Carpet Anemone

[MikeC_EE99]

Well my blue carpet anemone just died after 4 weeks. I bought it from a reputable fish store here in town and was in good health when I got him, but he didn't make it. The clown fish never took to him (Osc. clowns). They didn't even go near him. Any idea why that might be? He moved around a lot, and finally settled on the bottom of the tank near in the sand, but because the clown fish never went around him the peppermint shrimp finally found him and just ate him alive. Anyone have any suggestion as to how to prevent this in the future? Should I just stick to bubble anemones? The water chemistry was fine (nitrate, salinity, calcium, etc.). Any ideas?

 

[Len]

Carpet anemones are very fragile. They are one species I personally avoid. They succumb to a range of problems, such as bacterial infections or simply not being able to acclimate to new water conditions. If the shrimp ate it, then it probably was already decaying. Shrimps rarely attack healthy anemones. A healthy carpet would, in fact, eat shrimps

I would stick with BTAs or Long Tentacles, or a healthy Heteractis (e.g. Sebae) would even be hardier. Haddoni carpets are also a bit hardier.