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Don't buy a condalactus anenome!! Horrible Idea.


kmmthree

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So I was at petco in Pflugerville a couple weeks ago looking for an anenome for my Clownfish. The guy at petco told me any anenome would work. So I bought the condalactus anenome. After purchasing it and going to aquadome Hunter told me it wasn't the right kind of anenome to host clownfish, but it may work. So today my clownfish went missing. I called petco and told them that I think the anenome ate them and that I wanted to return it since they gave me wrong information the guy said no problem bring it in. So I brought it in and when I got to the store. What did the anenome start to spit out. My Clownfish. So the clownfish was hanging out of the anenome's mouth. The guy ended up switching the anenome for a bubble anenome. So for all the saltwater newbs on here. Learn from my mistake and don't buy a condalactus anenome for clownfish. It is a horrible idea.

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the condy anemone is not one that'll willingly allow any clown to host it. i've heard the more aggressive clowns would host it like the clarkiis. but a good way to keep your anemone from eating your fish, is to keep it fed. the bta's are a good beginner's anemone because it's one of the least harmful anemone. good luck. sorry for your clown loss

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I picked up 2 of those anemones for my tank and I have had no problem with my clowns and one of them is a baby. I'm not a spot feeder as well but I keep my tank well fed so I'm sure they've been getting their food from the water column. I did initially think there was going to be a problem with them and my torch coral since it kept creeping towards it but now it's settled in right next to the torch with no problem.

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The funny thing is I fed that anenome a silver side every 2 days. So I don't know how it was hungry. I also feed my fish 1x a day.

I picked up 2 of those anemones for my tank and I have had no problem with my clowns and one of them is a baby. I'm not a spot feeder as well but I keep my tank well fed so I'm sure they've been getting their food from the water column. I did initially think there was going to be a problem with them and my torch coral since it kept creeping towards it but now it's settled in right next to the torch with no problem.

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Sorry to hear about your losses, getting started can be frustrating. My guess would be that the clown died and the condy happened to grab it. Carpet anemones are known to catch fish, but condy's aren't nearly as aggressive, they just aren't good hosts for clowns. Bubble tips and Long Tentacle Anemones (LTA) are the preferred ones if you have other fish in the tank.

We all learn the hard way not to trust all fish store employees. Figure out what you want to buy before going shopping, keep a list of "compatible" fish and corals, and then you can avoid the temptation about buying something you don't know about or that could be incompatible. Build trust with you local fish store employees by verifying what they tell you BEFORE you buy. I could have saved quite a bit of $$$ and fish lives over the last few years.

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I can not echo what Mike said enough. Even experienced hobbyist get bit by the "instant-buy" bug. I have done it before to the detriment of my tank (a some-what "reef-safe" butterfly that went after all my zoas).

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The funny thing is I fed that anenome a silver side every 2 days. So I don't know how it was hungry. I also feed my fish 1x a day.

I picked up 2 of those anemones for my tank and I have had no problem with my clowns and one of them is a baby. I'm not a spot feeder as well but I keep my tank well fed so I'm sure they've been getting their food from the water column. I did initially think there was going to be a problem with them and my torch coral since it kept creeping towards it but now it's settled in right next to the torch with no problem.

I was just at that Petco earlier returning a Gourami that ate two of my Blue Tetras and the guy there was just saying how someone returned an anemone last night (he was talking about you) and I said "I know, I read on our local reef forum"...

This wasn't Patrick though, some other guy.

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i'm surprised petco actually accepts returns for saltwater :huh:

Any particular reason for that line of thought? I think it's pretty nice actually. Hell I bought some FW fish at Aquatek this weekend and they don't guarantee them, PERIOD. I've already had one die (this morning)... so I may have well have put $3 in my shredder as far as I see it. With Petco I could have taken the poor corpse in for exchange/refund.

Poor little tetra :(

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I think what the point was is most stores will not accept SW fish returns....

Right, I Know. I just want to know why that is? What makes a FW fish return OK (at some places) but not a SW fish return?

Generally it is explained as the cost and difficulty in acclimating SW fish and critters. It requires much more expertise than FW acclimation, and you can quickly kill several expensive fish and the store is stuck footing the bill. This is one of the things that makes my Aquadome fish club membership worthwhile, they have a 50% of purchase price on SW purchases for I think 14 days.

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I think what the point was is most stores will not accept SW fish returns....

Right, I Know. I just want to know why that is? What makes a FW fish return OK (at some places) but not a SW fish return?

