my carpet ate my sailfin tang :( HELP PLEASE!!!!

[AdamG]

I had a beautiful sailfin tang that was at least 5 inches and very very healthy. my carpet anenome has gotten huge and swallowed him whole. I have a yellow about the same size as the sailfin tang that i am worried about, and a large lunare wrasse and some smaller clowns and damsels and LM blenny, what should I do? get larger fish, replace the sailfin or get rid of the carpet. The prob is, the carpet is beutiful and is a perfest spot
Help Please!!!!

[Archon]

maybe feed the carpet more often? I think with owning a carpet you always run this risk and it probably wont ever go away until you get rid of it. Im pretty sure these guys are known to eat about anything they can get a hold of.

[jenglish]

As I understand it, this is just one of the dangers of having a carpet. Seems like there have been some threads on this in the past as well.

[Salty O'Shen]

mother nature at work again...

this is a classic tale of a carpet anemone...i've not had one yet, but when i get one, i'll have it in a tank with fish that aren't valuable or important to me...i've read about this happening often. my frient has a carpet and i was helping him clean his tank and thankfully i had rubber gloves on...it was going to eat my hand...they are extremely "sticky" (it took a couple minutes to get him off of me) and once a fish is in there, you will have to catch it immediately and try to get it free...i remember a post on here with pics of a fish someone had rescued from their carpet anemone...but i couldn't find it.

sorry for your loss!

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by Salty O'Shen

i remember a post on here with pics of a fish someone had rescued from their carpet anemone...but i couldn't find it.

Was it my thread? http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...lla+survive%3F

I've had a large carpet for many years and wouldn't trade it for anything. Most people will probably tell you to get rid of it. I don't think you should though. Yes, mine has had its share of expensive meals, but there are things you can do to make life much safer for your fish. It's probably been about 4 years since my carpet ate something he shouldn't have.

How big is your tank? Two large tangs need lots of room. If they don't have enough room aggression can break out. You can't have any aggression in a tank with a carpet. Fish that flee from aggression usually become carpet food.

Some tricks I've figured out that helps keep down casualties.

1. As stated above, only keep fish that get along.
2. When adding new fish, startle the carpet first. Just pick up the edge of the polyp and shake it. The carpet should retreat under the sand. This doesn't harm the carpet, and it gives the new fish time to explore the tank before the carpet comes back out.
3. Try to feed the fish in an area away from the carpet. Sometimes fish get a little overly excited at feeding time and accidents can happen
4. Get an adult pair of clowns. Try clarkii or Saddleback. They love carpets, get large, and can help keep other fish at a safe distance.
5. Don't over stock the tank.
6. Keep the carpet healthy and try not to make drastic changes to the system that may cause the carpet to move. Fish can learn where the carpet lives and how close they can get. A carpet on the move throws a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

Nothing you do, outside of removing the carpet or fish, will guarantee that a fish won't get eaten. If you can fallow some of the tips above, maybe you can reduce the odds.

All large healthy anemones are capable of capturing and eating fish. Not just carpets. (just had to throw that in there)

[Loverotties]

It's a common thing with them specially if you don't keep it fed.

[ckusnierek]

If you want to keep a carpet that is a risk.

My carpet got 3 sailfins in one month.
On my 4th trips to the LFS I traded the carpet for another sailfin and still have him today.

[zero186]

so they wont eat their hosted clowns?

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by zero186

so they wont eat their hosted clowns?

Not if the clowns are healthy. If the clown gets sick and develops skin problems, they can become food. Maybe it's natures way for the clowns to pay rent when their time comes?????

[AdamG]

the carpet gets fed twice a day a full turkey baster of brine shrimp. he is huge! I had him for 3 -4 months and he killed nothing this is the first time and the sailfin was quite large

[ckusnierek]

I was feeding mine silversides, maybe it just got a taste for fish...

Besides the 3 sailfins it also got a YT, mimic tang and a few chromis

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by AdamG

the carpet gets fed twice a day a full turkey baster of brine shrimp. he is huge! I had him for 3 -4 months and he killed nothing this is the first time and the sailfin was quite large

I don't believe that keeping them fed has any direct effect on them eating your fish. They will continue to feed until their stomach is to full. Then they regurgitate the contents and start over. If a large fish bumps into the carpet right after you fed it, the fish would still get eaten. It does help to keep them healthy and less likely to go in search of better feeding grounds though.

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by ckusnierek

I was feeding mine silversides, maybe it just got a taste for fish...

Besides the 3 sailfins it also got a YT, mimic tang and a few chromis

Mine did the same thing as yours. It ate a whole bunch of fish in the first year or so. Then everything calmed down. The fish learned how close they could get without becoming a meal. They did push the boundaries all the time though.



They lived together happily for a couple of years until I purchased a magnifica. As the magnific got larger, it began to cover up one of the Tangs favorite paths. I guess one of the Tangs tried to make it through anyway.

[Reeftanker3295]

i had to get rid of my LTA for the same problem, my fish would fall asleep and drift into the anemone and get eaten. I removed the anemone and no more problems. maybe you could try taking the rock its on and moving it where no fish swim?