FAQs on Bulb, Bubble Tip/Rose Anemone
Environmental Disease
Related Articles:
Bubble Tip, Rose Anemones, Entacmaea quadricolor, Use in Marine Systems by Bob Fenner,
Bubble Tip Anemones by Jim Black,
Recent Experiences with BTA's by Marc Quattromani,
Anemones,
Cnidarians,
Colored/Dyed Anemones,
Related FAQs:
BTA Disease 1,
BTA Disease 2,
BTA Disease 3,
BTA Disease 4,
BTA Health 5,
BTA Health 6,
BTA Health 7,
BTA Health 8,
BTA Health 9,
BTA Health 10,
BTA Health 11,
BTA Health 13,
FAQs on BTA Disease by Category:
Diagnosing,
Nutritional,
Social (e.g. Allelopathy),
Trauma,
Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral)
Predatory/Pest,
Treatments
& E. quad. FAQ 1,
E. quad FAQ 2,
E. quad. FAQ 3,
E. quad FAQ 4,
E. quad FAQ 5,
BTA ID,
BTA Compatibility,
BTA Selection,
BTA Behavior,
BTA Systems,
BTA Feeding,
BTA Reproduction/Propagation,
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The best species of Anemone; esp. if tank produced... But still need
"reef system conditions"... High, steady pH, spg., alkalinity, alkaline
earths.
Put another way: Established, optimized, stable conditions suitable for
touchy corals.
Entacmaea live on rocks... sans other Cnidarians nearby
A healthy, large refugium IS EXTREMELY helpful (esp. run on RDP
macro-algal culture) |
|
New Print and
eBook on Amazon:
Anemone Success
Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term
by Robert (Bob) Fenner
|
Bubble tip anemone Eating its tentacles
10/4/17
Hi team
<Matt>
Absolutely great site by the way. I have kept bubble tip anemones for a
few years now and I'm hoping you can help me with something that has me
completely stumped. The anemone (E. Quad) in question is in a 2 foot
cube
with a few other bubble tips
<All clones I trust>
and a pair of clowns and a mandarin (refugium). It is a few years old so
well established with stable reef
parameters. The only change in the last few months is i did a small
rescape just moving a few rocks and did not disturb the sand. All
anemones seem to be in perfect health except one which i have been
observing it place its
tentacles in it's mouth and sucking the ends out of the tentacles and
pulling long strings out of them this seems to happen frequently and now
the anemone although it expands well used the tentacle pattern is now
irregular and half of the anemone has short fat tentacles. It still eats
and is under high powered led it grew and thrived under. I'm not sure
what the cause is (possible bacterial infection) as the system is just
anemones and 3 fish so rules out chemical warfare. I cannot find an
answer anywhere and I'm extremely knowledgeable on this particular
anemone. It is literally chewing off the end of it's tentacles.
Thanks in advance
Matt
<Have seen this before. Sounds/reads like manifestation of "Old Tank
Syndrome". I would move the mal-affected BTA elsewhere, stat. Bob
Fenner>
Re: Bubble tip anemone Eating its tentacles
10/5/17
Hi Bob,
<Hey Matt>
Thank you for your response. If i could just pick your brain a bit more
and get a little more clarity on the issue.
<Sure>
Firstly have you observed/heard of this behavior of a bubbletip taking
it tentacles to it's mouth and extruding filaments which it seems to
digest?
<Yes I have... mesenterial filaments are about all the insides of an
anemone that there are>
If so what is the purpose of this?
<I consider it to be a pathological event. An indication that
something/s wrong>
Is there any benefit to the animal?
<I doubt it. Seems self-destructive>
The only thing that comes to mind is it's feeding of the Zooxanthellae
or rearranging the population or it's starving.
<An interesting speculation>
The next question is you say it may be old tank syndrome. What gave you
the impression?
<OTS is such a general expression... what could be the cause/s here?>
Rearranging the rock kicking up detritus?
<Perhaps a factor>
The reason I'm asking is to prevent any other anemones from declining. I
have heard people say "old tank syndrome" (By no means in regards to
your earlier response) when they can't pinpoint the root of a problem
and have come across different theories as to what old tank syndrome
means.