The way we have it worded is, "There is no gurantee for saltwater fish or other marine life. These animals have unique requirements, and are very delicate. They are not recommended for the beginner aquarist."

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I think what the point was is most stores will not accept SW fish returns....

Right, I Know. I just want to know why that is? What makes a FW fish return OK (at some places) but not a SW fish return?

Generally it is explained as the cost and difficulty in acclimating SW fish and critters. It requires much more expertise than FW acclimation, and you can quickly kill several expensive fish and the store is stuck footing the bill. This is one of the things that makes my Aquadome fish club membership worthwhile, they have a 50% of purchase price on SW purchases for I think 14 days.

Sure they're expensive and require special acclimation. (or can).. but footing the bill? I bet they go back to their breeders and say "this fish didn't make it" and receive compensation...

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I think what the point was is most stores will not accept SW fish returns....

Right, I Know. I just want to know why that is? What makes a FW fish return OK (at some places) but not a SW fish return?

Generally it is explained as the cost and difficulty in acclimating SW fish and critters. It requires much more expertise than FW acclimation, and you can quickly kill several expensive fish and the store is stuck footing the bill. This is one of the things that makes my Aquadome fish club membership worthwhile, they have a 50% of purchase price on SW purchases for I think 14 days.

Sure they're expensive and require special acclimation. (or can).. but footing the bill? I bet they go back to their breeders and say "this fish didn't make it" and receive compensation...

I wish..

Hey I tried to respond to your pm but couldn't from my phone..

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I think what the point was is most stores will not accept SW fish returns....

Right, I Know. I just want to know why that is? What makes a FW fish return OK (at some places) but not a SW fish return?

Generally it is explained as the cost and difficulty in acclimating SW fish and critters. It requires much more expertise than FW acclimation, and you can quickly kill several expensive fish and the store is stuck footing the bill. This is one of the things that makes my Aquadome fish club membership worthwhile, they have a 50% of purchase price on SW purchases for I think 14 days.

Sure they're expensive and require special acclimation. (or can).. but footing the bill? I bet they go back to their breeders and say "this fish didn't make it" and receive compensation...

I wish..

Hey I tried to respond to your pm but couldn't from my phone..

NBD. Just shoot me a PM when you get back to a computer.

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i'm surprised petco actually accepts returns for saltwater :huh:

Any particular reason for that line of thought? I think it's pretty nice actually. Hell I bought some FW fish at Aquatek this weekend and they don't guarantee them, PERIOD. I've already had one die (this morning)... so I may have well have put $3 in my shredder as far as I see it. With Petco I could have taken the poor corpse in for exchange/refund.

Poor little tetra :(

i say this because i had a hard time returning my pseudochromis because he terrorized and nearly killed everything in my tank, but their "policy" was no returns on saltwater fish because they are not guaranteed to survive acclimation. i stated that in the nicest way possible. :D (this also was an impulse buy. he was so pretty though lol)

i'm glad they helped you out.

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i'm surprised petco actually accepts returns for saltwater :huh:

Any particular reason for that line of thought? I think it's pretty nice actually. Hell I bought some FW fish at Aquatek this weekend and they don't guarantee them, PERIOD. I've already had one die (this morning)... so I may have well have put $3 in my shredder as far as I see it. With Petco I could have taken the poor corpse in for exchange/refund.

Poor little tetra :(

i say this because i had a hard time returning my pseudochromis because he terrorized and nearly killed everything in my tank, but their "policy" was no returns on saltwater fish because they are not guaranteed to survive acclimation. i stated that in the nicest way possible. :D (this also was an impulse buy. he was so pretty though lol)

i'm glad they helped you out.

Ah! Well I've only purchased 1 SW fish so far, a Blue/Green Chromis from Petco (thanks to Patrick M above). He's doing well thus far, just on day #3 in my tank. He's eating well and has found a nook he likes to back into when the lights go out.

I guess I didn't look at the fine print on marine life and just assumed it was the same as the FW policy (30 day guarantee). Hope I never have to deal with a fish dying from acclimation, that's just a drag.

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Sure they're expensive and require special acclimation. (or can).. but footing the bill? I bet they go back to their breeders and say "this fish didn't make it" and receive compensation...

Most saltwater fish do not come from breeders, but from distributors who get them from collectors (so what I am saying is a lot of saltwater fish are wild caught). Of course clownfish are a major exception.

And stores generally only get credit for lost fish from a distributor when the fish dies in transit to the store initially.

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