FAQs on Sebae, Heteractis crispa Anemone Nutritional Health FAQs on Sebae Anemone Disease: Sebae Disease 1, Sebae Anemone Health 2, Sebae Anemone Disease 3 FAQs on Sebae Anemone Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments  Related Articles: Heteractis crispa/Sebae Anemones, Bubble Tip Anemones, Anemones, Cnidarians, Colored/Dyed Anemones, Related FAQs: Sebae Anemones 1, Sebae Anemones 2, Sebae Anemones 3, Sebae Identification, Sebae Behavior, Sebae Compatibility, Sebae Selection, Sebae Systems, Sebae Feeding, Sebae Reproduction,

Feed on small zooplankters... mostly at night. NOT whole silversides, cocktail shrimp... Will eat tankmates; but generally throw them back up.

New Print and eBook on Amazon:   Anemone Success Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Anemone Hiding, Inappropriate Food 10/08/07 <Hello, Brenda here> I'm not sure of the exact kind of anemone we have, it is white with pink tips. Why does it stay hidden in the rocks? <It is not happy. What are your water parameters, tank size, lighting, filtration, age of system, etc.?> It used to come out and open up but now it stays under the rocks and closed up except for the pink tips you see. I feed it Zooplex about every other day. <This is not appropriate food for an anemone. They need small portions (no bigger than the mouth) of meaty foods 2 3 times a week. I suggest feeding silversides, krill, raw shrimp, or mysis shrimp.> Thanks for any information. <Youre welcome! Brenda>

