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Anemone Bleaching FAQs 8/31/08 Greetings from
NZ, oh wise ones. <Hello from Iowa! I rather like this 'wise
one' bit...maybe I'll mandate it> I picked up an anemone
(Heteractis sebae/ malu..? The one with cream-ish bubble and balloon
shaped tentacles, with supposedly luminous blue/ purple tips) a couple
of months ago, in what was admittedly a run down condition. <Tough
to find any other way...unfortunate> It was in a dim tank with T5
lighting and dozens of Aiptasia for company. Completely white, it
apparently had always been that way, and had been in the same spot for
a year or more. We encouraged it to come off the substrate and rock on
which it was perched by running a power head stream over its foot from
a distance. It settled into the spot where I put it in my reef tank,
specs below: 200-litre display with 60 litre sump and AquaC Remora
skimmer, rated for 1300 litres. System circulation/ turnover ~3500
litres per hour, and internal turnover approx 5000 litres per hour.
Nitrites/ ammonia ~0, nitrates around 20-40 ppm, <Really too high
for optimal health in this anemone> phosphate negligible through
regular filtration in sump. (No refugium). Regular dosing of reef
supplement with all soft and hard corals in prime condition, including
a fine head of Porites and Christmas trees + a couple of tridacnid
clams. Lighting 150 W metal halide + 2 actinic tubes. Back to the
anemone, it is also in fine physical condition, fed on a bit of shrimp/
mussel every couple of days, extends tentacles on cue etc, responds to
stimuli well etc. <Good.> The colour remains pretty much snowy
white/ cream. There is some brown speckling starting to appear on about
10% of the tentacles, and I am guessing this will undergo a population
explosion of sorts once the zooxanthellae hit a 'critical
mass'. <Very much so. When conditions, health reach proper
status...process speeds up.> The oral disc is a pale pink, and the
column is a rich silky cream. The anemone itself seems quite happy,
even though it is being steadfastly ignored by my Perc clown ( I will
be introducing a clarkii or similar to get results on the hosting
front). <Hosting is hit-and-miss, no matter the species. I'd
just stick with the percula, and wait. Sometimes they host after
months, or years, of ignorant behavior> My gripe is with the colour.
I anticipated the tentacles would regain their blue/ purple tips, and
sometimes a faint dark tip is visible - when the tentacles are not
fully inflated. <These may well come back with time. These pigments
are expensive to produce, and I would not expect them to return until
well after this anemone has repopulated its algal symbionts. Also keep
in mind there are variations in colouring, and not all specimens will
be as vibrant- or the same colours- as others.> Would you have any
advice on ways I can influence the coloration or do you reckon it is
likely to remain this speckled look. Would a new companion to host be
beneficial in any way? <Continue feeding good marine-origin meaty
foods. I'm not sure about the availability of products down under,
but making a frozen food from a Cyclops-eeze type product and a little
plain gelatin to be thawed in small pieces for the anemone may help
provide HUFAs and colouring compounds...also do try soaking the foods
in a vitamin supplement like Selcon. Also, a hosted fish would not aid
in this process-may hurt, as there is some stress to the anemone and
occasional damage from a hosted fish...not a perfectly balanced
symbiosis.> I searched the sheer wealth of info on your site, but
could not find anything specific to this, I apologise for the extra
long-winded query! <No trouble at all! See if you can't get the
nitrate down in your tank, and keep taking good care of that anemone,
and with time I think you'll be happy with the results.> Regards
Mani <Best wishes. Benjamin> Anemone Troubles 7/28/05 Hi guys <Hey, Mike G with you this evening.> I have taken command of my little brothers Jewel Rio 180 marine set up whilst he travels for a year and although he gave me step by step instructions I need your help please <And I'm glad to give it.> I have a white carpet anemone <"White" and "Anemone" really don't belong in the same sentence. Bleaching comes immediately to mind.> which he has had from day one (3 ? years) I have been looking after this tank for nearly three weeks now and she is gorgeous and I hand feed her mussels which she enjoys. <If it is, indeed, bleached, the mussels may very well be the only thing allowing her to continue living.> Yesterday I carried out my first water change of approximately 20% after finding that my readings were as follows PH - 7.8 <A bit low. Aim for 8.2, 8.4> ammonia - 0.25ppm <A bit high. Aim for no more than 0> NO2 - 0.25ppm <See above. Should be 0> but the big one was NO3 - 160ppm which was off the scale. <Very high, though you've got that figured out.> I got told 20% 2 weekly is the norm is this correct (question 1)? <Depends on the aquarist. Everyone does things differently, though 20% every two weeks sounds good to me.> Although all fish and anemones appeared fine in the tank before the water change. <Alright.