cryptics
Well-Known Member
I picked up two small Merten Carpets 6-8 weeks ago. One was bright orange with white stripes and the other was the more traditional brown. They both apear healthy today. They were both small orange was about 3'' and the brown about 5''. I picked up the brown one a week after the orange because my clowns were terrorizing the small orange one and I was afraid they would kill it. I put both on the rocks about 3/4 of the way up on a 90g. The orange moved down to a rock at the bottom of the tank that was resting on the back wall. He would pull himself halfway in between the rock and the wall I was assuming to acclimate himself to the lighting. He would open up completely for a few hgours then retract to limit exposure. Gradually he stayed out longer and longer and about two weeks ago moved back to where I originally put him about 3/4 of the way up in med/high flow. He was lost some of his color and is more of a brown with orange highlights and white stripes around the edge. He has grown to about 5'' and is very healthy now. I give him a piece of krill 2-3 times a week but he eats almost every day when I feed the fish reef frenzy he grabs some.
The brown carpet has been a corncern since I got him because he is acting very strange. He found an opening in the middle of my rock work about 5'' wide and climbed down to the sand below that hole. The clowns decided they liked him more and have been hosting ever since. After spending two weeks down there he moved under the rock work in an cave completely shielded from the lights. He would occasionally come out for an hour or so then retreat back in the cave. The clowns continued to host him and were feeding him everyday. After he was in the cave for two weeks without light I figured he was toast and removed a rock to see him better since I can barely see him now. His mouth was shut and he looked healthy so I left him be. Last night he finally came out of the cave and from what I can see of him through the rocks looks like he has grown a few inches and was healthy. He started climbing the rocks but then thought better of it and went back to the cave.
Has anyone ever seen this behavior? I thought they needed a lot of light and flow but he goes days/weeks without any light. I have a 6 bulb T5 retro on the 90g with 3 ATI Blue+, 1 ATI Pure Antic, 1 ATI purple plus and 1 ATI coral plus. The lights are on 10 hours a day 1 blue and antic for 10 hours, blue and purple for 4 hours and blue and coral for two hours. I thought I didn't have enough light but I may be wrong. I am running eco-bak biopellets and my calc is usually 420, alk was 9.5 and mag 1350. I am trying to make the 90g for the anemones and SPS right now. Because of the SPS and the biopellets I lowered the alk to 8 over the last 3 weeks so no rapid change. The only issue I have is my cats (little troublemakers) bit through my calc dosing tube so my calc dropped down to 260. I am bringing it back up over the last week. It is at 380 now. Ammonia/nitrates/nitrites and po4 are non detectable. My saliny is 1024 and my temp at the most varies is 77.7 to 78. My PH is a little low and has been the bane of my existence for awhile. It goes from 8.04 during the day to 7.8 at night. I am in the process of replacing my sump, plumbing and skimmer now to get better oxidation to hopefully get the PH up.
Should I be worried about this carpet or just let him be? Any advice will be appreciated.
The brown carpet has been a corncern since I got him because he is acting very strange. He found an opening in the middle of my rock work about 5'' wide and climbed down to the sand below that hole. The clowns decided they liked him more and have been hosting ever since. After spending two weeks down there he moved under the rock work in an cave completely shielded from the lights. He would occasionally come out for an hour or so then retreat back in the cave. The clowns continued to host him and were feeding him everyday. After he was in the cave for two weeks without light I figured he was toast and removed a rock to see him better since I can barely see him now. His mouth was shut and he looked healthy so I left him be. Last night he finally came out of the cave and from what I can see of him through the rocks looks like he has grown a few inches and was healthy. He started climbing the rocks but then thought better of it and went back to the cave.
Has anyone ever seen this behavior? I thought they needed a lot of light and flow but he goes days/weeks without any light. I have a 6 bulb T5 retro on the 90g with 3 ATI Blue+, 1 ATI Pure Antic, 1 ATI purple plus and 1 ATI coral plus. The lights are on 10 hours a day 1 blue and antic for 10 hours, blue and purple for 4 hours and blue and coral for two hours. I thought I didn't have enough light but I may be wrong. I am running eco-bak biopellets and my calc is usually 420, alk was 9.5 and mag 1350. I am trying to make the 90g for the anemones and SPS right now. Because of the SPS and the biopellets I lowered the alk to 8 over the last 3 weeks so no rapid change. The only issue I have is my cats (little troublemakers) bit through my calc dosing tube so my calc dropped down to 260. I am bringing it back up over the last week. It is at 380 now. Ammonia/nitrates/nitrites and po4 are non detectable. My saliny is 1024 and my temp at the most varies is 77.7 to 78. My PH is a little low and has been the bane of my existence for awhile. It goes from 8.04 during the day to 7.8 at night. I am in the process of replacing my sump, plumbing and skimmer now to get better oxidation to hopefully get the PH up.
Should I be worried about this carpet or just let him be? Any advice will be appreciated.
