Rock climbing Hadonni

[KeepAFish]

I have a decent size hadonni and when I placed him in the aquarium a couple months ago, I put him off the sand in a rock crevice, which was probably a mistake since they like to be sand.

Last week wee added two rose bubble tips and yesterday the hadonni started to work its way out of the crevice. I expected it to move to the sand, but today it started moving up the rock.

Should I place him in the sand, move the rbta, or see what he does on his own.

I added some before and after pictures:

 

[bradleym]

If I had to take a guess, they are probably having some chemical warfare. You should run a significant amount of carbon to counteract that, and then let the haddoni settle where it wants.

 

[D-Nak]

How deep is your sandbed? How old is your tank?

The haddoni doesn't look happy. I don't think it's allelopathy since I've had haddoni and BTAs together without issue.

I suspect something is going on with your tank that it doesn't like.

I suggest not moving it, unless it's easy to do so, and place it back on the sandbed. My concern though, is that your tank doesn't have the ideal parameters to keep a haddoni (BTAs are more hardy and typically do well in most tanks).

 

[KeepAFish]

If I had to take a guess, they are probably having some chemical warfare. You should run a significant amount of carbon to counteract that, and then let the haddoni settle where it wants.

I added about 2 cups of fresh carbon about a week ago. Do you think I should add more?

 

[KeepAFish]

How deep is your sandbed? How old is your tank?

The haddoni doesn't look happy. I don't think it's allelopathy since I've had haddoni and BTAs together without issue.

I suspect something is going on with your tank that it doesn't like.

I suggest not moving it, unless it's easy to do so, and place it back on the sandbed. My concern though, is that your tank doesn't have the ideal parameters to keep a haddoni (BTAs are more hardy and typically do well in most tanks).

Do you think he looks unhappy in the first 2 pictures? The first one is how he usually looks. The second picture was right after the rbta was added. The third was today.

What water parameters could be causing him to be unhappy? I will follow up shortly with what I have after taking some fresh tests shortly.

 

[KeepAFish]

I added about 2 cups of fresh carbon about a week ago. Do you think I should add more?

The rbta is on a rock and can be very easily moved to the other side of the tank. I will take the suggestion if it is recommended.

I am also looking for good sources of information for the hadonni. Books, links, etc.

 

[bradleym]

I added about 2 cups of fresh carbon about a week ago. Do you think I should add more?

Hmm, if you have just added fresh carbon I could be wrong, it was just an initial guess. :)

Let's take a look at the parameters and see if anything else is bugging it. Salinity, alkalinity, temp, nitrates, and phosphates are a good start.

Relocating anemones will not help, it seems to be reacting to something in the water.

 

[KeepAFish]

How deep is your sandbed? How old is your tank?

The sand bed is 3-6” and on average 4”. The tank is about 4 months old.

 

[KeepAFish]

Hmm, if you have just added fresh carbon I could be wrong, it was just an initial guess. :)

Let's take a look at the parameters and see if anything else is bugging it. Salinity, alkalinity, temp, nitrates, and phosphates are a good start.

Relocating anemones will not help, it seems to be reacting to something in the water.

Temp: 77.8 F
Salinity: 1.025
Alkalinity: 12 dKH
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Magnesium: 1200 ppm

Updated picture:

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I has this Haddoni which resided in the rock work for about two years before I sold it. Moved it back to the sandbed a couple of times but it always went back to roughly the same spot. Figure it was a PAR/flow thing. No other nems in the tank.

 

[KeepAFish]

I has this Haddoni which resided in the rock work for roughly two years before I sold it. Moved it back to the sandbed a couple of times but it always went back to roughly the same spot. Figure it was a PAR/flow thing. No other nems in the tank.

Beautiful! I wish I could get my clowns to host him. How long did it take?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Fairly quick iirc. Even though Maroons only natural is the BTA, I've found they tend to find any species of nem quickly. Should mention that the Haddoni eventually ate them. Last time I ever mixed non-symbionts.

 

[KeepAFish]

Fairly quick iirc. Even though Maroons only natural is the BTA, I've found they tend to find any species of nem quickly. Should mention that the Haddoni eventually ate them. Last time I ever mixed non-symbionts.

Maybe they will prefer my BTA.

 

[D-Nak]

Do you have any coralline algae growing? That's usually my indicator that a tank is ready for an anemone.

I'm a bit concerned that 4 months isn't long enough for the tank to be stable enough for a haddoni, or any anemone that was a higher care requirement (you're BTAs are probably fine). it's not really one parameter that needs to stay in check, it's that the levels of all of them aren't fluctuating very much. Have you been checking nitrate/nitrite/ammonia?

Small haddoni typically like the rockwork, once they get bigger they'll usually move into the sandbed and bury their foot.

 

[KeepAFish]

Do you have any coralline algae growing? That's usually my indicator that a tank is ready for an anemone.

I'm a bit concerned that 4 months isn't long enough for the tank to be stable enough for a haddoni, or any anemone that was a higher care requirement (you're BTAs are probably fine). it's not really one parameter that needs to stay in check, it's that the levels of all of them aren't fluctuating very much. Have you been checking nitrate/nitrite/ammonia?

Small haddoni typically like the rockwork, once they get bigger they'll usually move into the sandbed and bury their foot.

I agree that I may have jumped in too fast with the haddoni (added him at 2 months ). He reacts to changes in flow, lighting, or even noise immediately. I do wish I would have waited longer, but he has been happy for the most part, but likes to give me heart ache every couple weeks.

I don’t have much coralline. Last week I added some more of the starter spores. I started with dry rock, so I expected it to go slow.

We check the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia regularly and they are always at 0. I recently considered adding nitrates to benefit some of my corals.

 

[KeepAFish]

Do you have any coralline algae growing? That's usually my indicator that a tank is ready for an anemone.

Should I be concerned for the anemone?

What sign to look out for?

 

[Hot2na]

are you SURE it's a Haddoni ?

 

[skyrne_isk]

are you SURE it's a Haddoni ?

Beat me to it. I’m thinking this is a hybrid haddoni/gigantea. The tentacles look a little too long to be a haddoni, imo. Not quite shaggy enough for a gig - but this could simply be because it’s new. I don’t love the exposed siphonglyphs, the mouth should close fully if it’s happy and you let it be.

I have had one that was an in betweener - was always on the rockwork. I have never seen a true haddoni not find sand. Am curious, does the foot have a color that fades away toward the oral disk? The bottom of the foot was always more brightly colored on the ones I have had that I suspected were hybrids or as of yet unclassified species. @OrionN Perhaps the expert can weigh in….

 

[bradleym]

Looking at the pictures that have already been shared, it has all the signs of a haddoni, and none of those typical for a gigantea. White foot, "lipstick" mouth coloring, short tentacles (even the hybrids we've seen had longer tentacles than this). To me, the only thing "non-haddoni" here is that it is not in the sand.

 

[skyrne_isk]

Looking at the pictures that have already been shared, it has all the signs of a haddoni, and none of those typical for a gigantea. White foot, "lipstick" mouth coloring, short tentacles (even the hybrids we've seen had longer tentacles than this). To me, the only thing "non-haddoni" here is that it is not in the sand.

Ah, I missed the foot. Which is actually visible. Those I have in the past that were probably hybrids always had a very bright foot - usually blue when the carpet itself was green.