Yesterday i had a peppermint shrimp died on me and I figured I should give my carpet anemone some natural protein rather then letting it go to waste and now today after work I came home to mucus flying everywhere (not much) and its closed up to about a 50 cent piece and is still closed up. Is it dying within because of the sharp body armor of the shrimp? Or is it just still trying to break it down? Has anyone seen this or ever fed a whole non peeled shrimp to it and it did ok? Know a regular bta will nuke the tank when it dies, will it be the same for a carpet?
Carpet anenome dying?
- Thread starter yOdaddy
- Start date
I have given my carpet nem natural food before as well, but really only damsels that I finally caught. I have had it eat a snail before too. I would say that if the nem accepted the shrimp then it should be able to process/digest it and expel what it cannot eat. Mine typically will not actually consume something that it does not ike.
It is difficult to tell if it is dying from your description. If it is the size of a 50 cent piece, how large was it normally? Are we talking a full grown carpet (mine is about 16" across) or a mini carpet. If the latter, I have no experience and wouldn't know about its feeding capabilities, but would guess a whole shrimp to be a lot of food. If a larger nem, that is an incredibly small size. not sure what could be going on. I would, indeed, watch it closely and get it out if you're sure it has perished. But I also would not panic yet either if it only looks shrunken/like it is digesting. Any chance you can get a pic? How long does it normally take to feed/digest? Any chance the shrimp died from a poisoning or ingestion of something that could be affecting the nem? Any changes to other parameters, flow patterns, temperature, etc. and it only seems like its related to the shrimp?
Looking for more info.
It is difficult to tell if it is dying from your description. If it is the size of a 50 cent piece, how large was it normally? Are we talking a full grown carpet (mine is about 16" across) or a mini carpet. If the latter, I have no experience and wouldn't know about its feeding capabilities, but would guess a whole shrimp to be a lot of food. If a larger nem, that is an incredibly small size. not sure what could be going on. I would, indeed, watch it closely and get it out if you're sure it has perished. But I also would not panic yet either if it only looks shrunken/like it is digesting. Any chance you can get a pic? How long does it normally take to feed/digest? Any chance the shrimp died from a poisoning or ingestion of something that could be affecting the nem? Any changes to other parameters, flow patterns, temperature, etc. and it only seems like its related to the shrimp?
Looking for more info.
It's a mini carpet about 5 inches around. Everything is looking good besides the carpet. I will look at it closely and see it tomorrow and see how it does. Wow a snail hahaha I guess a shrimp Shouldn't be too bad I hope. Since it was a big meal for a mini carpet it could be trying to digest it. Hey thanks for sharing the info as it took a big load off of my worrying knowing that people out there are feeding their carpets more then just shrimp
Keep an eye on it, but I think it will be fine. Carpets are interesting creatures. That shrimp is a really big meal for a maxi mini but not a dangerous one. It may just be the anemone expelling the waste after such a large meal. It is not unusual for anemones to contract when they do this. I expect that it will be back to normal in a day or two, as long as your tank parameters are all in check.
