BTADisF7

FAQs on Bulb, Bubble Tip/Rose Anemone Health 7

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 8, BTA Health 9, BTA Health 10, BTA Health 11, BTA Health 12, BTA Health 13,
FAQs on BTA Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), 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,

New Print and eBook on Amazon:

Anemone Success
Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Re: E. quadricolor, BTA, Hiding, Acclimation -- 3/16/08 Hi Brenda, <Hello Akila!> Thanks for your reply. <You're welcome!> I add the baking soda just to maintain the pH as mentioned in Dr. Bob Fenner's Marine Aquarist book under maintaining pH (p.130). My pH is within the safe limits I guess. <Just be careful not to add too much too fast. Anemones do not do well with a sudden change. Add it gradually.> And yes I use the Compact Florescent lights - CFL. Each has 125W, 1250 Im, 6500K & 50/60 Hz. I have 4 lights that totals up to 500W & 5000. This is being used on a tank that is 27 inches deep, 37 inches long and 18 inches wide. Do you think it is adequate??? <Yes, I believe it is, especially if the anemone has enough rock that it can climb to higher levels if it needs to.> I keep my temperature at 25C - 26C (78.8F) and the salinity at 0.024. <Increase salinity to 1.026 gradually by topping off daily with pre-mixed saltwater.> As I live in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) I bought the anemone directly from a collector and probably it was collected couple of days back. When I saw the anemone it was in a small tank with starfish and the place was pretty dark and the anemone was a little bit shrunken up. After directly putting it to the tank, only a day later the anemone got 3 times bigger than it actually was. Is this a good sign or a bad sign??? <Anemones will shrink to expel waste and to acclimate themselves to their environment. If this is happening often, it is a bad sign. However, since this anemone has only been in your system a few days, I don't see reason to be alarmed.> And I do not keep any corals except some dead ones. <Okay.> Today half of the anemone came out but the other half was still under the rock. The entire day it was like that. During the day time the anemone got real big on the side that came out and the tentacles were long and reaching upwards. But at night it again went to hiding and also became 3 times smaller. Why is this change in size??? Is it a sign of bad health??? Or bad conditions??? Shall I take it out from there and close that hole with some stones. <No.> Because I can't even feed the anemone when its hiding as I can't reach its month opening. Is it possible to keep some bits of shrimp meat on the tentacles. Is it possible to feed it like that??? <You bet! This is the best way to feed in my opinion. Hopefully the anemone is healthy enough to be able to hold on to the food. If not, place food near the mouth, without touching the anemone.> I'll get some pictures of the anemone tomorrow and mail you. <Great!> I'll also buy another pH test kit along with Calcium and Alkalinity kits and send that data to you also if the kits are available at the LFS. Thanks, Best regards. Akila <You're welcome! Brenda>

Hi Brenda, <Hello Akila!> I have attached some pictures. <It appears that you have two anemones! This would explain why it went into hiding. Stress! Anemones do split in two when they are stressed, resulting in two anemones. Collection is enough to stress an anemone enough that it will clone itself. More information here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemonereprofaqs.htm > I have another problem. I tested my water for dKH and Calcium. I have 15 - 16dkh & 370 - 380mg/l. Can this be right??? <It could be. What test kits are you using? Are you adding anything for calcium and magnesium? For now, stop adding additives. There is more information here regarding Calcium and Alkalinity: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm > Best regards, Akila <Brenda>

