[tampaman]

I have a short tenticle (white w/purple tips) anemone. I made the usual mistake of buying a anemone for my new saltwater set-up. I have a 29g, 250w 15k MH w/actinic PCs, wet/dry, 60lbs live rock, 30 blue hermits, chip stars, standard clown, coral beauty, half black angel. My anemone walk aroiund the tank for the first week and found a spot away from high current (600gph return pump). He went upside down this mornig and does not feel sticky. His foot was looking shriviled up and he was not open much....granted he was upside down though...not good. I smelled him and it wasent great but not the worst thing ever like others describe. With all the recent money put into this, I dont want to poision the rest of my tank if he goes...I also dont want to throw away a 40-50 dollar invert. I put him in a higher spot when place back closer to the light and it looks like he's trying to dig in a little. Ammonia 0, Nirtite 0, Nitrate undetectable, calcium ~400, phosphate 5ppm (little high?)...
Please advise
TM

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

I moved your post to the Reef Aquariums Forum from the fish disease forum in the hopes it will get a response from those who keep anemones.

Good luck!

[FireEater]

Originally Posted by tampaman

I made the usual mistake of buying a anemone for my new saltwater set-up.

How new is the tank?

Watch it very closely and if you see it is starting to melt, then I would remove it. If it just stays shriveled up, it might still be okay. But as I said, watch it closely.

[tampaman]

Well honestly......it's now about 25 days old.....I was given alot of bacteria from a fish friend of mine who owns a fish nursery to start the cycle quicker. also had the live rock (pre cured) in for a week first...still not long enough I know. I was hoping that with truly all the right ingredients and a few fish, that I could avoid the whole first harsh cycle thing. This seems to be working some since I have had 0 NH3 and 4, and 0 nitrite since day one..and have tested every day. I this still "new tank syndrom"....and in science terms what does that really mean? Thanks for all the help I hope I get now and in the future....i have started a life long project! I have no skimmer now but mine will be in by tuesday. But I have also seen beautiful reef systems w/o skimmer....granted very well balance i'm sure. Not the case with a tank less than a month old. And yes I know, too much too quickly I'm sure, but what now....water changes ever other day?
Thanks again
TM

[tampaman]

Originally Posted by FireEater

How new is the tank?

Watch it very closely and if you see it is starting to melt, then I would remove it. If it just stays shriveled up, it might still be okay. But as I said, watch it closely.

Could you give me specifics on "melt"....still learning but quickly...Thanks

[FireEater]

Yea, 25 days old is way to fast on what you are doing. You most likely will have a host of problems down the line.

Melting away is exactly what it sounds like. The tissue on the anemone will fall apart and look as if it is decaying.

Good luck and hope to see you on here learning more and hopefully you will avoid disasters.

[tampaman]

Thanks...there is no tissue loss...so hopefully I can nurse him back to health. I knew better than to go with fish in the first month but got the clown and the coarl beauty anyway. Then after about 2 weeks I couldnt resit the anemone for the clown (how cliche right)....anyway....do you really forsee "many" more problems in my future....and if so what can I do to prevent them....Thanks

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by tampaman

Thanks...there is no tissue loss...so hopefully I can nurse him back to health. I knew better than to go with fish in the first month but got the clown and the coarl beauty anyway. Then after about 2 weeks I couldnt resit the anemone for the clown (how cliche right)....anyway....do you really forsee "many" more problems in my future....and if so what can I do to prevent them....Thanks

Hi tampaman,




To avoid many more problems down the road I would suggest one thing, slow down a bit and do not add too many things to the tank untill it matures some.
Try to research all of your livestock purchases before actually buying it.
Like Mark(FireEater) said already, keep an eye on your anemone and if starts to decompose remove it. I know you said it is a short tentacle anemone but what species it is exactly is hard to understand. Is it a host anemone or somethings else?
It is hard to give any suggestions on the care of anemone without knowing what species it is exactly.
If you provide better description, or better yet an image of it, maybe we can help a bit more.

[tampaman]

Ok guys..I know too much too fast, like I have freely admitted. The anemone is about 5 inches in diameter spead out completly. it has tenticles about 1mm wide and about 3/4-1" long. Each tip has a small purple dot on the end of each tip. Beside that, I havent learned the names of every fish, mistake, but I'll know them very soon. If you have a site with good pics and descriptions LMK.

Forums Great!!!

[tampaman]

Thanks

[Hillybean06]

it sound to me like you have a sebae anemone sometimes sebae's are known differently by color some can be brownish and greenish tenacles but the white tenacles can be a little bit more delicate. But like you said you moved a little bit too fast... if you want to move a little faster( not recommended) you could always buy condylactis anemones (around $10)until your sure that everything in your tank is pristine that way you still have decoration with your tank but not so much money went down the bucket if your anemone dies (if you must get an anemone thats what i recommend). Although the condylactis anemone is not a good clownfish host many other fish that you will get can end up living in anemone like some damsels for example, that way you have a little bit more experience with anemones so you can eventually move up to more expensive ones and get a benefit from them instead of loss from thier death....

[Max]

iT

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by tampaman

If you have a site with good pics and descriptions LMK.

Hi,

No one accusing you of not knowing the names of all the fish/anemone, or any other invert. We just hoped to know what anemone you are talking about so we can perhaps recommend some care tips and what not. We all started somewhere...

Anyway, try this link for pictures of anemones and clownfish
Anemone fishes and their host sea anemones

See if any match what you got. You can also read an article about care for the anemones here

[t4c]

I recently added a condylactis to my 90g reef and he is doing great. I feed him a dehydrated krill almost every day. A lfs told me a Clark anemonefish would host with this anemone. I got one and within 2 days, he was attached to the anemone. Both are doing great even though my nitrates are usually around 40. Am building a fuge and sump to hopefuly help with the elevated nitrates.

[luther]

My bubble-tip anemone, who was the host to my maroon clown pair, died in a heater-breaking disaster. I could not find what I wanted at the time, so I bought a large condi from my lfs. They took to it immediately and all was fine. Eventually, I found another BTA and took the condi back. But, the marroon clowns definetly took to the temp host.