> So I got my self some pre salted RO water from my local shop <Same brand of salt as your brother used in his tank? Same salinity?> set it up to an air stone for 24 hours and heated it up to the tank temperature I then begin the change of 20% of the water which appeared to go well for my first time. <Good to hear.> After it was done I then took the readings again and to my shock nothing had really changed the PH was still low 7.8 and my NO3 was still way over 160ppm <If it was off the charts before, there's no telling how high it was. It could have been at 500, and you reduced it to 161, in which case you'd still get the same reading.> How can I get these down (question 2)? <Do what you've been doing. Water changes, lighter feedings...> Secondly I bought some proper ph 8.2 and added just 2 scoops directly to my 180 litre tank to try and get the ph level up to what all sites tell me it should be. <"Proper pH" and other such pH buffers are, in my experience, nothing but problematic. When they "wear off," your water will go back to 7.8, and the jump up then back down will stress your inhabitants unnecessarily. Using Kalkwasser or other such additives commonly administered to reef aquaria can prove invaluable in situations such as these.> After I had done this my carpet shriveled up into a tiny ball as if to say no I was fine as I was, albeit now 2 hours after my heart stopped beating thinking that I may have killed my cutest little new found friend she appears again to be opening up very slightly. <Anemones tend to do a water change within their column from time to time, and will deflate completely periodically or when under stress. Unless it stays like this for a prolonged period of time, I'd not worry myself if I were you.> Is this normal during a water change that she will get the hump with me (question 3)? <See above.> As if I loose her it's the hose pipe and car exhaust fumes for me as I love feeding her? <I don't quite understand what you're saying here, though if it is white, I'd say feeding would be a good thing.> My final question is I also bought another anemone <With brother's consent?> the other weekend which is a brown anemone with brown tentacles with green ends that appear to have holes in them <Hard to guess the species.> as I could not resist her for my 2 clowns and on the say so of my local aquatic shop. On getting her home we set her up and put her in the corner of the tank, the next morning my dad screamed she is next to the carpet <When newly introduced, uncomfortable, or stressed, anemones will roam around the tank looking for a more suitable location.> so I dived in and moved her and since then she will not really take to anywhere and looks like she does not want to take refuge on the glass, sand or rock and will not really show her mouth for feeding and looks like her feet are damaged. <They are quite strong. Perhaps you tore the foot when you moved it?> So do you think she is in big trouble <A tear in the foot is usually a problem.> and how can I encourage her to settle (question 4)? <Provide it with a place it likes, and it'll take to it.> I thank you for your time and look forward to your answers at this difficult time <Not a problem. Good luck with your new anemone!> Gary from London <Mike G> Sick Anemone? BTA 10/17/03 Hi, I have a very small (3in across at most) bubble tip anemone. I've had it for about 1 month now (tank has been established for about 6 months). <FWIW... its kind of a young tank to have purchased an anemone for. Little natural plankton available no doubt unless you also have a large refugium inline. I also hope you have resisted a mix with other stinging anemones or corals. It will be your best bet for success with keeping any motile anemone. Read more in the WWM archives about mixing cnidarians> Basically, when I first got it, it seemed fine and healthy and (I think) colored up a bit. I originally fed it every day with some formula one, about an eight of a cube (fighting the cleaner shrimp off was quite the chore!). And he seemed to be doing fine. <agreed... a good habit here> Pictures of it, more or less chronologically are found here http://www-personal.umich.edu/~skotzaba/anemone.htm I did some more reading, and as always, I came across a lot of opinions on how often anemones should be fed. <does vary by species (and tank-- depending on incidental feeding opportunities with heavy fish populations)> The general consensus was that you should feed them, at most, twice a week--any more might harm them. <I disagree... I would suggest 3-5 times weekly for most at minimum. The "harm" in feeding anemones is with chunks of food that are too large... not fine matter "too often"> Well, I did that, which seems to be when the decline started. It would spend a great deal of its time contorted and releasing mucus. It did this for a while and then its mouth began to gape and it would spend a while looking as if he would puke out his internals (white squiggly intestinal things, which I think are the mesenterial filaments). <correct... and commonly occurs with feeding large chunks of