my flower pot is losing its tissues-help

[tamren]

I have a 18 gallon tank (1 month old). A cult, 2 anemones, a flower pot, and a small clam. The flower pot is losing its tissues, I see more and more emptied columns each day. Does anybody know what happened? I see some green thing attached to one of its columns (looks like green algae), but the tissue of that particular column is ok. The columns starting to lose its tissues from the bottom up (going in a circle). Now, 2 rows from the bottom are empty.

FYI: amonia, nitrite, and nitrate test showed 0.
The colt, for which I bought at the same time (a month ago) with the flower pot is doing good. One of the anemones, that was bought at the same as well is dying however. I think this is due to starvation. I just found out that I need to feed it with real food. I thought all those vitamin is enough. I feed it with bioplankton a couple times, but the green algae is blooming like crazy.[/img]

 

[loganj]

The flowerpot you are referring to is probably a goniopora. These have a dismal survival rate in the aquarium. AFAIK, there isn't anything you can do for it. They really should be left on the reef.
The anemones will do better in a mature tank. They tend not to do well in new tanks. What kind of anemones are they and what kind of lighting do you have on the tank?

 

[HoopsGuru]

I feed it with bioplankton a couple times, but the green algae is blooming like crazy.

Most likely requires larger, meatier foods. With all the plankton, you are probably just compromising water quality, evident by the algae blooms.

 

[BillyZ]

moved this into the sick fish/coral forum

 

[tamren]

Thanks a bunch for all the responses.
Logan, please see the attached picture, if this is gonipora.
I use 35 watt power compact light. I place the flowerpot about 6 inches from the surface. I hope that is not too close.

I just add do another test. amonia showed 0.25 mg/l, nitrite = 0, nitrate = 12.5 mg/l. I think this is due the fact that I just add the last an anemone and a couple live rocks 3 days ago.

I just bought a small clown fish today. It died within a few hours after I put it in my tank. It wasn't that health when I bought it. I didn't pay a close attention when I bought it. I has a small white spot on its body. But it shouldn't die that fast though, right?

 

[loganj]

I believe that is a goniopora although I'm no ID expert on corals. Goniopora have a bad survival record in aquariums. Some limited success, from what I've read, has been had keeping them in tanks that are filtered by algal turf scrubbers. Not enough to warrant keeping one though...they just don't live well in our tanks.
What kind of anemones do you have? Most of them are photosynthetic and require high levels of light to do well.
If the clown was already sick, the stress induced by trying to acclimate to a new tank probably killed it. Did it only have the one spot? Was it kinda fuzzy? If so, it may have been a fungal infection. Or, the clown may have had ich. Got any pics?
The colt coral you have is more along the lines of what will do well in this tank. They have low light requirements and will usually grow like weeds.

 

[tamren]

Logan, see the above picture. Please id. Is that a long tentacle anemone?
As you can see, the tenctacle is curlying, and there are white lines across the surface. It wasn't like that before.

Also, please id the picture below. Is this really call colt coral?

In regard to the clown fish; yes, there is one bright spot on one side, and a bigger fuzzy spot on the other size. I don't think the clown had any ich. By the way, how do you tell if it has ich? It would try to rub itself against a hard surface right? (I don't have the pic., I flush the dead fish down the toilet already)

How do I remove one of the attached picture above?

 

[loganj]

I'm not sure about your anemone. My book is in the car which just left a few minutes ago. IMO, you don't have enough light for the photosynthetic anemones. They require a lot.
The coral is a colt. There are several different corals that can be sold as colts. Looks like you have a nice one...it should grow well in there.

 

[Hara]

you need to do something to get the ammonia back to zero pretty quickly too...your anemones are very sensitive to water quality.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Goniopora will have 24 tentacles on each polyps, Alveopora will only have 12. Both are regularly sold as "Flower Pot" corals. It's tough to count in your picture, but there is easily more than 12 so I would go with goniopora. Neither do very well in the home aquarium and in an ideal world they would not be collected, sold, or purchased until their proper husbandry is figured out. Thus it is not that hard to believe yours is dying, and there is probably little you can do.

As far as the clownfish is concerned, you should be quarantining each new piece of livestock you put in the tank. I don't know if you have any other fish in it, but you will be in quite a dilemma if your whole tank gets infected with any parasite or disease, as you will not be able to treat the main tank (inverts won't survive most treatments).

 

[steve-s]

Logan, see the above picture. Please id. Is that a long tentacle anemone?
As you can see, the tenctacle is curlying, and there are white lines across the surface. It wasn't like that before.

We are talking about the one off to the right in the foreground right??

By your description it sounds like a Macrodactyla doreensis aka corkscrew anemone.

The pinkish one near the back looks likea rose anemone aka Entacmaea quadricolor or also bubble tip.

I agree as Hara stated earlier. You do not have nearly enough light for either of these anemones. I hope you will consider returning them for store credit.

Cheers
Steve

 

[tamren]

Guru,
I don't think my flower pot has more than 12 tentacles, but I'll count it when I get home (I'm at the office right now ). Would it be possible if it's regenerating, cuz' this morning I see some small polyps coming out from the emptied column. Maybe it's the old one that shrinks. I'll compare it to my picture later. How does the flower pot reproduce anyway? Could it grow its own pot/coral like snails do?

Thanks for your concern Steve. Yes, it's the one off to the foreground right.
I really want to keep those anemones. So I'm thinking of adding another compact light, but I don't see how could I retrofit it to the hood of my tank. (FYI: it's 18 gallons eclipse. It's not designed for saltwater fish. Note that I have to take off the original light, and retrofit a 35 watt compact light in it. I couldn't get any larger watt of light that will fit in it). Should I take off the hood all together? or should I get a new tank that will cost me a lot of money, cuz' i have to buy a new set of light, and the cycle will have to start all over again.

 

[steve-s]

Should I take off the hood all together? or should I get a new tank that will cost me a lot of money, cuz' i have to buy a new set of light, and the cycle will have to start all over again.

The hood itself is not imperative unless it is keeping "jumpers" in. If you can retrofit something in a PC format that allows you to add onather Pc strip, that should do the trick.

Buying a new tank does not seem to me all that practical.

Would it be possible if it's regenerating, cuz' this morning I see some small polyps coming out from the emptied column.

Once the tissue has receded, that is usually it. They may begin to grow over the dead skelaton if the decline reverses itself though.

Cheers
Steve

 

[tamren]

Hoopsguru,
you are right, the flowerpot has 24 tentacles on each polyps. So, it's that hard to keep Goniopora.

Steve, you're also right. I think I will lose the entire polys within 2 or 3 weeks with this rate of loosing tissues.

Well, my homework is to put another strip of PC. Again, thanks alot everybody.