Condy anemone not looking good at all

[RevDaniel]

so my kenya tree died a few days ago, and now my condy has shriveled up and looks very limp! help!

[mr_X]

do water changes.

[joy13]

My thought is when a kenya tree dies is what is your SG at. Do a lot of smaller water changes.

[RevDaniel]

My sg is at 1.0255. My condy has died and I can't seem to get my alkalinity down and Ph up. My Ph is at 7.8, nitrates 0, nitrites are high and so is ammonia. Grrr.

[mr_X]

more surface agitation will raise ph. aim a power head upwards towards the surface.
as for the parameters, you need to do large water changes to get rid of the ammonia. that will probably correct alkalinity also. what is your alk at right now? what salt mix are you using?

[RevDaniel]

My alkalinity test strip turns blue, so its off the charts. I'm using instant ocean salt mix. I'll buy another powerhead to create more surface ripple. Is there anything else I need to know?

[carey]

I would really invest in a better test kit as test strips are notoriously in accurate.

[mr_X]

go out and purchase liquid test kits. those test strips are not accurate. how often and what are you feeding? how often do you do water changes? how exactly do you do water changes?
what size tank is this and what is in it?

[RevDaniel]

I have a liquid test kit but I'm not home yet so I can't give exact numbers. I don't feed often since I only have one yellow tail damsel. I'll feed flakes and occasionally bloodworms. 20 percent water changes with premixed salt water. 29 gallon tank with 20 sump. 8 hermits, some nassarius, ceriths and nerites. One peppermint shrimp since I lost one last night.

[mr_X]

how often are you doing water changes? how often are you feeding? how much exactly?
how long did you have the anemone? what lighting did you have it under?
what supplements are you adding?
you said you are using instant ocean salt, but you are getting premixed water from the lfs. is that what they use?

[RevDaniel]

i was spot feeding flake/baby shrimp ground up together with a syrynge to my peppermint shrip every day or so, same went for the yellow tailed damsel. maybe 6 ml of water/food mix. i had the anemone about 3 or 4 weeks. lighting is a 24 inch 10,000k. I have essential trace elements i've added a few times, as well as a buffer and calcium which i am not adding since my alk and calc. levels are high. i'm not getting premixed water from the lfs, we have well water and a purifier which produces the equivalent of distilled water.

[mr_X]

24" 10k? what kind of fixture is that? are you sure it's sufficient light for photosynthetic creatures?
have you checked the T.D.S. of your water?
i would not add anything you aren't testing for and are sure you are in need of. i would be doing water changes to remove the ammonia and then figure out the problem by a process of elimination.
i would check the T.D.S of the source water. what kind of purifier are you using?
i would evaluate the lighting
alkalinity and calcium levels generally aren't high together. usually, when one is high, the other is low. what brand test kits are you using?
what brand additives were you raising it with, and how were you adding them?
was this a measured dose in conjunction with test results or were you just adding a few ml's here and there until you noticed a problem?

[RevDaniel]

The lighting is a 24 inch floresent bulb. It came with the tank. no, i have not checked the tds of the water. i'm not sure what kind of water purifier it is, i know it has 4 or 5 different cyllinders it goes through. i'm using a reeflife liquid test kit for the calcium, alk, nitrate and nitrite. i believe the supplements are kent and aquachem. i have not added anything other than the trace elements, and i add it according to the directions. my problems arised when i cleaned out my filters in my sump. spiked everything.