food. Yikes> I thought the outlook was grim, but I didn't have the heart to toss him out yet. He spend a while continuing on that course, until one day he decided to move under a rock, then within a day he moved back out and attached his foot at the base of the rock, near the bottom of the tank; so he is now horizontally oriented to the substrate. He still looked horrid. I took a mucus sample and looked at it under a microscope. Obviously I'm no scientist, so what I saw didn't reveal much. A lot of dark brown, various thin worms jerking about and one of what looked like those small calcareous tube worms one gets all over the glass. I posted on a few boards asking for help. Basically, one individual, who seemed to know what he was talking about, said that the anemone is exhibiting signs of malnutrition and that an anemone should be fed as often as it will eat. So I embarked on the task of feeding it. It, of course, didn't really respond to food like the majano anemones in the sump do (reaching for an grabbing, although his tentacles are so stubby, he never really reached in the first place). I have to gently place the piece near its mouth. In its glory days it would then close up and eat it. Now it takes about 20 minutes before it coordinates itself enough to eat. Its much like spoon-feeding a crippled patient. Anyhow, the good news is that he started looking better, at least comparatively, so I've continued daily feedings and I'm hoping he might improve. Is there any advice you can offer, based on what I've told you? <I believe you are truly o the right track... feeding several times weekly if not daily will be optimal. Nothing larger than fine plankton/mysids (1/4" or smaller)> Tank is a 50 gallon with a 20gal sump. pH: 8.3 Am:0 Ni:0 Na:2ppm Salin: 1.024 Alk:3 Ca:400 Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read my long story. <best of luck! Anthony> - Anemone Checks Out - Hello, I need some help
with the picture that I attached. I added this green anemone about 2
weeks ago and all has been well up to about 4-5 hours ago. <Looks
perhaps to be a carpet anemone to me... perhaps.> I noticed that the
mouth area started to grow considerably and the tentacles have really
shrunk. My Maroon clown has been taking good care of it; feeding,
cleaning and protecting. <Hmm... you shouldn't be relying on the
clown to do the feeding - they don't actually do this in the wild
and the feeding behaviour is not really that at all - the fish takes
the food to someplace where it thinks the food is safe and then
typically drops it, but suffice to say, you can't rely on the fish
to care for the anemone, you need to get involved in the feeding
yourself.> I also noticed an area about 1" long that seemed to
be decaying on the front center of the picture. Is there anything that
I can do to help this guy out. My water temp is 78.5-79 constant,
salinity is 1.022, pH is 8.2, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is
5-10 on average. The tank is 180 gallons with a 30 gallon sump, 4"
DSB and Prizm pro skimmer. The light period is 11 hours by 4 72"
VHO 160 watt bulbs that consists of 2 actinics, 1 daylight and 1 50/50
bulb. <Quite likely there is not enough light intensity to satisfy
the needs of this animal. With a tank this deep, metal halide is
what's really required. Please read this article: > Thanks
for any help, keep up the excellent site. <Cheers, J --
> Anemone hello, I emailed you yesterday about my anemone. thank you so much for the information. I think it is great that you take the time to respond to all of these aquarist questions. <You're welcome> I have spent a lot of time at the fish store asking questions about my anemone. I usual get the same answer to the same questions! they tell me only to feed my anemone twice a month??? is this right. <IF you had one of the species that mainly subsists on photosynthesis... IF your system had "detritus" (some species "eat" a bunch of fish wastes... really, in the wild) in your system and/or IF you had lots of live rock, a refugium (lighted sump with live rock, perhaps mud, macro-algae) producing plenty of small foodstuffs, IF... otherwise, I would gauge this animal's health/appetite by its behavior... if it seems susceptible to feeding (open, eagerly attaching particles to its tentacles...) I would certainly offer it more food directly... at least once a week, likely twice... Your observations/interactions with the specimen are of more value than any/all's opinions> I have had it for two and one half of a month. it seems to like it where there is not as much flow or where the flow ends at the wall. no matter what I am pretty sure it wants to spend its life there. however I am worried that its life is coming to an end. the base is losing most of its color and is swollen like. <The swellings may be natural (verrucae)... the color change may be due to diet, lack of intense full spectrum light, some aspect of water quality... Do read over the WWM site for the links to the Breeder's Registry and peruse the wealth of information there on captive anemone husbandry...