Bleached Sebae Anemone 3/10/07 <Brenda here to help.> Reading all the info you have provided.  Thanks. <You're welcome.> I see that "regular feedings" of a "meaty" substance is crucial for an unhealthy, bleached Sebae.  How often is regular? <Regular feedings are always crucial for this anemone.  Since yours in bleached I would feed every two days to start with.  If the anemone recovers you can feed twice a week.> And how much of what do you recommend? <Try feeding silversides soaked in Selcon.  Portions should be smaller than its mouth.  Gently drop the food near its mouth.  If it is regurgitating the food, try an even smaller piece.> We have a completely bleached Sebae that is not looking too good. <I can imagine.  Was it bleached when you purchased it?  If not, you need to figure out what caused it to bleach.  It could possibly be caused from lack of lighting or poor water quality.> We are very new to this hobby and unfortunately were told this was a "fairly easy" anemone to have. <This anemone is considered difficult to keep.  You have been misinformed. Your tank needs to be well established to keep this anemone, six months minimum, a year preferable.> We have had it for several weeks, feeding it Cyclop-eeze 1-2x/wk.   <Cyclop-eeze alone is not adequate.  I personally do not use it for anemones.  I would stick to the silversides for now.  Then you can move on to other meaty foods such as krill, Mysis shrimp, or raw shrimp, keeping silversides as the primary food.>   It hasn't attached to anything yet.  It seems to be trying to attach to the front glass (which is really not where we want it. <Anemones will go where they are most comfortable.  I recommend leaving it alone at this point.> We have a 65 gal. tank by the way.  It changes size almost daily, getting smaller for the most part. <That doesn't sound good.  Keep your water parameters perfect.> It shrivels a lot and at one point completely closed up with no tentacles showing but reopened later in the day.  Please just give as best you can some specific care instructions to try and save our first attempt at anemones. <What type of lighting do you have?  Metal halide lighting is best.> A little more info - we also have a blenny, goby, percula clown (that has no interest in the anemone), and a bright red shrimp.  Along with a star polyp and daisy polyp.  Some small snails and 1 large snail.  We keep temp. around 79 degrees and water quality is good.  We add purple up daily and a calcium supplement, flakes for the fish.   <I would stop using the purple up.  Many have experienced problems using it.  Make sure your salinity is at 1.026, and target a pH of 8.2.  Also make sure you are testing calcium and alkalinity before dosing.  Please be sure you research all of your livestock before purchase.> Signed, drowning in tank info. <Good luck with your anemone!  Brenda>
Re:  Bleached Sebae Anemone 3/12/07 <Brenda following up> Thank you so much for such a quick reply on specific help for our anemone!!!   <You're welcome.> We will give it our best care and hope for the best!   I did think of one other question.  I understand that it is very important to remove a dead anemone as quickly as possible from the tank to keep from harming other inhabitants.  Is it obvious when it is dead?   <If the mouth is gaping for long periods it is likely on its way out.  Once it is dead, you will likely see some build up of slime and it may look like it is melting.> Because frankly there are times we thought it was dead only to see signs of life later.  Is there a time frame we are looking at as to when we should remove it when we are fairly certain it is dead?   <Time frame, no.  Anemones can live a long time being bleached.  They can also perish overnight.  Given the fact that this is a new anemone, it may be still acclimating to its environment.  Anemones can also look pretty bad when they are expelling waste.  It is best to always have premixed saltwater ready for an emergency water change.> Hopefully it won't come to this!  And on the upside, it actually has attached itself for sure to the front, bottom (glass) of the aquarium. <Great!> Not a great spot, but at least it's alive. <Not only alive, but it also has the energy to attach itself.  Many times sick anemones are being tossed around in the current.> Thank you again! Drowning in tank info <You're welcome.  Brenda>
Re:  Bleached Sebae Anemone 3/13/07 Me again!   <Me?  As in Drowning in Tank info  LOL  Brenda here again.> Ya'll are great! <Thank you, happy to assist> I did get the silversides. <Good!  How about the Selcon?> Should the anemone pretty much eat it as soon as I present it to him, or might he hang on to it for a little bit? <A healthy one would typically eat right away.  A bleached or unhealthy one may take longer or not eat at all.> He did react with movement when I put it over its mouth but didn't eat it. <Good, try again tonight.> Should I gently force feed him? <No, never.  If you tear its mouth it will likely never recover.  The mouth is very delicate, very thin tissue.> He hung on to it for a few minutes but then the silverside floated away. <You may want to turn off or turn down the flow for a bit to allow it more time to eat.> I am a little afraid of forcing it in, should I be? <Don't even consider forcing it to eat.  Give the anemone time.   Brenda>
Re:  Bleached Sebae Anemone 3/14/07 I actually don't have a question this time.  I just wanted to thank you for all your help! <You're welcome> This is the best web ever!   <Wow!!!  Thank you!> I wish there was a site like this for all my problems in the world! LOL <Me too.  Let me know if you find one.> Just wanted to let you know that the anemone ate great last night. <Fantastic!> It was fascinating to watch. <Yes it is.> Let's hope for the best! <Im keeping my fingers crossed.> And I'm sure I'll be in touch again! <Well be here.> By the way, we didn't/couldn't fine the Selcon.  Should I try something else with the silversides? <I am not aware of a suitable substitute.  You may want to order it on-line.   http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.mode=1&infoParam.itemKey=207914 > And I thought I didn't have any more questions. <Not a problem.> Drowning in tank info <Brenda>
Re:  Bleached Sebae Anemone 3/19/07 <Hello Drowning, Brenda here> The anemone has moved to the bottom of my tank.  How do you feed silversides when it is out of reach for me to do it by hand? <Try cutting the silversides up in tiny pieces and use a turkey baster.> Drowning in tank info. <Brenda>

Anemone (H. crispa, health) Howdy Bob! <Hello there> Luv your website! Spend a lot of time just reading information and planning next addition to my tank. Purchased what appeared to be a Sebae anemone about 1 1/2 months ago. Has been doing great. Feeding it Phytoplex 3x week, and supplementing with plankton crushed up and mixed with liquid vitamins. Increased my lighting (nowhere near enough, but it was looking great!). I purchased about 3 weeks ago 2 Clarkii clown fish for it. They dove right in and things were looking good. About 1 week ago, I noticed when I fed the supplements to the anemone, my Clarkii's would knock the food out of its tentacles and gobble it up.  <Yes, this happens.> Tried feeding fish and anemone at same time, but no difference. This am, my anemone is shriveled, and its mouth is hanging open. <Not good> My Clarkii's are still playing with it. It's not disintegrating yet, but am I going to lose it? No bad smells noted yet, but it doesn't look good. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. <Do try feeding the Clown/Anemonefishes ahead of offering some larger, meatier foods placed maybe with a turkey baster toward the anemones center... this and brighter light should do the job. Bob Fenner> Kat