Has your carpet anemone eaten any fish?

[Maddlesrain]

I'm curious how many people have lost fish to their carpet anemones, specifically Haddoni. I'm weighing whether or not I should risk one (I understand there is a risk no matter what). Please feel free to include tank size, how long you've owned the anemone(s), and the type(s) of fish that were consumed to help the rest of us make an informed decision.
Also, if there is anything that helped keep your fish from becoming dinner, please share your secrets!
Pictures of your anemones are always welcome too

 

[kados]

10+ years ago....120 gallon (4' x 2' x 2')
12" or so Carpet anemone ate a 4" Foxface and a baby 2' Emperor Angel.. I kept it 5 more years after that but in a 57 Gallon mixed reef with paired Ocellaris clownfish and some other smaller fish that luckily never swam into it..once the clowns hosted they wouldn't let any fish or hands near it.. sold it many years ago and several builds later never bought another. Beautiful to look at especially with clownfish but caution while cleaning. Definitely stung me when I accidentally touched it.

 

[Maddlesrain]

10+ years ago....120 gallon (4' x 2' x 2')
12" or so Carpet anemone ate a 4" Foxface and a baby 2' Emperor Angel.. I kept it 5 more years after that but in a 57 Gallon mixed reef with paired Ocellaris clownfish and some other smaller fish that luckily never swam into it..once the clowns hosted they wouldn't let any fish or hands near it.. sold it many years ago and several builds later never bought another. Beautiful to look at especially with clownfish but caution while cleaning. Definitely stung me when I accidentally touched it.

Thank you for the detailed information! To avoid stinging did you handle it with gloves when introducing / removing it from the tank? Did you ever feed yours, or just let the clowns feed it?

 

[kados]

Thank you for the detailed information! To avoid stinging did you handle it with gloves when introducing / removing it from the tank? Did you ever feed yours, or just let the clowns feed it?

I used those big Coralife blue and red shoulder length gloves to move it. Otherwise I was careful as I could be while working in the tank without them. The gloves did help with the clownfish hand attacks too lol. Horrible gloves to handle small things with but great for protection. I fed it small pieces of shrimp every couple of weeks. I don't think you need to feed them though.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My answer was “Yes.”

 

[JumboShrimp]

Lol. Whenever I saw the ‘Death Trap’ was in action, I would count my fish.

 

[Maddlesrain]

My answer was “Yes.”

What type of fish did yours eat? How long did you keep the nem for?

 

[a;lksdjf]

My mini carpet has never eaten one of my fish, but when I was acclimating it, it spit out the body of a banggai cardinal that must have been kept in the same tank. A little morbid, but it’s never caused any trouble for me personally.

 

[LiveFreeAndReef]

My mini carpet has never eaten one of my fish, but when I was acclimating it, it spit out the body of a banggai cardinal that must have been kept in the same tank. A little morbid, but it’s never caused any trouble for me personally.

I recently picked up a mini carpet, my linear blenny likes to sit on top of it!

 

[Littlesquishy]

Does anyone have more experience with carpet nems or sebae anemones? I was about to post the same question. Would like to see what other reefers do to prevent potential losses. Working with a 75 gallon and interested in H. Malu or H. Crispa. I can get 300 - 350 par at the bottom of the tank. I have 2.5 inches of sand.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Does anyone have more experience with carpet nems or sebae anemones? I was about to post the same question. Would like to see what other reefers do to prevent potential losses. Working with a 75 gallon and interested in H. Malu or H. Crispa. I can get 300 - 350 par at the bottom of the tank. I have 2.5 inches of sand.

Hopefully others will chime in about the par levels and experiences. I ended up with two condy anemones (a purple, and a blue-green) so I shelved the carpet anemone craving for now haha.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

A healthy H. crispa is bulletproof and won't eat fish unless they're sick/dead. I had mine with all kinds of stuff, even bluestripe pipefish and a mandarin. It was under 100 par for a long time until I upgraded lights, then was at 220 par.

 

[ZoWhat]

No fish. Just my neighbor that I fed it in small chunks

 

[Littlesquishy]

A healthy H. crispa is bulletproof and won't eat fish unless they're sick/dead. I had mine with all kinds of stuff, even bluestripe pipefish and a mandarin. It was under 100 par for a long time until I upgraded lights, then was at 220 par.

I have small-sized fishes in mine with the smallest 2.5 inches to 4 inches big. I'm excluding the tang because I'm not worried about him. Is it a possibility for the anemone (healthy) to be strong enough and overpower a small fish (healthy) like a goby or mandarin dragonnet? Would the size of the 75 gallon minimize possible interactions between small fish and nem? Are there ways I could minimize losses, like leaving moonlight mode on for the night? I liked it on for a couple of hours so reef life had a clear day and night cycle.

 

[Miami Reef]

A few years ago I had a haddoni anemone that caught my foxface. I got my aquarium tongs and snatched the foxface out of its mouth. The foxface had white dots all over and died the next day. It was brutal.

I got rid of the haddoni and I’ll NEVER add another one in my life.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

I have small-sized fishes in mine with the smallest 2.5 inches to 4 inches big. I'm excluding the tang because I'm not worried about him. Is it a possibility for the anemone (healthy) to be strong enough and overpower a small fish (healthy) like a goby or mandarin dragonnet? Would the size of the 75 gallon minimize possible interactions between small fish and nem? Are there ways I could minimize losses, like leaving moonlight mode on for the night? I liked it on for a couple of hours so reef life had a clear day and night cycle.

Again, H. crispa should be no issue with fish. Mine was in a 4' 110 gallon with all kinds of small fish, including green banded gobies, a mandarin, and a pair of bluestripe pipefish. Never had any issue. Had a different one in my old 187 gallon years ago that was also fine with all the tankmates. Banggai cardinals will live in H crispa as well, they are hosted by anemones in the wild.

Heteractis anemones are a very different ball game than carpets, especially S. haddoni. I'd never put a haddoni with fish other than clowns.

 

[Littlesquishy]

@Fishfreak2009 Is it unique to banggai cardinals or cardinals in general? Thats an interesting relationship I wasn't aware of. Thank you for the feedback guys! I think i'll roll the dice on a sebae anemone. I hope I can find a small one.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

@Fishfreak2009 Is it unique to banggai cardinals or cardinals in general? Thats an interesting relationship I wasn't aware of. Thank you for the feedback guys! I think i'll roll the dice on a sebae anemone. I hope I can find a small one.

Unique to Banggai