Help with Anemone!

[Unwritten]

IS my anemone dead? Why does it keep shriveling? It looks like this currently :

 

[Jlsardina]

Is that a Condy? Why is it in the sand bed? What lights are you using? Do you feed it? If so, how often? What are your tank parameters?

 

[Schism]

I would get it out, it looks either dead or on its way out. It will pollute your tank badly if you dont get it out in time.

 

[Unwritten]

I just fed it. Only 3 days old. Yes a cony. Levels are perfect im waiting for my light sizes to come in for the reef life, right now it's just LED. It has shown improvement since I got home. This is how it looks now:

 

[Crystal A]

Hmm give it a day or so could just be adjusting. But dosent look happy that's for sure.

 

[Crystal A]

What's behind it? It looks kinda limp as well.

 

[Unwritten]

That is my sabe anemone. It's attached to my live rock now, he is doing pretty well.

 

[Unwritten]

So I woke up and checked on my cony. He moved pretty close to my heater, mouth up, and shriveled again. Still no sign of vomit looking stuff indicating that he's dead. I don't know what to do.....

 

[Jlsardina]

You don't have reef lighting right now? That could be the issue. He's most likely moving up to find a better light source. Also- what are you feeding it?

 

[Unwritten]

Brine shrimp fed him last night and he was more inflated

 

[Jlsardina]

Brine shrimp fed him last night and he was more inflated

What are your water parameters? What salt do you use? If just salt crystals then you will need to look into testing and dosing iodide, and other trace elements.
Also- not a lot of nutritional value in brine. You are better off feeding mysid.

 

[Unwritten]

Yeah, I'm waiting for my tank size lamp to come in and I've been feeding it brine shrimp. I was told once a week.

 

[Starchar]

How long has the tank been running? I indicated that you have a Sebae? How long have you had it? What size tank are these guys in?

What was the acclimation method used?

You indicated that you are waiting for your "tank size lamp to come in". What are you ordering? The Sebae lighting requirements are recommended to be fairly high 250-400 MH.

 

[Unwritten]

I have a 20 gal tank and to be honest I didn't find out about the acclimation til yesterday. I've had him since monday and my Condy died yesterday.

 

[Starchar]

Nem's require a great deal of specific care. They need established systems (many say 6 months to a year) and they have healthy lighting requirements. I believe the reasoning behind the established system is that they don't tolerate parameter changes well and an established tank is usually equated to a more experienced reefer and thus less likely to have a widely swinging set of parameters in the tank. Additionally, acclimation is essential so that you are not shocking those creatures that you add to the tank. Temperature is one piece of it but also the change in salinity can quickly kill an animal as it goes into your tank (it may take a day or two to die depending on the type). You may want to do some additional research on lighting requirements for nems and for you Sebae if you want it to live. The LEDs that probably came with your setup unless they are specific to sustain coral are likely not enough to sustain anemones.

 

[Unwritten]

I appreciate your help...I just wish the guy at the pet store told me that. The last thing I want to do is kill them, no less drop $35 with it. I told them I had it running for almost two months. 3 weeks with a damsel. Someone had mentioned the sand in my tank... It's 25 lb of live and 5 lb of artificial....would that have anything to do with it? And what type of lights would you suggest for the anemone 20 gallon tank? 30' wide. I'm not looking to add coral...I wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

[Starchar]

Well since you do have a nem alive and would like to keep it that way I would suggest maybe going with a cheap T5HO fixture like from fishneedit.com or moving towards a Metal Halide fixture. The MH may cause some heat issues with a tank that small although there are likely many others that can speak to that. I have read where people have been successful keeping nems under T5HO lighting.

As far as the sand post was concerned it may have been a question as to why the nem was on the sand and not moving itself to a better spot on the rockwork or side of the tank. It was likely an indicator of the nem dying. Different nems prefer different tank spots. They also need some flow in the tank so hopefully you have a powerhead as well.

On a brighter note...once you do have the necessary lighting to support the nem that you have you will be able to keep some corals. If you are not looking to get the lighting you should probably consider returning the nem to the store for credit and stick with some nano fish. Perhaps a Goby/Pistol Shrimp combo?

Whatever you do the best information I can give you is to research your tank selections before you get them. Ask lots of questions here (there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum and people are very friendly). Also, don't forget to post pictures! We love pictures!

 

[Schism]

As far as lighting, look into a 4 bulb t5 fixture. Ive been using a 4 bulb on my 20 long for over a year and currently have a RBTA, im also had 2 condies that where in ther about 6 months before i sold them. The 4 bulb t5 is perfect light for a 20long. No need for the penetration of halides since the tank is only 10" from surface to sandbed. A halide would cook the tank and probably melt some corals.

I used a 4 bulb 30" 96w Current Sundial T5HO. Cost was about 300 when i bought it. Another option is leds. A A250 kessil will light the tank perfect too for about $250.

 

[Unwritten]

I had the guy order a t5 30 inch hood fixture but it won't get here until Thursday. In the mean time I bought a water wave circulation pump to help with the lack of movement in my tank. The save anemone isn't getting any better today...

 

[Jlsardina]

Have you checked your water parameters? Also- home depot sells a screw in bulb that's 8k. You could buy that and clip the lamp on the tank to help until then.