Need help with anemone

L

larrycivic

Premium Member
[i have a L.T. Anemone. the one with the white lines around the disc. i have had my anemone in the tank for about 3 weeks now and i think there is a problem. at first i placed him on the sand because that is where i read they like to be. but then my cleaner shrimp were all over him so he decided to move. he went onto a rock that is about middle tank. then i started to notice that his mouth is allways open. and his tentancles probably about 25% of them at the ends of the tentacles are starting to get a white ring around them. looks like when you tie a string around something to make it die off.

my setup. 100 gallon with a fuge. have a backpack skimmer on tank for time being. water par. as of 7/19/04 sal. 1.023
ca 350
ph 8.4
kh 7
amm. 0
no2 0
no3 0
lights are 6 t5 each bulb is 54 watts 3 sun bulbs 50/50
3 atinic bulbs

i tried to take a pic. but i can not focus on the tentacles.]
 
[Not sure about LTA specifics, but normally your salinity would be a tiny bit higher (yours is still in acceptable range). 1.025-1.026.

How much flow do you have? Anemones like flow alot, but not alot of flow right at them.

What do you feed him? Shriveled tips and a wide-open mouth are usually bad signs. My cleaners are all over my anemone (if the clown doesn't see them), but a healthy one should take his food if he wants it.

Have you checked for metals in the water?]
 
[i feed him jumbo shrimp once a week. i moved him away from the shrimp. my clowns do not like anemones so they do not go in him. i have a mag 12 pump that is flowing four nozzles in the tank. no flow is dirrected straight at him. i have two of the four nozzles out of the water to break the top of the water. was getting an oily film at the top.

how do i checked the metals? and what metals do i need to check for?

when the anemones eat do they expel their waste threw their mouths? because their is brownish black material coming out of his mouth.]
 
[Well, they do expel through the mouth, but from what you've said so far, it could be very much worse. When they are sick and dying, they also expel their zooanthae (sp?). Expelling their waste doesn't usually take much time.

Copper is the main metal that could be a problem. Some test kit could probably check. He may not have been healthy when you got him, or injured. So, it may not be anything in your tank at all. I had one in semi-bad shape and he recovered after a bit. I believe Marc had one that did not recover (although it was getting picked on IIRC).]
 
[Mine was a Rose BTA, and it was murdered by the livestock.

If your anemone is bleaching due to its expelling zooanthellae (symbiotic algae), you must make up for that lose with regular feedings. You mentioned you had over 300w of lighting, but not the size of the tank.

I would recommend you start chopping up the shrimp into smaller pieces, like the size of lima beans, and add some mysis and even some garlic extract. Let that soak, then try to feed that stuff to the anemone with the pumps off. Just a little bit each day or every other day.

An anemone shouldn't need to expel any wasted food, if it is fed the right amount. If it ejected a glob of food that is wrapped in a slimey cocoon, it was overfed and the waste only adds problems to your water quality.

Do you cut up the jumbo shrimp? Do you rinse it off? Do you peel it first?]
 
[it is a 100 gallon tank. i do not shuck the shrimp. it is not expelling the slimmy shrimp. looks like doodoo coming out of the mouth. the tentancles do not look white they look like the are getting old and shriveled.]
 
[Make sure it is "raw" shrimp. When I feed mine a shrimp (not normally, usually a silverside) I take the shell off and cut a piece about the size Marc mentioned. Hopefully he makes it.]
 
[Pepermint shrimp will kill Anemones if you have any.. I assume you're keeping the cleaner away so the Anemone can get everything..]
 
[Peppermints should only go after Aiptasia. Mine stay well clear of the anemone.

I try to make sure the cleaners have something to eat first, because they're quick. If the anemones have a chance to grab the food though, they hold on fairly tight. It takes them about 20 seconds to get it to their mouth. A condy anemone I had a while back was even quicker.]
 
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