E. quadricolor, BTA, Hiding, Acclimation -- 3/14/08 Dear Mr. Bob Fenner <Hello Akila, Brenda here this time!> I have wrote to you a lot of times and you guys have been a real help to me over the years. <Good to hear!> I appreciate your advice with regards to what I am facing now. Some details of my 80G tank would be, I have 1 large canister filter (works as a refugium for me), 2 power filters (1500lph each), protein skimmer, UV sterilizer 5W, Compact Florescent lighting 6500K - 400W, <Are you sure this is compact florescent lighting?> & Chiller. My pH is 8.2-8.4(can't figure out the exact color from the chart), Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate <10. I do a 20% water change every month. I also add 4 - 5 teaspoons of baking soda every month along with the water change to maintain my pH. <Are you testing before adding this? Are you gradually adding the baking soda?> I don't have fish in my tank at the moment due to some problems with lifted temperature that finally led me to buy a chiller. The tank is cycled and I ran it for 2 years with no problems. I currently have 3 tube worms, grape macro algae (I forgot the name of the algae), and some sails. After adding the BTA (Rose) 2 days ago it is hiding under a cavity inside my rock work. It did not come out for a day. I read a lot of FAQs on your site and learned that this could be normal until it gets settled in but is there any other parameters or something else I need to check. <Yes, what is your temperature and salinity? How did you acclimate this anemone?> Do I need to get any other equipment or something to make it feel more comfortable? <Do you know any history on this anemone? Was it recently shipped? What kind of lighting was it kept under previously?> I don't understand why it is hiding inside a rock. Thought they liked bright lighting??? <They do, but I'm not convinced you have extremely powerful lighting.> Can the tube worms be a problem??? <No. Do you have any coral in the tank? If so, what?> Also how can I increase the calcium level in my tank. I heard the tube worms like more calcium in the water??? <Your LFS should have the additives you need. I do recommend researching before you start adding chemicals. Here is a good place to start: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm > Thanks in advance for your advice, Best regards, Akila
<You're welcome! Brenda>

