Anemone help! please ~ urgent

[Paul227]

hey everyone, it's my first time on here so im hoping i am posting in the right area..

on saturday i got myself a rose bubble tip anemone, the tank it came from (at the lfs) was under low lighting, i took it home and put it in my tank (with my actinics on) and he walked around (about 4 inches) then settled in, i then woke up in the morning on sunday and he had a big slime coming from his mouth, and he was tiny, so i immediatly turned my other t5 fixture on ( 1 x actinic t5 bulb and also a bl-bio t5 bulb) then he percd up, once he was looking better i moved it to a ledge on the other side of the tank where it has more potential hiding spots, then i turned on the light this morning and it was a bigger slime coming from it's mouth, it mouth is wide open, and his tenticals are pretty deflated :s - strange thing i got got another bubble tip on the same day and it is doing soooooo well!

please help me :s i think it's just adapting to the light, but it struggling..and i dont know what to do :S

 

[slitherbomb]

Why do you need 2 anemones? Also, you're lighting is not enough to sustain the anemone unfortunately. You risk nuking your entire tank is it dies. That slime coming out of it's mouth could be it expelling it's zooanthellae that gives it it's energy.

 

[Paul227]

Why do you need 2 anemones? Also, you're lighting is not enough to sustain the anemone unfortunately. You risk nuking your entire tank is it dies. That slime coming out of it's mouth could be it expelling it's zooanthellae that gives it it's energy.

Oh I didn't mention my entire lighting fixture, my tank is 180L, I have one fixture above that houses a 150Watt metal halide with 2 T5's on either side (actinics at the back and an actinic and BL-BIO) at the front. they are currently the only two things in the tank.

 

[slitherbomb]

How long has the tank been setup? How tall is the tank? A 150w metal halide isn't really that strong.

 

[Paul227]

tank has been set up for about 6 months or so, and the tank is just under 2 foot tall. with my rock work going all the way to the surface. Im a full time marine aquarist by trade and deal with corals 5 days a week, thats why Im frustrated I cant find out why this anemone in particular isnt the happiest. I mean obviously i can position it on the rock work higher/lower accordingly, but at the end of the day it's a bubble-tip, they can move.

 

[slitherbomb]

It may just be adjusting to your aquarium and the lights and water chemistry. What are your phosphate/ nitrate levels?

 

[Paul227]

yeah i think it may be acclimating to water quality, lighting, better flow rate, a few things all at once. my phosphate is .03 and my nitrate is 0

im considering moving it lower in the aquarium, and under some rock work to replicate the crappy lighting levels it came from, then it can acclimate to that, once stabilised it can venture out into more lighting at it own pace..

 

[slitherbomb]

Yeah put it on the bottom and it could choose where it wants to go.

 

[Paul227]

yeah think ill go and do that, cheers slither!

 

[slitherbomb]

Hopefully it works out!

 

[Paul227]

scratch that, his foot is stuck too well onto the rock, so i left him there, i just placed a smaller piece of rock as an overhang over the top of him.

 

[slitherbomb]

That's good! A least it's responding.

 

[Paul227]

yeah thats true, i just spoke to a local fish store about it, he said when he sees them secreting that crap from their mouth there as good as dead and he recommends moving them out of the aquarium asap, otherwise it will float over night mess up your water quality...

 

[slitherbomb]

How does the anemone look right now? I don't think it's dead because it is still attached to the rock. When I first got mine, it secreted some muck, but mine slipped through an extremely small crack on one of my rocks, and I was trying to slip it through the rest for almost an hour. Mine was really stressed but it came out well. I would keep an eye on it.

 

[Paul227]

How does the anemone look right now? I don't think it's dead because it is still attached to the rock. When I first got mine, it secreted some muck, but mine slipped through an extremely small crack on one of my rocks, and I was trying to slip it through the rest for almost an hour. Mine was really stressed but it came out well. I would keep an eye on it.

yeah every since i put the rock over it, the it has slightly more visible tentacles, there is still red in the bubbles, and the mouth is slightly less open then it was before, so its looking more positive now! as you said ill keep and eye on it, i dont want to call it quits, and ill update on here in a few hours. thanks for your help/advice mate!