<I'm one of those folks. Have recently re-read my several hundred pound,
thousands of hobbyist magazines; including a later piece in AFI
(Aquarium Fish International) re OTS>
Anywhere from excess nutrients built up in rock and substrate leaching
back into the system to and imbalance of elements or bacterial
populations.
<Ah yes>
I am religious when it comes to water changes and this system get at
least 10% weekly and clarification on this will tell me the best way to
proceed and prevent healthy anemones remain that way for as long for
many more years to come.
<You are wise here; or should I state, that you and I's philosophies and
practices appear confluent>
Once again thank you for you time and knowledge.
Matt
<Glad to share. Thank you. Bob Fenner>
Re: Bubble tip anemone Eating its tentacles
10/5/17
Thanks Bob,
<Welcome Matt>
One last question In the cases you are aware of does the decline Spell
the end of the animal or can this be reversed and a healthy specimen or
is my anemone doomed no matter what i do.
Matt
<If memory serves, there are few incidences of survival>
Sick RBTA; using WWM
7/26/15
<WHY not follow our instructions re file size? Am in Curacao; it's taken
min.s to download your non-cropped image of more than two Megs>
Sigh. I know my tank is too small (only 28 gal.
<And obviously too polluted>
I wish I had been told this prior to purchasing & making creature
miserable, if not outright murdering it). I have a JBJ PRO model with LED
lighting: daytime, dusk/dawn & moonlighting Specs list daylight as 25x3
watt 14 k; dawn/dusk: 4x3 watt 466nm; moonlight: 2x1 watt 456nm, so
although my star polyp has grown 5 times original size in 4 months, my RBTA
looks terrible: has not moved since finding its place on a live rock;
bubble tips have shrunk & are dark looking, although lately they seem to be
on the mend, or at least are not black! I have included a pic. Don't mind
the hair algae as I have replaced my skimmer to an AquaMaxx HOB which does
a brilliant job!
<Not yet>
Actually, the hair algae has been 90% reduced! So you can imagine the poor
skimmer quality (was a JBJ that fir into the back compartment...but it was
rubbish!)
<It seems you know the answer to your issue here>
Do you think I can save this little, miserable guy, or should I give him
back to the store from whom I purchased it & perhaps they can help it mend.
Mea culpa. :((
Jennifer Rossi
New Orleans
<Just read on WWM re Entacmaea. Your answers are further gone over and over
there. Bob Fenner>
|
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Sick BTA; allelopathy, chemical starvation, reading
12/31/12
Dear WWM Crew:
First off, Happy New Year!! Secondly, I have a sickly BTA that I bought
about 2 months ago from Liveaquaria.com . The anemone originally found a
rock crevice where it seemed to do well for the first few weeks. I did
not do a very good job target feeding it. The BTA then moved further
into a hole in the rock & has been "on the move" since then. It is
deflated, very small, with mouth open & tentacles retracted. It keeps
moving slowly from rock to rock and has not opened up or inflated for
about a month.
<Not atypical behavior for a new Entacmaea; reacting to "something"
undesirable" here... conditions, tank-mate wise. Let's see...>
The system is a 90g with a 40g refugium. Circulation pump is Rio 3200.
There are 3-600 gph powerheads - 1 directed from back to front in the
center, 2 directed toward each other from each side, all about 4
inches below water line. Filtration is with a Turboflotor Blue skimmer,
filer sock, and carbon in a reactor.
Lighting is provided by 4 x 48" T5s: two white, 1 purple, 1 actinic.
Most of the rock work is about 12-16 inches from the lights at the
highest point of the rocks.
The BTA is currently located toward the lower part of the tank, which
would be about 8" from the tank bottom & about 20" from the T5 bulbs in
the canopy. The BTA does not seem to move up toward the light. At
night with the lights off (except for moon lights) the BTA reaches
upward, tentacles still retracted & mouth open. When feeding it Mysis or
small pieces of shrimp the BTA will not "grab" the food (no tentacles)
and the food floats away.