Sick Anemone / Possible unknown toxic conditions... Allelopathy, light, lack of HPO4... -- 03/13/08 Hello WetWebMedia Crew, <Brad> First of all your website is amazing. The wealth of information is so useful. I have been struggling to find the cause of my problems for weeks now and I'm finally just going to ask your help. First of all my 75 gallon SW tank w/ a 20 gallon sump underneath has been set up for about 11 months. Currently in my sump i have: about 10 lbs of rubble Chaetomorpha macro algae 8 mangroves floating (have had for month and a half...just starting to grow new roots) <... Mmm, these may prove problematical with time, growth...> 700 GPH Mag Drive return pump w/ 500 GPH actual Whisper 20-40 gallon hang on mechanical filter which i use to run phosphate resin pads <... these may be an issue> and Chemi-Pure 18' 10,000k Daylight bulb 6500 k long lasting bulb from Wal-mart <... this as well> Also my sump is connected to a 5 gallon bucket <What is this made/composed of?> with filled w/ a deep sand bed probably 3/4 of the way full In the 75 gallon tank i have: about 60lbs of live rock an inch of live sand 2 Hydro Koralia 1's at 400 GPH 1 Hydro Koralia 3 at 850 GPH SeaClone Protein Skimmer rated for up to 100 gal <Uh, no... I'd upgrade here> Whisper 20-40 gallon hang on mechanical filter which i use to run phosphate resin pads and Chemi-Pure 4 46.5' VHO Two Super Actinic R's, 1 Actinic white 50/50 12,000K, and 1 Aqua sun 10,000K replaced about 5.5 months ago <I'd replace, get rid, cycle out anything called actinic... see WWM re.> My inhabitants include 1 Green/Brown bubble Tip anemone Mushroom Coral A few Green button polyps A couple of clusters of Zoanthids 1 Ocellaris Clown 1 Yellow Tang 1 Engineer goby 2 Peppermint Shrimp 2 Cleaner Shrimp 2 Emerald Crabs 4 blue legged hermit crabs 2 electric blue hermit crabs 2 unknown small hermit crabs 1 unknown large hermit crab 2 Turbo snails 4 Cerith snails 4 Astrea snails 2 more snails (i can't remember what their called) Water Quality on average for the last 4 months: Ammonia (API) 0 Nitrite (Tetratest) 0 Nitrate (API) 10-12.5 Calcium (API) 400-420 KH (Tetratest) 12-14 PH 8.3 Salinity 1.024-1.025 My water is RO/DI free from a friend. I do 10 gallon water change every 3 weeks and top off water every 3 days which i also add iodine 8 drops (Kent Marine), Iron 8 drops (Kent Marine), Trace Elements 8 drops (Kent Marine), check my alkalinity (Seachem reef builder supplement), check my pH, and check my calcium (Kent Marine supplement). <I'd switch to SeaChem> All this started a couple of weeks ago when i noticed that my 3 stripped damsels where too aggressive for the newly added ocellaris pair. I decided that i needed to give the damsels back to the fish shop where i bought them and had to take out most of my live rock to do this. I finally got them out and my clowns started hosting my BTA (I have had him a month and a half at this point) immediately and all seemed well. Then about a week later the clown pair stopped hosting the anemone, they just ignored it for a few days then mysteriously one of the clown fish started mouth breathing and i noticed one white lump on his head. Within 12 hours he was dead (i had him for two weeks exactly). Shortly after (a couple of days) the clown's death i noticed the BTA's tentacles where changing shape (pic: anemone health). I watched the anemone closely and he did not really get in better or any worse. Then a few days later my tank developed an algae bloom. My friend told me it was b/c i stirred up my sand and probably had a little die off from removing most of my rock from the tank. I started learning about Diatom algae and how to control it and found that it is more of a silicate problem <Unlikely> then a phosphate problem and that it needs plenty of Nitrate and plenty of red light. By this time my anemone had moved to underneath his rock and was acting like he was uncomfortable. I noticed that he had little nodules on his tentacles (anemone health 1-5) and was not inflating like usual. My Zoanthids and button polyps where all closed up with little strings of diatom algae hanging of them. <A clue...> I did a 10 gallon water change and scraped the algae off of everything. The polyps and Zoanthids opened up a little but soon closed right back up. So i started searching around on your site to see if i could find anything about the condition of the anemone and possibly to see if high phosphates or silicates could cause such this burning scaring on his tentacles. I searched Google as well and even for pictures but could not find any information on anemone diseases or toxic reactions except that their is not much known and no way to really treat them. The anemone has plenty of circulation, decent light, <Mmm, maybe> and before he showed signs of stress i was feeding him about 2 times a week (brine shrimp mostly-I know not very nutritious-have switched to Mysis Shrimp-will buy Selcon). So i decided to run Chemi-Pure to my tank in case some toxin had gotten into the water and to do a 20 gallon water change. After the water change the anemone looked a little better but since then (5 days ago) he has gotten much worse. I read online that if the anemone has any openings or tears in their tentacles they are decaying. So i picked up the rock out of my tank and smelled him but he does not smell bad and he still inflates a little during the light hours. I noticed that he has been puckering his lips a lot too. I did another 10 gallon water change today with some distilled water i bought for Wal-mart thinking that maybe my friends RO/DI unit needs new cartridges. I also replaced the Chemi-Pure which had a bad odor as well as my phosphate resin pads. I also stopped adding supplements into the tank except for iodine, calcium and reefbuilder. I took some advice from your site and bought an iodine/iodide test kit. Tested it yesterday and found that it is .01 mg/L which is low so I'm slowly bringing the concentration back up. Also something i forgot to mention probably about 4 weeks ago i noticed my shrimp had all developed little black dots on them. I read that this is commonly due to either high or low concentration of iodine? <Can be related or not> All the livestock is perfectly fine right now. The ocellaris is a little stressed and i noticed he is a little reluctant to eat spectrum Thera pellets (he has eaten in the past) i have been feeding the past two days. <Also possibly related> Also i have little micro bubbles coming into the water from my Whisper 20-40 hang on filter recently as well as my protein skimmer. Is this ok? Is their any potential threats to the livestock from tiny air bubbles being blown all around the tank by power heads. <Likely not an issue, factor> I'm wondering if my whole problem is iodine in regards to my anemone? <Mmm, no> Would a combination of low iodine levels, high nitrate levels, and the presence of phosphate / silicate cause these kinds of symptoms?. <Actually, the lack of presence of soluble HPO4 is likely a contributing cause...> Could the tiny little air bubbles be hurting the anemones tentacles? From what you see in the pictures is my anemone decaying alive? If this was your aquarium what would you do next? Thank you so much for taking your time to read through this and helping me out. I'm really at a loss right now as far as what to do. Let me know if you can't open the pictures i attached with this email? brad <Likely the root issue here is allelopathy. Read here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm but the phosphate pads should be removed... and you should do a bit of reading re Entacmaea on WWM... measure the quantity, quality of light... The best short/er term solution is to move the Actinarian elsewhere... as you'll see by reading. Bob Fenner>

