fishgeek]

Really happy to see it’s mouth closed up let it settle if a day or 5 lol and then slowly start feeding it small portions of shrimp and scallops. I would avoid silversides just due to packaging contaminates over the years

Thank you!

 

[Captain Quint]

Really happy to see it’s mouth closed up let it settle if a day or 5 lol and then slowly start feeding it small portions of shrimp and scallops. I would avoid silversides just due to packaging contaminates over the years

+1 on avoiding the silversides with the thawing somewhere in the chain and then a refreeze. It has been creating havoc for some of our anemone's the past couple of years.

 

[Gonebad395]

+1 on avoiding the silversides with the thawing somewhere in the chain and then a refreeze. It has been creating havoc for some of our anemone's the past couple of years.

couldn’t agree more I truly think they don’t flush the toxins out of the fish before freezing and environmental toxins are introduced in small doses

 

[1979fishgeek]

Good to know about the silversides, but does that include the human grade fish as well? Thank you

 

[Captain Quint]

Good to know about the silversides, but does that include the human grade fish as well? Thank you

It will also enjoy wild-caught shrimp (you don't really need to peel, but I do just in case. ;) )from the deli. :)

 

[Gonebad395]

I feed my all my nems a concoction of fresh human grade seafood. This recipe works great and I don’t evef have problems with rejection or nems getting sick.

3 uncooked shell on shrimp
3 large scallops
3 oysters in shell
3 little neck clams in shell

Preparation
Half freeze all seafood (This makes slicing so easy)
Shuck clams and oysters
Slice all seafood into strips about the width of a soft drink straw
Then cut in half or thirds use judgment on size to ratio of nems
Put in zip lock baggie seal, flatten and freeze.

This batch here last me about 3 months cost me like 5 bucks.
You can look at my build thread and see how healthy my nes are or look here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/let’s-see-those-top-down-nem-shots.539563/
Hope this helps ya out that nem will be beautiful once you get it colored back up.

 

[D-Nak]

If you can find seafood not treated with STPP, that's usually a better option. A lot of shrimp are treated with it, even some wild caught that's frozen. Sushi-grade tuna and salmon cut into the size of a pencil eraser are good too.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Just wanted to update it’s still hanging in there and mouth looks closed tight, it’s not eating anything yet but is nice and inflated. I do notice that debris seems to collect around the mouth area from the tank and I’ve tried blowing it out but the tentacles have stuck to it.

 

[ambientaquatics.adam]

I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that you can transplant zooxanthellae from healthy nems to bleached ones by feeding the bleached nem a tentacle wrapped in food from a healthy new to help with recovery.

 

[D-Nak]

Assuming it's a haddoni, if you can remove some of the rocks around it to allow it to flatten out (Google photos of haddoni and you'll see how they like to spread out), this should help with debris removal.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Assuming it's a haddoni, if you can remove some of the rocks around it to allow it to flatten out (Google photos of haddoni and you'll see how they like to spread out), this should help with debris removal.

Thank you, that’s a good idea I was told buy someone else they like the rocks around them but its def not able to flatten. Still has the debris around central mouth but luckily the mouth is still closed.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Update, it’s hanging in there, rooted itself deep and attached to base of tank. Best of all it’s eaten finally!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Update, it’s hanging in there, rooted itself deep and attached to base of tank. Best of all it’s eaten finally!

Awesome. I have brought one back from white before, and it just takes time and stable water parameters. Luckily, yours still looks like it has a little bit of color left, so as long as you keep everything inline, it should bounce back and then grow like a weed.

Note: When bringing it back, and feeding it, it may spawn. Do not freak out, as your corals will love the free food. Your skimmer may also go nuts, if it happens.