New haddoni deflating

[Henk]

Saw a really nice haddoni at the LFS and decided to take it home. Already have a gig in the same tank for a few years now. The anemone is nice in the morning and during most of the day, but deflates strongly at night. Wondering wether I should just put the animal in the sand (still in a basket for observation now). Or should I consider treating the animal? A few morning day and evening photos.

 

[xiongsy]

That's is one gorgeous haddoni! If it does well in the morning and not so well when the lights are off I'd let it out of the container. Are you trying to get the nem to host it?

 

[Henk]

That's is one gorgeous haddoni! If it does well in the morning and not so well when the lights are off I'd let it out of the container. Are you trying to get the nem to host it?

Thanks. Yes the idea was to get the clowns in proximity to the anemone, to speed up the process.

 

[Henk]

This morning at first light looking ok again

 

[MartinM]

This is the rollercoaster that often makes us think they’re healthy and don’t need treatment. A healthy Haddoni will never deflate and expose its innards like in one of your photos. Also, it can infect your gig if you’re not careful.

I highly suggest going ahead and treating it with Ciprofloxacin in a QT tank to be on the safe side. They can rollercoaster like this for weeks, even a few months, before finally succumbing to the infection. I’d suggest a lower dose at first, something like 3mg/L every 24 hours. If, after ~72 hours you’re still seeing deflating and mouth exposure, increase the dosage to 6mg/L/24 hours. There are a few stickies here about how it’s done, and a few different dosages.

Take it from me, better safe than sorry. I have 5, and I’ve lost two Haddoni’s and two gigs due to not treating fast enough, a mistake I don’t make anymore.

 

[MartinM]

How’s it doing?

 

[Henk]

N

How’s it doing?

I contacted the vet to get the cipro (located in Europe not freely available) but now day 3 without deflation. Might hold off on treatment.

 

[Henk]

How’s it doing?

No more deflating and I added him into the main tank. Seems to do much better with mouth well closed. Fingers crossed.

 

[D-Nak]

Most haddoni don’t like being in baskets because they like to bury their foot in the sand. Hopefully it’ll do better now that it’s at the bottom of the DT.

 

[MartinM]

Nice tank and anemone, I also have a pink one and they’re beautiful. Just make sure it’s getting more than 200 par there

 

[MartinM]

How’s it doing?

 

[Henk]

How’s it doing?

Doing well. I do wonder now if he gets sufficient light but I put him like half under the shade of the corals overhanging and partially in direct light. Guess he would move or stretch in the light if he wanted to, is that assumption correct? Photos of this morning shortly after lights on. I have seen no deflating or open mouth since he is in the sand.

 

[Henk]

Full tank photo

 

[MartinM]

They’re very adaptable. What kind of PAR is it getting? You can also help by feeding more.

 

[Henk]

They’re very adaptable. What kind of PAR is it getting? You can also help by feeding more.

Not sure how much par. I use Philips coral cares with relatively white light at 90%. The gigantea is also almost on sand level and seems to be doing fine (it is there now for a bit over 3 years), but it is not really shaded. The haddoni is a bit more shaded but it is not shaded in the front, so I thought it could move or stretch a bit if it wanted more light.
Should I feed the haddoni anemone? I must say I have never fed the gigantea intentionally but it catches fishfood and other small stuff. And it seems to like to snack on my urchins.

 

[MartinM]

Haha carpets do snack on whatever they want, mine eat snails. If he seems happy and isn’t obviously shrinking over time then you should be all good!

 

[Henk]

Further update: he has been moving about a bit, not much like 15-20cm left and right. I have added some sand on his foot hope he stays put. He is no longer shaded by the corals above now. Really love the color it brings to the tank.

 

[Henk]

Think it has settled in well… such a relief… it has grown a bit in size and color looks great even with more whites on

 

[OrionN]

Great looking anemone and a beautiful tank.
you can feed these anemones and they will grow very fast if you feed them a lot.
If you feed them, I would avoid shell fish (other than scallops muscles). It seem whole raw, very frags shell fish has high bacterial count. Multiple times when I feed oysters to my anemones I get deflation of the anemones. I don’t do this anymore but if I want my anemones to grow, I feed them whatever raw sea food we eat. Of course they catch whatever fish food I feed the tank and what ever the fish feed them. My carpets rarely catch a fish or two with death wishes.

 

[Henk]

Short update few months and a tank upgrade later. Haddoni looking good. He seemed to do less well and shrink for a while, but now after about 2 months of daily small feedings looks much better again. I don’t feed my gig at all… not sure why the haddoni seems to require such frequent feedings…? The gig is still in a bucket from the tank upgrade still need to get him out and place him in the tank.