BTA Health Issue? Failing Anemone, Lack of Lighting, Use of Copper in Reef Tank -- 2/20/08 Hey Crew, Steve here. <Hello Steve, Brenda here today!> This is my first time posting a questions so hopefully it goes through all right. <It sure has!> I have a BTA problem. I have a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for 2+ years. About 3 weeks ago I thought I'd change to stronger lighting and try out some inverts and soft corals. Here are the specs of the tank: 55 gal All-Glass aquarium, Satellite 48 inch with lunar lights and two SmartTag 65 Watt 10,000K/460nm actinic bulbs, <130 watts of PC lighting is not enough to support an anemone in a 55 gallon tank.> 80 lbs live rock (in there for at least a year, crushed coral substrate, Top Fin 60 tank mounted filter (media changed one month ago), Protein skimmer that moves 295 gph, <What protein skimmer is this?> heater and glass hoods. It should also be noted that the tank is in the sun for about 6 hours a day. Fish included are one Ocellaris (currently changing to female I believe, started eating like crazy and getting territorial, she head butts my hand every time I put it in the water), and a snowflake moray (currently 12" long). So now to my question, I bought a Condylactis gigantea about 2.5 weeks ago that seemed to be doing well. I had 1.5 watts per gal when I got him then upgraded about a week later. I then bought a healthy BTA with a 3.5" diameter from the LFS. I bought the rock that he was attached to in the store to reduce the chance of injury in the move. I got it into my tank and it opened up well. I then got a green mandarin that I lost after 2 days (despite copepod supplement). I then lost the Condy a few days later. The water levels after losing them were great except the nitrates were a bit high and pH was a bit low; so I did a 10% water change then did a 5% water change the next day and added marine pH buffer. The next day (yesterday) the BTA was shrunken a bit so I tested the water these were my results: pH 8.35, Salinity 1.023, <The Salinity is much too low for an anemone. Slowly increase it to 1.026.> Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrite 0 ppm, Nitrate 0 ppm, Temperature 79.5 degrees. I was confused to say the least. He is expunging more waste than I thought he had in his body. <What are you feeding and what sized portions. It may be regurgitating.> Right when I got him the waste was the milky photosynthetic waste but this waste is the fluffy balled variety with white dots in it. The mouth seems to be wide open all the time, expelling waste almost constantly. <This anemone is failing quickly.> I put in Reef Solution yesterday to give him some filterable food but I only feed him twice a week (a nice ball of Mysis). The Moray is such a messy eater that the BTA picks up brine shrimp scraps all the time. <Anemones eat meaty foods. The Reef Solution will not benefit the anemone. Brine shrimp his little or no nutrition and is also not recommended for an anemone.> The tentacles on the BTA are getting shorter and stubbier, as well as getting very pointy at the ends, sort of like a Christmas light shape. He has lost all sorts of body mass but has darkened in color. <The short, stubby tentacles may be sign of starvation. Can you send me a picture of the anemone?> I was told that the "plant" part of the animal was starting to take over now that the lights were strong and that he was developing a sort of "sun-tan." They also told me that the pointed tentacles were a way of minimizing direct light to them because it was causing sunburn. <This is not true. Healthy anemones will find a new location when they are unhappy with the light. > The neon green he is turning seems to support this because I assume that it is reflective algae that he is growing. <Zooxanthellae. > He hasn't really moved at all and is still shrinking. <It sounds like it is starving, and my not have enough energy to move. > He is still spitting out fluff-balls of waste and only has one or two tentacles truly open at a time. I got up today and two of the tentacles that were open really big all day yesterday were clear looking and seemed dead. It is also probably pertinent that I treated icky 1 year ago with straight copper (when the tank was still fish only) but I would assume that that is not the cause of any problems because of the small dose I administered and the water changes I have done since then. <Yikes! Did you have live rock in there at the time? If so, your rock may be leaching copper into the tank. Copper should never be used in the main display. It needs to be used in a quarantine tank only. The anemone will not survive long with copper. > The clown and moray are eating and acting as healthy as ever. What is wrong with my BTA? <You have a few things going on here. I would start by testing your water for copper.> Sincerely, Steve B. <Brenda>

Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. quadricolor -- 1/18/08 Hi WWM crew and thanks for several years of good advice for weird situations. <Hello Tracy, Brenda here, and you are welcome!> I have another question for you. <Okay!> Context - 7 yr old stable 150gal reef w/ 10,000K MH lighting and no real problems for a long time. Blennies, gobies, clown, mushrooms, a few SPS, yellow polyp forest, pulsing xenia that reproduce so madly they pay half my maintenance costs. <A lot of mushrooms?> Crisis - My rose BTA (favorite thing in the whole tank, had it 18 months, grew ~10x in size in that time, skunk clown lives in it) had some sort of horrible, unexplained accident yesterday. I found it in the overflow box with a piece (~15%) torn off. <The anemone was not happy. It was looking for a better place.> The mouth appears badly damaged, the pedicle is fine, and tentacles are fine. The small piece is really small, has only 5-10 tentacles on it & is mostly a blown up balloon. I put both pieces in my refugium, assuming it was going to die quickly but wanting to give it a chance. <Many anemones survive this type of injury, including going through powerheads. Protect all of your intakes. The recovery process will depend greatly on the health of the anemone before its injury. I do recommend a water change if you haven't already.> Well, this morning, all the tentacles are out and beautiful. The damage is still very severe, but neither piece is dying quickly. <I'm not surprised.> I am wondering where and how (if?) to try to rehabilitate it. <Provide it with pristine water parameters and time.> My refugium has only a PCF bulb (can't remember the wattage). I replace it every year, it is bright enough to sustain an insanely thick garden of Caulerpa, but I doubt it's bright enough for an anemone. <No it is not. However, the anemone will be ok for a few days without sufficient light. Moving it again will cause more stress. For now, let us try to figure out why it moved in the first place. Also, keep it away from all pumps in the refugium.> I am obviously very leery of putting a mangled anemone back in the main tank, where crabs & fish will pick on it; it will wander restlessly into some bad situation & die in a corner where I can't find it, etc. <What are you water parameters, including temperature, salinity, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, calcium and alkalinity? How many watts of metal halide do you have? I also need to know what skimmer and amount of flow you have in the tank. How often do you feed the anemone, what size portions, and what are you feeding?> What would you do with it right now? <Leave the anemone where it is for now and try to figure out the cause of it roaming. Running fresh carbon will also help in the recovery.> Under what circumstances would you feed it or put it back into the main tank? <The anemone is no where near ready to eat. This will take some time, perhaps weeks and will depend on the damage, previous health, and if you can correct the initial problem quickly. You need to wait until the anemone is completely healed before feeding. Trying to feed now will only cause more stress.> A few answers in your archive recommended Reef Dip for injured anemones. Do you think this is important? <No, and it may be more harmful. I don't recommend dips for anemones.> Thanks a lot. Tracy <You're welcome! Brenda>
Re: Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. quadricolor -- 1/18/08 Hi Brenda & thanks for your reply. <You're welcome!> My anemone had been in the same place, happy, for many months, and growing very fast. I got him in mid-2006 and he was about the size of a quarter, now bigger than my hand. I feed mysis thawed in Selcon, 1 cube/week. Not much has changed in the tank lately. I did recently start adding strontium for some new small SPS corals, about 3 weeks ago. <Are you testing these levels before dosing?> Light: 2x 150w MH, 4x 54w actinics, total watts=529 <Did this anemone typically stay up high in the tank?> Temp usually 77 (chiller) <This is a bit low, try to aim for 80 degrees, without going over 82. Increase temperature slowly.> Sg=1.026 NH3, NO2, NO3=0 KH=8 (constant battle to get higher, but usually 8 no matter what I do) <A dKH of 8 is an acceptable range. I would not go much higher, if any. I would check your magnesium. If you are having trouble maintaining calcium and alkalinity levels, low magnesium may be the cause. An abrupt change in alkalinity will cause stress to anemones. So use caution here!> Ca=450 I actually don't have any intakes or powerheads in the tank, just a fast/powerful main pump with 2 returns in the tank. <No powerheads!!! Yeah!!! You have no idea how seldom I hear that! I am a strong believer in not keeping anemones with powerheads. Congrats to you for not using powerheads!> The anemone must have dived over the top of the overflow box, there's no other way in there! <Anemones can get through very small spaces when flow/suction is involved. I've seen them get sucked into a rather thick sponge filter on a powerhead.> I have ~20 mushrooms. I'm about to sell half of them and 1/3 of my basketball-sized xenia colony. Perhaps this will cut down on some of the chemical warfare that probably stresses the anemone. <Removing some of the mushrooms will help with chemical warfare.> I have carbon and a poly filter running all the time (time to change, about 2 months old). <Yes, carbon is only useful for a few weeks at best.> No skimmer, just a 20gal sump full of Caulerpa and detritivores (pump & turbulence segregated at one end by a screen). I'll do a 20% water change tonight and will take any other suggestions you have. How long do you think I can leave it in the refugium before the low light starts to impact its recovery ability? <This is hard to say. Some can go a few weeks or even a few months with inadequate lighting.> I don't want to go overboard with the quarantine and end up doing even more damage. <I understand. I would try giving the anemone 3 or 4 more days and then re-evaluate. Send me an update on it and I will help you decide. If things suddenly worsen during this time, let me know as soon as possible. Keep in mind that when this anemone does go back to the tank, it will need to be acclimated to the light. It may also immediately go into hiding (normal) or roam again so you will need to monitor it. Also, if you can, send me a picture of the anemone. If you are a member of a local reef club, you may be able to find someone willing to let you borrow some PC lighting to put over the sump during this time. You may also want to consider purchasing some back up lighting. Keeping the anemone in its current location as long as possible will help greatly. If you need help finding a local club, let me know. I will find out what is available in your area.> Tracy <Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Brenda>

