seabe Anemone

G

gigashadow

We just got a seabe anemone and a Clarki Clown. The water is perfect and it gets changed weekly on a regulaur schedule. We get our water from the Peto-rama in Bedford. Everything in the tank is growing like crazy, all the corals are multiplying and growing like they're out of control the fish are all healthy and doing fine. The only thing that doesn't seem to be doing well :?: :?: (I think) is the seabe anemone that we got with the clown fish about a month and a half ago. It was a bright white when we got it now it's like a tanish kind of color and has it self half under the live rock pile. It's been like that since we got it. the tenticles grab stuff and they feel sticky when you touch it, but it keeps expanding and shrinking like on a daily basis, constantly all day. Like right now it's all shrunk up and the tenticles are all thin(not flat and deflated). We try to feed it small pieces of shrimp, but the clown is always diving in it and bopping around in it and knocks the pieces out before it can get the pieces to it's mouth, then the piece will start to float away and the clown gets it and brings it back, then starts boping around again and knocks it loose so it's not getting the pieces of shrimp we are giving to it, but the clown fish takes pieces of food to it at feeding time. Basicly I'm guessing that it's eatting, it's not dying but it just seems strange, it doesn't act right I don't think. What do you all think? This is our first anenome. I ask the guy that owns the Peto-rama in Bedford and he said not to worry about it, it's probablly ok if it's still alive.

Tank is a 40 gallon with a 10 gallon sump and refugium, it's cylcling about 300 gallons per hour. There's around 75 lbs of live rock in the tank and about 2 or 3 lbs of live rock in the refugium, lots of macro alge.
 
its actually a good sign that it is turning a tanish color, that is the natural healthly color so i would say your tank is probably ok for it. but, i would still be interested to know what your water parameters are and how old the tank is. alot can contribute to nems not be 100%, and while yours may not eat all the large food you give it, it does also get some energy from lighting. what kind of lighting do you have?
 
ok so I was just searching around alittle and I found out that the white was because it was bleached. Appariently it is the color that has been described several times on a few different forums. It's not deflating rather shrinking, which I can't decide if that means it's expelling waste or it's dying, that part was very unclear and no one anywhere seemed to be able get together on what it ment. Anyway I'm still alittle concerned about the eatting thing. Not sure what to do about that.
 
@Wes wrote:
its actually a good sign that it is turning a tanish color said:
One 36 inch 120 Watt Coralife dual 10,000K light and one 36 Inch 120 Watt Dual 10,000K light(can't remmeber the brand, got it at Peto-rama in bedford).

As of 4/20/2009
Alk = 2.5
PH = 8.4
nitrate = 20
Nitrite = .02
Phosphate = .25
Calc = 400
Salinity = 1.024
Water temp averages 82 ish.


The tank has been setup for about 6 months. I know there supposed to be setup longer before putting an anenome in, but the water is perfect and I've been taking care of freshwater tanks since I was about 10 so I've been doing the whole water chemistry thing and taking care of fish for about 20 years now. The whole learning the chemistry and taking care of scheduled water changes is not a problem. I always wanted a saltwater tank, but never had the funds to be able to own one till now. I love the tank I'm obssesed with the whole saltwater thing, the fish are beutiful and interesting. I think my problem with the anenome was that i got it from Petco and the woman there tunrs out doesn't knwo anything and told me they were very easy to care for. Anyway, I realy like it and would like ot keep it alive. The tank has 4 peprmint shrimp, one damsel(couldn't get it out, there was 4 for the cycling), One clown, 2 bumbble be snails, 2 astria snails, 2 blue legged hermit crabs(AHHH we has crabs), one tiger pistol shrimp, one yellow watchman goby, one redheaded wrasse( pretty fish), had a coral beuty( foind it dead in a tank thing, looks like a japanese sculpted head, hollow inside, think he got scared and freaked out in it and killed himself, he was fine up till that day), about 6 turbo snails.
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@gigashadow wrote:
[I]@Wes wrote:[/I][quote="its actually a good sign that it is turning a tanish color said:
One 36 inch 120 Watt Coralife dual 10,000K light and one 36 Inch 120 Watt Dual 10,000K light(can't remmeber the brand, got it at Peto-rama in bedford).

As of 4/20/2009
Alk = 2.5
PH = 8.4
nitrate = 20
Nitrite = .02
Phosphate = .25
Calc = 400
Salinity = 1.024
Water temp averages 82 ish.


The tank has been setup for about 6 months. I know there supposed to be setup longer before putting an anenome in, but the water is perfect and I've been taking care of freshwater tanks since I was about 10 so I've been doing the whole water chemistry thing and taking care of fish for about 20 years now. The whole learning the chemistry and taking care of scheduled water changes is not a problem. I always wanted a saltwater tank, but never had the funds to be able to own one till now. I love the tank I'm obssesed with the whole saltwater thing, the fish are beutiful and interesting. I think my problem with the anenome was that i got it from Petco and the woman there tunrs out doesn't knwo anything and told me they were very easy to care for. Anyway, I realy like it and would like ot keep it alive. The tank has 4 peprmint shrimp, one damsel(couldn't get it out, there was 4 for the cycling), One clown, 2 bumbble be snails, 2 astria snails, 2 blue legged hermit crabs(AHHH we has crabs), one tiger pistol shrimp, one yellow watchman goby, one redheaded wrasse( pretty fish), had a coral beuty( foind it dead in a tank thing, looks like a japanese sculpted head, hollow inside, think he got scared and freaked out in it and killed himself, he was fine up till that day), about 6 turbo snails."]