Tank-mates are: 2 yellow tail damsels, 1 yellow sailfin, 1 Ocellaris
about 3" long, 1 pajama cardinal, a few Mexican turbo snails &
red-legged hermits. As for cnidarians: several very large green
encrusting Montiporas, literally hundreds of green Corallimorphs located
on most all of the rocks, 2 species of Rhodactis, a few Ricordeas, 2
Zoanthid colonies.
<Might well be the Shrooms and/or Zoanthids are combating the anemone
chemically here. All new Cnidarians need to be acclimated over weeks
time via a separate system, mixing water. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CorlCompArt.htm
and the linked files above for the groups involved here>
Right now, the BTA is wedged into a rock crevice near some
mushrooms.
<Ahh... really, needs to be moved; for you to start the
acclimation/introduction process anew>
As far as water parameters, Temp. is 77F, Salinity 1.025, CA 430, Alk
3.2, Nitrites=0, Nitrates=0, Phos=0,
<... sigh... all chemo-photo/synthates need some of both of the last
two... See WWM re this as well>
Ammonia=0. I use Salifert tests for all but Phosphate which is tested
with a Hanna photometer, and nitrate which is tested with LaMotte high
sensitivity reagents.
Any ideas about how I can help my little BTA?
<As stated, allelopathy and nutrients... Bob Fenner>
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Re: Sick BTA 1/1/13
I see a lot re: how to reduce nitrates, but not increasing them. Is this
as simple as feeding more & reducing skimmer production?
<Ahh, can be; yes. More the former>
In attempting to move the BTA it floated behind the rocks & I am trying
to find it again. When I do, you recommend removing from the tank &
re-acclimating if I read your response correctly?
Thanks, Doug
<Yes; if possible/practical, take out whatever it's attached to, place
in a container underwater and move all to the separate system. BobF>
E. Quadricolor, New Tank Issues -- 11/14/07
Hello once again! <Hello Ryan, Brenda here> I have yet
another question for you. <Not a problem!> It never ends,
does it? <No, but this is how we all learn, and why we are
here.> Thanks for all your great help so far and hopefully you
can help me out with this interesting situation? <I'll
try!> I recently moved my bubble tip anemone and its clone to
a new tank. The new tank was setup with existing live rock and
water, as well as some Chaetomorpha algae. <This is not an
instant cycle. This creature needs an established environment,
including the sand bed. This takes a minimum of 6 months, one
year is best.> Everything has been going well, except the
endless walking around the tank. <It is not happy.>
Different flow and lights will cause that. <The new tank is
likely the cause.> Yesterday I came home from work and found
something interesting. The anemones had been fed the day before
and looked a little unhappy. <What are you feeding it?> I
took a look and found something interesting? I've posted this
on three forums and no one has responded, which, in my opinion
means no one has an answer? Today the anemones look much happier
and the "egg sac" in the attached picture is gone.
After I took the picture last night I noticed the tentacle
started to tear open but I did not stay up late enough to see if
anything was released? I added some carbon and did a water change
just in case something in the tank was off. <You need to keep
a close eye on your water parameters.> Thanks for looking,
Ryan.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s7/RyanSc_photos/IMG_1496.jpg
It is just to the right of the mouth. <Yes, I see this.>
Any ideas? <Well, I can tell you, it is not an egg sac. Here
is a link to a thread that shows eggs inside of an anemone. The
pictures in this thread are amazing.
http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic74210-9-1.aspx This is also a
good article to read:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/feature.htm As far
as what is going on; it could be a number of things. It looks to
me like one of its tentacles has become injured or irritated.
What are the tank mates, including fish, corals and
invertebrates? Have you noticed anything bothering it? Are there
any possibilities that salt accumulated somewhere and dropped
into the tank, landing on the anemone? What are your water
parameters? How long has this tank been up and running? Did you
transfer the sand bed over also? If so, how long did you leave it
cycle before adding the livestock? Thanks again. <You're
welcome! Brenda>
Re: E. Quadricolor, New Tank Issues --
11/15/07 Hi Brenda, thanks for the reply. <Hello Ryan, and
you're welcome!> You are not going to like this?
<Yikes!> I did the entire change over in one day!