> the tentacles shrink and expand but never like before. the base used to expand long and short. now it is puffy and odd shaped. is there something I should do. my water test comes out good. nitrate is about 30 everything else is good. there are no live rock in the tank. <I would definitely add some live rock... many, many benefits here> just sand right now. I have a three clowns in the tank. one of them always stays with the anemone. since I have noticed these problems the past days the clown has been spending less time there. I feed it frozen cubes that I defrost. the cubes come from a variety pack. how often should I give these to it? <The clown? Mix this diet with some flake, pelleted, fresh foods and feed small amounts 2,3 times per day> it has never once eaten the food either. lastly I have a SeaClone skimmer that collects nothing. not even water. is this because I have no organic compounds? thank you for you time. james <More likely the skimmer is inadequate. Please read over the skimmer, live rock et al. sections on the site: www.wetwebmedia.com Bob Fenner> Long Tentacle Anemone Assistance My name is Mac Lewis, and
just for the record I'm female *s*. <Hi, there...Mac. My name is
Anthony and just for the record, I'm a Sagittarius (insert swanky
disco music here). But seriously... beyond the wise cracks, my pleasure
to be in your service> I've been out of the hobby for a couple
of years but have recently returned and I've got a question about
the strange behavior of a long tentacled anemone. <welcome back... I
shall do my best> The tank he is in is a 75 gallon. It has
actinic lights, triton lights and sun spectrum lights on it.
I'm running a Magnum 330 with a quicksand filter on it, and a
Fluval that is of similar size. I plan on adding a protein
skimmer in the near future <as soon as possible...critical, in my
opinion for most> and a wet dry eventually. <may not be necessary
if your fish load is light and you invest in enough live rock (a better
filter choice for small/medium fish)> My base is a mixture of sand,
and crushed shell. <hmmm... how thick? Course is a detritus
trap...long-term problems if greater than 1/2 inch depth> I've
had this long tentacled a couple of weeks. When I bought it at
the pet store it was lovely and thriving nicely. I brought it
home and brought the two Tomato clowns that had claimed it as
well. They all settled in nicely. The long tentacled kept his
size well etc. The pet store had tried to feed him a dead damsel
fish <horrible idea...way too large food. Could even cause harm
(rare)> but he rejected it when he got to my tank. <not
surprised> The next day, after putting him in my tank I was amazed
to see, 6 domino damsels and the two clowns playing in this
anemone. It was packed with fish. And the two clowns were playing
in and out of his mouth. <fantastic...the beauty of the sea! How
fortunate you are.> In recent days, while the base color remains
Orange, he appears to have shrunken down. At the top of the
orange I'm seeing white which I don't recall seeing
before. His tentacles appear plump and okay, not withering. What
worries me is that his mouth appears to be gaping open. <indeed
often a bad sign> Upon testing the water it appears to be in great
shape. <what is your pH, temperature, alkalinity and nitrate
specifically?> The damsels are not in the anemone anymore, only the
tomato clowns. He moved in adjustment to a power head which made
a current of water that I added because I was concerned with top water
circulation and exchange. I was concerned about what he was eating and
last night hand fed him a chunk of brine which he appears to have
digested okay but there is just something not right about him. <fine
but never feed anything larger than brine, and stop that food
altogether. it is nutritively barren. Try fine zooplankton or Mysis
shrimp> He feels sticking to the touch but he just appears to be
drooping. He has attached back to another spot so perhaps I'm
worrying over nothing but I was told that a gaping mouth is a sign
he's in decline and I'm going to lose him. <not
necessarily> Could you tell me whether he's okay? What you think
I might be doing wrong? How I could assist him? <please report back
with your water chemistry readings...do a water change (always when in
doubt do a proper/gentle water change). Beyond that... your lights will
not keep this animal alive in the long run. Although the spectral mix
you have is good... standard output fluorescents are fairly useless
beyond eight inches of water depth for intensely symbiotic animals like
anemones and coral. unless your anemone is right at the surface of the
water, it is suffering from a net daily carbon deficit (not enough
photosynthetic activity to produce enough carbon for basic survival).
Feeding fine (easy to digest) nutritious foods will help, but the
animal needs more light intensity. Consider a shallower tank or a
brighter set of lights. A pair of VHO's (two 110 watt each) would
do the trick or a comparable power compact light outfit. This hardware
is a bit dear, so be sure you want to commit to the anemone or find a
new home if necessary. Best regards, Anthony>
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