Mini Carpet Anemone vs. Corals?

[Dylan]

I have the opportunity to pick up a mini carpet anemone from a really nice guy. The thing is, I only have a 29 gallon biocube. I have the right conditions and water quality for it, but not much room. These mini carpets only get up to around the size of a quarter.

How lethal are they? Should I be worried? I don't want all my corals dying.

 

[inactive]

They like to move sometimes, when they do they can take out sensitive corals like SPS and what not. I keep a MCA in my pico and it moved around a lot before finally settling in. He was in my 55 before and everyday was a new adventure looking for him. They are easy to find next to new white SPS.

 

[Dylan]

How big was it?

These are pretty tiny.. If I kept it on it's own rock on the sand would it still move off the rock?

 

[rosebud161616]

I had read at one point in time that they have less of a sting than a ricordia. I have never had problems with mine and coral, but I don't have them with SPS.

They do move around quite a bit.

And they do get bigger than a quarter. Their max size is 2". I find if I feed mine a lot they get big and don't split as often. If I ignore them they split constantly and due to the splitting they stay smaller. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but that's my $.02!

 

[Dylan]

I read about the size, and I was kinda suprised when I read they only get 1 inch. But this guy has had them for around a year or two and they still haven't gotten bigger than a quarter. They are going on a rock on my sandbed 18" away from a 150w metal halide. Does this sound okay?

 

[rosebud161616]

Mini carpets don't need a ton of light so they should be fine. But they can get larger than 1".

 

[Dylan]

Well I sure hope it does. They split at a quarter size so maybe they just need more feeding.

 

[BeakerBob]

My mini-carpets stay about the size of a 50 cent piece and move around in my tank. They don't seem to bother any of the corals, even if they attach to the base of them.

Here is a picture of one of mine:

 

[Dylan]

That's a nice nem! So I'm assuming they will touch your SPS?

 

[BeakerBob]

I have not had any that attach to a living coral, just to the base rock that the coral is attached to. They seem to like the bottom or stem of the frags plugs, often between the stem and the eggcrate.

 

[Dylan]

Okay, then it seems like I have nothing to worry about. Thanks!

 

[litenyaup]

i have 2 nems, 1 maroon clown, 1 cleaner shrimp, and ~20#'s of LR in my 24 gal aqua pod. plenty of room and it looks really good!