Sick?

[anotherfishname]

My condi anemone has started shrinking at night for some reason. once the lights come on he inflates again and he seems fine. He still eats every two to three days (frozen krill) and poops normally, I guess it's normal. Any ideas why this is happening? Water is perfect and I add Iodine and Trace Elements to the water as instructed on the bottles as I've always done. Lighting is two 36-watt 50/50 compact fluorescent lamps for 72 total watts which comes to 3 watts of lighting per gallon in my 24 gallon tank.

 

[melosu58]

A couple of things. Why are you adding iodine? What are your readings on iodine that you need to add. PWC`s will take care of what you need for iodine. Never supplement anything in your tank that you cant test for. As far as your lighting I really dont think you have enough lighting intensity. PC`s are at the lower end of intensity. I also think that you are feeding too much. Once a week should be plenty. Also corals and inverts do go down at night. It`s perfectly normal for them to be puffed out and looking good at day and shrunk down at night. They need rest also. These are just some of my asessments.

 

[anotherfishname]

Correct, I am not actually testing for iodine. I started adding after it was suggested to me by a few people. I haven't seen any adverse effects so far. How do you feel about adding trace elements? I've read and heard that it's good to add for healthier soft corals. When I do water changes I use nature's ocean nitri-seawater. I'm saving money for the deluxe hood for my nano cube which has [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]150 Watt/14K Metal Halide Lighting. I figure this would be much better for the clam as well. Thanks a lot for the response and advice, I appreciate it. I'm glad this is normal behavior for my anemone.
[/FONT]

 

[melosu58]

How do you feel about adding trace elements? I've read and heard that it's good to add for healthier soft corals.

I `ve had my tank 11+ yrs and never added supplements. I have a tank full of soft and LPS corals and just do weekly or bi weekly PWC`s. They have grown 4 or 5 times their original size. You can see their pics in my images. IMO supplements are not needed. PWC`s will take care of replenishing them.

 

[anotherfishname]

Great! Healthy reef with less expense? Sounds good to me. I do bi weekly PWC's as well so I guess I'll be good. Thanks again for the good advice. I'll foollow it and see how it goes. One more question if you don't mind, what is the best type/brand food for my softies? I'm using liquid life bioplankton now.

 

[melosu58]

One more question if you don't mind, what is the best type/brand food for my softies? I'm using liquid life bioplankton now.

I know you are going to think I`m a tight wad but I dont feed them. They get all they need from the lighting and water column. I used to years ago everyonce in a while use DT`s phyto plankton but that`s been many yrs ago.