Carpet Anemone vs. Kole Tang

[hfleming]

I'm bummed. I have had my green Haddon's carpet anemone for about 6 months with no issues but yesterday it got my 4" Kole tang. It is about 8" in diameter when opened fully.

I did not see the incident but the Kole was missing and there was a big "poop" sack beside the anemone today. By the way those poop sacks have a horrible smell.

I have 3 other tangs that I am worried about now, all about the same size. I'm not happy about this at all. I like my fish.

I feed the carpet every other day with shrimp.

I'm thinking the carpet anemone has to go before anymore fish are killed. What do you guys think, is this an isolated accident or is it certain to happen again?

I'm thinking the carpet has to go.

 

[sharkbait]

Well uh oh...I was just thinking about getting a red carpet nem...Tagging along on this one...

 

[dave green]

I've never had one, but it always seems like those guys are bad news from what I hear.

 

[cr500_af]

There was a big article in Reef Hobbyist a few months back about carpets. The author basically said that most any fish is potential dinner, and that it was only advised to keep carpets in a "carpet only" tank.

I know some have kept them with no issue, but I think that's more being lucky than safe.

 

[jonboyb]

Been keeping carpets since I started reefing without a single fatality. My Haddon in my 93 is a solid 12-14" when he's fully expanded and hosted by 2 Picasso clowns. My tank also includes 2 tangs, 2 wrasses, a firefish, engineer goby, clown goby, phantom blenny, and several shrimp so he's got a buffet in the tank. It's not like a carpet reaches out and grabs fish.....they have to swim into it and my fish seem to know to stay away. I've seen my engineer and firefish hit it before on the fringes with no issues, but he is sticky so if they divebombed the nem I'm sure they'd be toast.

Another bit of info, I read an article a long time ago claiming that the more often you feed a carpet, the more voraceous it's appetite becomes. I do a weekly feeding only as he gets plenty of light to supplement. Also, recommended to NOT feed whole shrimp, silversides, etc. Chop them into pieces so the nem gets used to small food, not whole fish. Don't know how much confidence to place in that article, but it's worked for me.

 

[masand]

Not sure about carpets but I had a Condy in a 55 gal tank for about three years with no fatalities. Then it got a small yellow tang and a dwarf angel in the span of a week. I think the fish knew to stay away but as the condy grew, its tentacles were able to span from its rock to the front glass, and the fish drifted in while they were asleep.