<Ouch!> After asking many people if it would be OK if I
used existing live rock and water as well as some Chaeto, they
all said yes. <No, it is not ok, especially with anemones.>
So if this was not OK what can I do now? Water parameters were
fine until I fed the anemones, I fed them shrimp, same shrimp
I've fed for over a year. My ammonia was a little high the
day after and I'm assuming that one or both of the anemones
did not eat their "dinner", causing the higher ammonia.
<The ammonia spike is caused by the cycle. This is extremely
toxic to anemones.> I did a water change to fix the problem, a
rather large water change and after that they both looked fine.
Here are the water parameters, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 (yes I'm
sure), nitrate 0, calcium 400, Alk 10 DKH, salinity 1.025, temp.
79....I think that's it. <I do recommend a salinity of
1.026 for anemones.> The tank has a couple of frags that were
attached to the live rock, Montipora and that is it, no other
corals or fish....oh other than the one Palythoa hijacker. Please
let me know if there is a way I can fix this situation? <I
suggest getting the anemones out of there for a while. See if you
can find someone local to take it in. If you are starting with a
new sand bed, you need to wait a minimum of 6 months. If you
transferred the old sand bed, it will take less time, but I
can't give you an exact time frame. It could take a few
weeks, or even a few months. There are too many variables. You
will need to keep checking your water parameters. Once everything
has been stable for a while, you can put the anemones back
in.> I assure you I did a lot of questioning before I went
ahead with this move and everyone said it was fine. Now I need
your help, please. I did not check the links yet because I'm
in a bit of a rush and trying to catch you today rather than
tomorrow. Thanks for your help, Ryan. <You're welcome!
Brenda>
Re: E. Quadricolor, New Tank Issues --
11/16/07 Thank you Brenda! <You're Welcome!> Sorry
to keep this going back and forth with you. <No need to be
sorry!> The sand is new, I thought I was saving myself cycling
issues by doing this rather than using old "dirty"
sand, apparently I was wrong. <Even when using old sand, there
will still be a cycle.> I have little trust in others in my
area, I work at a LFS but don't want my anemones there
because they cram them all in one little tank. <Ouch! I know
what you mean! When visiting a LFS, I first look at how they
treat their anemones. I can't count how many times I've
left feeling sick! I have found very few LFS that provide an
adequate environment for this creature.> I don't know
anyone else (local) with a tank that would be suited to keep
anemones. <Wish I could help, I would gladly take the anemones
in for a while if you were local.> So that being said I would
prefer to try and fix the problem by myself. I watch things very
carefully and hopefully I can pull this off? I have a SPS reef
tank that has been doing great for over a year (started it before
that). Here's what I've been doing. I'm making 5
gallons of new saltwater per day, letting it rest (with a pump)
for a day, adding that to my reef tank, then I take 5 gallons out
of my reef tank and change 5 gallons on my anemone tank. <This
is a waste of effort in my opinion. You simply can not create an
instant cycle. Your new tank needs time to cycle. Dirty water is
not the solution. Once your tank has cycled it will still not be
an adequate environment for anemones.> Not the best method but
hopefully this will get me through this 6 month period? I know
you are not going to be all that fond of this idea. <No,
I'm not fond at all, neither are the anemones. They need an
established environment, no less than 6 months, no short cuts
here.> Do you think it is possible to keep my anemones if I
continue to do this? <It is a possibility, but not a
probability, also not fair to the anemones to be kept in such an
environment.> My other option would be to somehow get them
back in my reef tank. <This would be my choice, with a slow
drip acclimation to reduce added stress.> I would prefer not
to lose my corals. That is an option that I would rather not go
for. <Were the anemones in the SPS tank previously? Were there
problems that made you decide to move them, roaming, etc.? I keep
anemones with SPS, and have had no issues. My anemones do not
roam, and I keep the SPS away from the anemones. Granted, this is
not a guarantee that they won't roam someday. Can you tell me
more about your SPS tank? Size, equipment, livestock, water
parameters, amount of flow, RO or RO/DI water, is there room for
the anemones? I appreciate your help a lot. Please try and see
things from my point of view on this. <I do, (and the anemones
view) we've all made mistakes.> I am doing my best to keep
them happy. I guess I should have emailed you first, before I
made the transfer. By the way both anemones look very healthy and
happy! <This may not be long term.> Thanks so much, Ryan.
