Help! Dying carpet anemone

[Bully405Customz]

So a friend of my girlfriend had a saltwater tank she needed to get rid of so I said I'd take them. They were a 13" engineer goby, a bigger damsel of some sort, a pair of clowns and a carpet anemone. Everyone is doing fine but the anemone, it is really bleached and not sticky. I guess the clowns have been keeping it alive, she had it for 6 months with not nearly enough light. Is there anyway I can save it?

 

[slitherbomb]

You have to provide good light and feed it a little bit every day.

 

[Bully405Customz]

I have a a t5 florescent coming that has about 6 or 7 bulbs in it( it's actually a grow light) but I haven't been able to get it to eat anything. It's not sticky at all, but when I put It in the tank it took it no time to find a place to attach. I don't know why she bought the hardest anemone to take care of, someone should of advised her otherwise.

 

[slitherbomb]

What do you mean by grow light? For most coral, a 10,000k light is required to get the right spectrum. Grow light sounds like it's for plants and is a 6500k.

Also, try this for feeding. Turn off all flow, get whatever you're feeding it(I've been told pieces of fish or silversides) and chop it up into small pieces. Get a piece and gently swish it around it's tentacles. If it doesn't react at all, place the food near it's mouth. Try to observe it for a few minutes to see if any change happens.

 

[Bully405Customz]

It is for plants. But it's one of the stronger ones I've seen, I don't have exact numbers on it though. I've been trying pieces of whitefish and krill, the anemone just has no interest. However It looks like it's been defecating from Time to time. I attached a picture, it has a little more color now though, seems like it's turning a yellow or green.

 

[Bully405Customz]

This is a more recent picture.

 

[David S]

good light and pristine water conditions will help.

 

[David S]

your lights are no good for the nem.

 

[melosu58]

What kind of lighting system do you have? How many watts per bulb? It almost sonnd like you dont have enough lighting. The K rating means nothing if you dont have a high output system. For that invert you need either a T5HO or MH system.

 

[Bully405Customz]

Yeah the lights that are on it now might as well not be on it. But today I'm going to get a 4 bulb t5 with individual reflectors that has 6400k bulbs in now. But planning on getting new bulbs at the same time. I've had the anemone for maybe 3 weeks and the lady before me had it for 6 months with just plain florescent lights. And Im guessing thats what caused the bleaching.

 

[slitherbomb]

Try to get 10,000k bulbs.

 

[Bully405Customz]

Okay, I'll make sure to get 10000's. I'm worried it's past saving because of it not being sticky or anything. Not that I'm saying I'm not gonna try my hardest to save it.