Re: Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. Quadricolor -- 1/26/08 Update and need to move? The anemone(s) are looking good. Moving around a bit, staying small, and no necrosis. <Yeah!!!> I have attached pics. It's been a week. The question of course is what to do now. I would like to leave them in the refugium for their whole convalescence if possible, then sell the small one & reintroduce the big one once they can eat. <You would need to buy additional lighting to keep them in there much longer. They are already showing signs of hunger and loss of zooxanthellae. Unless you can provide better lighting in the next 2 -- 3 days, I would move them now.> In the refugium, they sit on the top of a Caulerpa forest just under the water surface. I gave them a glass bowl to sit in but they moved out. Ironically, there is a dreaded powerhead in there; otherwise it stagnates because the screen holes are small to keep in the Caulerpa. This weekend I will move the powerhead to the other side of the screen and just use a hose to get the same flow. The intake is buried deep in Caulerpa so low risk, but not zero risk. I took apart the refugium light to read the label - it's a Coralife 6700k 96 watt PCF bulb, last changed 5/07. They are about 7 inches from the bulbs. In the main tank they were always in the exact middle. How long do you think they can be healthy with that wattage? Usually this light stays on 24/7, but I've been giving them a 12hr light/dark cycle like the main tank, do you agree with that? <Yes, no need for a refugium light to be on 24/7.> As for your other questions - I don't have Strontium or Magnesium test kits, and just add Strontium. This is one of those "don't fix what isn't broke" things. I've never tested for those in 7 yrs. <It is a bad practice to dose anything without testing. Since you just recently started dosing Strontium, it may be contributing to the anemone roaming.> If you think high or low levels could be affecting the anemones, I could test, which kits do you recommend for those? <You should be testing Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium. If your going to dose Strontium, you need to test it before dosing.> How do I decide when to feed? Give them x number of weeks looking good, then try a few mysis? Wait till I can clearly see nice round mouths in each one? (The little one was mostly mouth, the big one had most of its mouth ripped out). <They don't appear to be badly damage in the picture. I would go ahead and try feeding a very small piece of food (sliver size). If it takes it, I would try another tiny piece the next day. I would also get some window screen and put over your tank for a week or so, to acclimate the anemone to the lighting.> Thanks for ongoing advice. Tracy <You're welcome! Brenda>