<You're welcome! Brenda>
Re: E. Quadricolor, New Tank Issues... Brenda!
Refer Ryan! -- 11/16/07 Hi Brenda, <Hello Ryan!>
Thanks again! <You're welcome!> The anemones were in
the SPS tank before but the two used to be one, it split and then
both started roaming. <Both are a sign of stress.> They are
also very large so their tentacles swaying in the current (lots
of flow) were causing problems with my corals and clam. <Yes,
that is a problem!> I use RO/DI water, have 4000 gph of flow
(90 gallon tank), <That is a lot of flow, likely too much for
anemones.> a EuroReef skimmer, Kalk reactor, refugium with a
DSB and Chaeto, 500 watts of metal halide lighting (10K), 100+
pounds of live rock, 30 gallon sump, etc. <Nice
equipment!!!> My water parameters in the SPS tank are ammonia
0, nitrite 0, nitrate 1.5, calcium 400, DKH 11, Ph 8.3, temp. 79,
SG 1.025-1.026.....I think I got all of those? My SPS tank is
packed full of corals and my main concern is the anemones
wandering or letting loose of the live rock and floating into a
Tunze powerhead. <I don't recommend the use of powerheads
with anemones. If you must use them, they need to be covered with
something to protect the anemone.> I can provide you a link to
a picture to show you my tank so you get a feel for how packed it
is. My other thought was putting them in the refugium but then I
would have to buy an additional light and most likely keep that
light on at the same time my tank lights are on (not sure why I
think that?). <I don't know why you think that either. I
recommend the refugium light to be on at opposite times of the
main tank. Placing the anemones in the sump (with proper
lighting) is an option as long as you can be sure the anemones
are protected from all pumps. Anemones going through a pump can
wipe out an entire system. Without seeing your set up or knowing
how much flow is going through it, I really can't recommend
it.> I certainly want to keep the anemones happy so I'll
do what I need to. I'm also wondering if there would be a
safe way to connect the two tanks for a period of 6 months. I
cannot drill the tank, it's brand new acrylic and cost enough
that I would not feel comfortable putting a temporary hole in it.
<I don't blame you. What size/type tank is your new one?
How close is it to the old one? What lighting do you have on it?
Do you have any old tanks around that you could temporarily
connect to the established tank, a 20 gallon or so? I do suggest
running carbon, and frequent water changes when mixing coral and
anemones. The initial problems you experienced may have been
caused by chemical warfare, along with too much flow.> I
really appreciate all your help. Here's a picture so you can
see what I'm dealing with.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s7/RyanSc_photos/IMG_1508.jpg
<Yes, a bit crowded for anemones.> I guess the other option
would be to cage them in with some egg crate until they are
attached and happy? <There are no guarantees that creating a
cage will create happiness. I believe there is simply too much
flow in your main tank, and possibly chemical warfare. In the
mean time, take a cup or two of sand out of your established
tank, and start seeding your new tank.> Thanks once again,
Ryan. <You're welcome! Brenda>
Re: E. Quadricolor, New Tank Issues --
11/17/07 Thanks Brenda! <You're welcome> Wow the
longest running WWM FAQ ever....I'm joking. I do have extra
tanks but connecting them safely would be an issue. The only way
I could do that is to have a pump in the main tank and a pump in
the connected tank, both pumping water back and forth, we both
know you should not do that. The refugium may work. I have no
pumps in the Fuge, just a feed pump from a different area of the
sump which supplies clean water and lower flow. I would need to
upgrade the lighting but other than that I think that may work.
Here's what I'm going to do today. Take some sand out of
the refugium, add it to the anemone tank, take a large amount of
Chaeto and add that to the anemone tank as well. I am also going
to try and add some flow without having a pump directly in the
tank with the anemones. I think they miss the flow. Both settled
in a very high flow location in my reef tank so maybe that's
what they're looking for. <They are suffering from being
placed in a non-cycled/non-established tank. It is important that
you get them out of there. This is not only very stressful on
anemones, but also one of the leading causes of death in
captivity.> I'll assume this will be the last email about
this, so once again thanks so much for all your help. I'll
give you an update in a month or so. Thanks, Ryan. <Good luck
to you! Brenda>
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Re: Rose Bubble Anemone hlth.