Hi,

Bad news...your water is not perfect. There should be zero nitrite reading in a fully cycled tank. You also did not provide an ammonia reading if any. If you recall water chemistry correctly, nitrite is converted from ammonia. Your lighting may also be insufficient for sustained health of your anemone, they require bright lighting and a moderate current. As with all anemones, water quality should be kept high.....I have never heard of a dual 120W bulb before, are these PC bulb's, if so they are most likely 65W dual bulbs which usually means 2 different kelvin's such as 6500K/10000K or 10000K/actinic.

Cheers,
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ammonia is 0 or it so low that it's not even reading on the drop test.
it's a super light yellow which is zero. also don't forget I mentioned we had a fish die in spot that we couldn't see him it was a day or two before we found him. that was only a short while ago less than a week. The normal is 0/0. Your right i'm sorry, the light is what you said. i didn't feel like getting up and going over to look. unfortunately when we bought the tank from petco the woman (mentioned previously) assured us that one light would be enough. I did hurry to get another light, best we could do on short notice. I am boulding a lighting system D.I.Y. though.

i fed it a block of frozen mysis shrimp(defrosted of course) last night and put a little basket over it so the clown couldn't get to him and he ate the whole thing. pretty quickly too I might add.
 
any nitrite reading means something is dead/dying and has overloaded your bacterial colonies or your tank has not completed it's cycle yet in which bacterial levels haven't stabilized to the point that allows them to efficiently convert all the ammonia produced by tank inhabitants or dead biological matter into nitrate. Sebae anemones are difficult to keep as is and you really ought to upgrade your lighting to HO T-5s or MH, which I assume you are since you mentioned doing a DIY lighting upgrade. You should also get the nitrite problem figured out and fixed ASAP for the well-being of all your tank's inhabitants. Nems are especially sensitive to changes in water quality/poor water quality IME.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I sat and watched my wife feed them tonight for the first time, believe it or not (normaly I'm in my workshop), anyway I think she's been over feeding them. She put wayyyy to much food in there for the amount of fish in the tank. I asked her if that's how she always does it and she said yes. So I think she's been over feeding them, but on the same hand I thought the level of nitrites would be ok, since it was not as high as I thought would be detrimental to the system. I guess not, saltwater is much more tempermental than fresh water.

Did a 20% water change tonight, will see what everything is tomorrow.
 
Hey what do you all think about this light setup? Less than $100 free shipping.

3ft T5 T-5 HO High Output Aquarium Light 156W 4 lamp

Product Specification

? Light Fixture Size: L 35.50?x W 7.25?x H 2.75?
? Total Output: 156W
? Support: 4x 39W High Output Fluorescent Bulb, 3x Dual
Bluemoon LED
? Black, Non Corrosive Powder Coated Aluminum Housing
? Single Power Cord and 3 On/Off Switches
? Built-In Electronic Ballast
? Highly Polished Reflector
? Acrylic Shield
? Flipable Mounting Legs

FREE Items Include:
2X 39W HO T5 Bulb 12000K, 2x 39W HO T5 Bulb Actinic Blue, 3x Bluemoon LED

Not sure how the D.I.Y. set is going to turn out or when they'll be done, so I thought if this is a good deal I might get this for now. So what do ya'll think. Comes with two free
 
@gigashadow wrote:
Hey what do you all think about this light setup? Less than $100 free shipping. 3ft T5 T-5 HO High Output Aquarium Light 156W 4 lamp Product Specification ? Light Fixture Size: L 35.50?x W 7.25?x H 2.75? ? Total Output: 156W ? Support: 4x 39W High Output Fluorescent Bulb said:
Your lights should be one higher priced items on your tank IMO. Don't skimp on cheap lights ... It will break and you will eventually regret it.

I purchased a 36" TEK T5 - 6 bulb setup for around 400.00 with the bulbs off eBay. One of the best purchases I made. I can easily put any type of SPS with moderate growth in my tank.
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I agree with Thomas on this one (even though he's a tech fan :wink: ) if you're going with T-5s they need individual reflectors to be effective. IMO it would better to find a used fixture or retrofit kit (if you have a hood) versus buying a knock off brand light. There's a reason why they're that cheap. It shouldn't be to difficult to find a couple of MH pendants some ballasts used.
 
Ya I ment as temp lights. I have two PC lights that I was assured by the people at petco, when we bought the tank, would be enough for anything I wanted to put in the tank, but obviously I am finding out now that they are not, so being that the light set is a T5, I was thinking of using it as a temp setup till, I got the MH lights and hood finished, so wouldn't have to rush it and end up screwing it up or having problems. from what I understand now is that the PC lights are substandard at best?!
 
@gigashadow wrote:
from what I understand now is that the PC lights are substandard at best?! said:
Wouldn't necessarily say they are substandard, they can be used in the right application, there are some that have kept bubble-tip anemone's under pc's on a 20G tank w'o issues but sebae's require a bit more light. The main issue with pc bulb's is that they don't penetrate very well, they also are very costly to replace.

Cheers,
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