Re: Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. Quadricolor -- 1/28/08 <Hello Tracy, Brenda here!> A few developments: <Okay!> I talked with several guys from the Atlanta Reef Club. They all thought that 96 watts over 17 inches (quad bulb) should be fine for anemones for longer than a week, and wondered if I just needed a new bulb. <It is possible, but we are already dealing with an unhealthy, injured anemone. I don't want to see the health decline any more. We are at the 10 day mark already.> So I did a little more looking at my setup. The bulb I had was indeed 96 watt PCF and only 7 months old, but it had no actinic component! So I replaced it with a new 96 watt 6700k 50/50 bulb. Do you think the lack of an actinic component could have caused loss of zooxanthellae that quickly? <No, the loss of zooxanthellae is not caused by the lack of actinic. A bulb without the actinic would be a better choice, yet still not sufficient, in this case.> If not, I can still move to the main tank but at least now they will have a day or 2 at a higher light level to help them acclimate. <You have actually decreased the lighting by adding the actinic.> I fed them both - turned off the flow and dropped a mysis right in the middle of them. The big one eventually, after 5-10 minutes, ate 2 mysis and I see there is a well-healed mouth. <Two mysis shrimp may be a bit much for this anemone. I would try just one for now.> I also got him to stick on a small rock, which will make moving him easier. <Good sign!> The little one didn't react to the food at all, didn't close up around it, eventually it fell off and was eaten by an Aiptasia nearby. <Yikes! The nearby Aiptasia are not doing the little guy any favors. It needs to be kept away from the Aiptasia. An unhealthy anemone will not be able to compete with them.> I am especially reluctant to lose this tiny one in the tank if it is weak and not eating. What do you think? Tracy
<Brenda>

Injured Bubble Anemone - flush or mend? Anemone Meets Powerhead -- 1/13/08 Hey folks, <Hello Christopher, Brenda here> So my Bubble bailed on his tomato clown in favor of the in-port of my power-head (any way I secure the port, something always finds it's way into "the chipper"). <Ouch! I don't recommend the use of powerheads with anemones. However, if you must use them, here are some ideas: http://www.karensroseanemones.com/coverpowerheads.htm > Long to short, the bubble anemone is about half ground, foot to tip w/ a gapping mouth sequestered in a bowl, & I wonder if there is any sense (or possibility) in nursing it back to health, or if it would just be toxic to my 24 nano halide coral/clam garden? <Many anemones have survived powerhead incidents. I would do a water change today and tomorrow. Keep a close eye on your water parameters.> The water is cloudy, but the T-Clown, Yellow-head Goby, DOB Damsel & Chromis seem ok. My environment levels are good & I added a little pro-bacteria to boost the cycling of any ground anemone protein, & expect nitrates to increase. <I would rely on water changes to correct any ammonia and nitrate issues. You also need to figure out why your anemone started roaming. Anemones move when they are unhappy, in search of a better place. More information regarding their care can be found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm > Toast or viable? <It is definitely worth the effort.> Thanks, Christopher <You're welcome! Brenda>
Re: Anemone Meets Powerhead -- 1/14/08 Brenda, <Christopher> Thanks for the info. <You're welcome!> Soon after my email, I tossed Mr. Bubbles back in the tank &, after much finagling, including a trip BACK to the grinder, <Yikes!> I successfully relocated him/her to a better home. The thing with this one is that he/she was always looking for high-flow from day one. Now the choice made is a low-flow rock channel far away (in a 24 nano) from the circ. pump, with fully exposed tentacles, & the T-clown has resumed his duty. <The clown is hosting an injured anemone? The anemone needs time to heal before the clownfish is allowed back in.> Lucky for Mr. Bubbles I am a miser, or I would have flushed only after a few tries. <Ouch! Miser or not, flushing a live creature should never be an option. Providing an adequate environment is a much better choice. There is plenty of information available in the links I previously sent you. Research before you purchase. If you are not up to the task of providing adequate care, finding it a new home is the appropriate action.> Now, to catch that pesky Damsel... <Brenda> <<Time for me to leave this country... RMF>

Please visit our Sponsors