9/7/07 I've not changed the set up in any way. The only thing
introduced in the last 2 weeks is a small colony of mushroom corals
which are usually the other side of the tank. The lighting I have is
2x24" Acadia blue fluorescents and 2x24" white. The tank size
is 25 gallons (U.K gallon that is). <Ah, anemones rarely do well in
small tanks.> Water parameters are S.G 1.023, <salinity should be
closer to 1.025sg> No3 10mg, <doesn't help> Nitrite Nil,
Ammonia Nil, Phosphates Nil, Ph 8.2, Calcium 360mg and KH 7-10,
temperature is a constant 77.25. <closer to 80 would be better> I
do a 25% water change weekly but this is mostly to try and starve the
annoying patches of hair algae before they get a grip in the whole
tank. I have an Aquaclear 4000 power head directing the flow of water
across the tank. The only other inhabitants in the tank are 2 clowns
(male & female) and a Banded Coral Shrimp, so the tank is hardly
overstocked. <Sure, but I wouldn't add anymore fish.> on the
forum suggested that my lighting was incorrect and not powerful enough
for a BTA. <That's quite possible. However, even if you had
ideal lighting, the tank is still too small for a BTA.> Any
suggestions would be grateful as the BTA is truly beautiful when at
full health. (If you have any ideas to kill the hair algae that would
be appreciated too.) <About all I can suggest at this point is that
you get a bigger tank. For the time being, running activated carbon
might help. Best,
Sara M.>
Bubble Tip Bleaching...Not Enough Info...Not Enough Light
8/24/06 Hi, <Hello> I have had a BTA for 1 year
now. When I purchased it it was a maroon color, I was told it was from
the Red Sea region, and that the color would not change. After about 5
months it had significantly changed in color. It was a cream color, now
it is completely white. I went back to my LFS and explained the
problem. He promptly told me that that was no problem and all I had to
do was add phytoplankton every other day. <<Dismal>> So I purchased some and have
administered it properly and kept it refrigerated. The outer portion
has regained some of its color but the part that fans out and has the
bubbles is still white. The bubbles are so small they are almost
non-existent. The BTA is housed in a 29 gal. with a PowerGlo light
approximately 7 inches from the BTA. <You are very lucky to have
kept the BTA that long under those conditions. Your tank is
too small to house anemones and the lighting you are using is no where
near enough. Water parameters can change too fast in a small
tank, something anemones do not take well. Lighting on your
tank should have been somewhere near 4 to 5 watts per gallon.> I put
an Iodine supplement in the water once per week. This has not seemed to
help at all. I feed the BTA weekly with fresh shrimp. Should
I purchase a different light, different plankton supplement, different
food or anything else? <Yes, larger tank (minimum of 55 gallon),
better lighting, but unlikely your present anemone is going to reverse
it's condition. Read here. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm>
Thank you so much for your help. <You're
welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
BTA 12/26/05 Your site is fabulous. <Thank
you.> Great (needed) information.
Can you help. I have 30 gal eclipse system that I have
removed the fluorescent fixture and now use a CoralLife 130w
fixture. I have about 75lbs LR, 3" sand, 1
powerhead with undergravel filter and use the eclipse filtration
system. As for as fish, I have 1 clown, 1 lawnmower
blenny, angel (don't know what kind), 1 blue
damsel. I also have a cleaner shrimp.
My system is about 1 1/2 yr old. I do not have a
skimmer. I change 5 gal water with distilled water every
2 weeks. I have been rotating between phytoplankton and
ZooPlex (Kent) every 3 days. I feed the fish formula 1
& brine shrimp. Feeding small amounts twice
daily. I have been supplementing
with coral Accel (Kent). I only test Ammonia, nitrates,
nitrites, & PH.
All are excellent, with PH being 8.0.
My question involves my BTA which is about 8 mo.s
old. It used to open large to about 4
inches. It hasn't done this for quite some
time. It now spends more time as you see in attached
photos. It used to respond quickly to hand feeding
(small pieces raw shrimp), and was also
"sticky". Now it won't take
food. It has done so well for so long that it's
condition now has got me baffled. I'm hoping the
attached photos will give you some clue to help me.
<Gary, your email doesn't surprise me. Anemones
are not easy to keep for an extended period of time. Larger tanks
with good circulation, (10X tank volume) addition of trace elements
along with an iodine supplement increases your chances for success
with anemones. Larger tanks offer more stability with
much less swings in temp, ph, etc. Weekly 10% water
changes are more in order than twice a month. In looking
at your pics, I'd say the anemone is on its way
out. I would remove the rock that it is on and scrub the
anemone off. If it is allowed to die in the tank, and
especially in a small tank, you will more than likely experience a
complete wipe out. James (Salty Dog)>
Thanks for any help you can give. <You're welcome>
Gary |
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E. quadricolor concerns 7/17/04 Hey
there, I have recently added a bubble tip anemone to my tank 3 weeks
ago, and it's habits seem strange compared to the information I
have read over the internet. It seems to thrive in the
evening to early morning, but within a couple hours of the lights
coming on it shrinks up and its oral disk opens right up and eventually
turns inside out (some days). This has been a constant since
about 4or 5 days after it was added to the tank. I have been
feeding it Mysis soaked in Selcon and live phytoplankton every second
day, although the poachers get a lot of it. <What you are describing
is definitely some kind of stress. The lighting you list
below is probably not enough to maintain this animal, let alone light
shock it, so I would suspect a water quality issue.> The first
couple of days it moved around the tank, but since then it has been in
the same spot about halfway to the surface under an overhang. It is
however in a more turbulent area since it is directly behind where the
two powerhead flows come together. <Too much current is often an
issue, but if the anemone wandered and settled in this spot, I doubt
that this is the problem. Do keep an eye on it to
go on the move again.> Tank Specs: 32 Gallon, 130watt PC 50/50, 2
Powerheads @270GPH/each on opposite sides of the tank, Protein skimmer
running 24/7 Temp:81, pH:8.2, nitrite 0, ammonia 0-0.6, salinity:
1.026, 35lbs live rock + 20lbs base rock. <All sounds fine, but your
light is a bit low to be keeping anemones. Also, any
detectible ammonia is a problem, I would verify your results on another
test kit (preferably another brand).> In the hopes of finding a
solution it there is a problem, I'll tell you now the tank is
probably overstocked, but since my levels have stayed consistent I have
not been overly concerned. The tank is about 4 months old.
Tank Inhabitants: 2 cleaner shrimp 1 fire cleaner shrimp 2 peppermint
shrimp 25 various hermits +/ - 25 various snails +/ - 2 ocellaris
clownfish (medium) 1 regal tang (small) 1 clarkii clownfish (medium) 1
tube anemone 1 Hawaiian feather duster Blue mushrooms Button polyps
Finger leather Plate coral <Waaaayyy too many hermits and snails for
such a small tank. Also, peppermint shrimp can pester
desirable anemones. Button polyps and mushrooms may produce
chemicals that will adversely affect the anemone.> The clarkii is
only a week new to the tank and has yet to go into the anemone, I added
the clarkii hoping that it would keep the poachers away since the 2
ocellaris did not seem to care much for the anemone. All
corals are located well away from the anemone. <Clownfish often take
a while to move into an anemone in captivity, particularly if the
species don't normally associate in the wild and/or the clowns are
captive raised.> Any suggestions would be
appreciated. Thank you, Steve <I would suggest observing
the peppermints for irritating behavior or removing them
regardless. I would also consider adding more
light. Using small amounts of carbon occasionally will help
reduce the chemical competition from other animals. Although
it doesn't have anything to do with your anemone problem, I would
also reduce the numbers of hermits and snails to 1/3 of what you have
now and maybe considering giving up the hermits all together (too
destructive with minimal benefit, IME). Best
regards. Adam>
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