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

Sick Sebae Anemone, Not enough lighting. 12/2/07 Dear Crew, <Hello Sami, Brenda here> I read a lot of your answers regarding anemones and the Sebae anemone in particular, but still have 2 questions regarding my Sebae that I got 2 days ago. It would be great if you could comment. The first is whether or not I can touch the anemone and turn it around (it has been upside down since noon today). I read somewhere that this was a very bad position, as its tentacles cannot breathe this way. But I also read that one should leave the anemone alone as much as possible. So, should I turn it around (if so, with my hands and gloves??). By the way, it is white (and I know I have to get it brown and healthy now). I fed it mysis shrimp which were sticking on its tentacles and it did eat. I intend to get Selcon also. <It sounds like you have a very sick anemone. How was it acclimated? You can try turning it over, but it is likely it will just turn it self over again. I would definitely wear gloves.> The second question concerns my lights: I have a 40 gallon breeder tank, so it's not too deep (< 18"). I have the Coralife Lunar Aqualights (2x96 watts I think). I have the white ones on from 12:00 to 6pm and the actinic on from 7AM to 8PM, the lunar lights from 8PM to 7AM. Is this ok? <2x96 watts of PC lighting is not enough for this creature.> FYI, I have 70lbs LR, a wet-dry trickle filter, an Aqua C protein skimmer. I have two false clowns, a royal Gramma, a lawnmower blenny and snails/hermit crabs/1 emerald crab, 2 conch snails. I have 2 mushrooms. The tank is 4 months old. <A 4 month old tank is not old enough. Anemones need established environments, 6 months to one year.> Salinity: 1.025 <1.026 is better.> temp: 78 Calcium: 420 Alkalinity: 4 <Im not sure what method you are using for testing. See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/alkalinity.htm  > Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate: 0 Magnesium: 1200. <I would aim for the 1300 1500 range.> Thank you guys so much! Regards, Sami <Youre welcome! Brenda>
Re: Sick Sebae Anemone, Not enough lighting. 12/4/07 Thank you for your comments below, Brenda. <Youre Welcome!> I turned the anemone around and fed it (it did eat, at least)... I will try and nurture it back to health. Hopefully it works.. How much lighting would be needed in your view? (I read that 4 watt per gallon, so in my case 160 watt should be sufficient, and thus thought that 2x96 watt was all right)...? <This is only a rule of thumb, and not a good one in my opinion. You also have to consider that 96 of the watts that you have are actinic which are more cosmetic than beneficial compared to the daylight bulb. See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/setup/lighting/actinicfaqs.htm  and here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/heteraccrispa.htm  If it were me, I would go with a 2x175W watt metal halide or a 6x39W T-5 setup with individual reflectors.> Kind regards, Samira <Good luck to you! Brenda>
Re: Sick Sebae Anemone, Not enough lighting, Coral Recommendation 12/13/07 Dear Brenda (or other crew members), <Hello Sam, Brenda here> Unfortunately my anemone died. I was sad about this but mainly angry about myself. <I share your sadness.> The shop should not have sold this already sick anemone to me but I should have done more research and believed the more conservative sources (there is so much conflicting information out there). <It is not unusual for a LFS to have an unhealthy anemone on display. It is sad, but not unusual. I have found very few shops that impressed me with their anemones. Collection and shipping is very harsh on these animals. In many cases, by the time they have reached the LFS, they are on their way out. Many places do not have the knowledge, space or the equipment need to assist the anemone in regaining its health. Captive reared anemones are best. I would rely on information from those that have successfully kept these animals (or any other marine life) long term when researching their care.> I don't think I will get another one for a long time. <I dont recommend anemones in a 40 gallon system unless you are experienced with keeping anemones. Your lighting would also need to be upgraded.> But I am wondering what you would recommend for me. As I said, my 40 Gallon breeder tank is approximately 4 months old, I have 2 clowns, a royal Gramma and a lawnmower blenny and 2 mushrooms (also some snails and hermit crabs). I would like to add some corals slowly and ideally something that my clowns could host (the little one sleeps on the powerhead now). <Protect the intake of the powerhead. Smaller sleeping fish have been known to be get too close to the intake.> My water parameters are all in line with suggested levels; I have a protein skimmer, wet-dry trickle filter and compact fluorescent lights (2x96). What type of corals (if at all) would you recommend to me? <There are plenty of soft corals that you can get. The mushrooms like you already have, some Xenia, green star polyps, yellow star polyps, Kenya Tree, and leather corals are all good choices.> Thank you, Sam <Youre Welcome! Brenda>
Re: Sick Sebae Anemone, Not enough lighting, Coral Recommendation 12/17/07 Thanks a lot Brenda, <Youre welcome Sam!> As always, your response was very useful. <Thank you! I am glad you found it useful.> I wish you and your team happy holidays and a great new year already! Kind regards, Sam <Happy Holidays to you and your family also!>

Bleached Sebae Anemone - 01/07/07 Hey guys! <<Hello Michael>> Would first just like to say what a great job you all do to help us out with answers we should already know if we had just done our homework ourselves! <<Hmm, much truth to that...but folks also wish/need to call on other's opinions/greater experience in the trade...and many merely want to validate their own thoughts/findings.  But as you state, much of the information is already available for the reading...and even if one doesn't find the answers their looking for, reading beforehand can often make it easier to ask/bring to light the right questions>> Here are my tank parameters - 75-gallon 48x18x20 H.O.T. Refugium with skimmer - Razor Caulerpa 2 Fluval 404 with modified spray bars Prizm Skimmer Coralife PC 260W, 2 actinic and 2 10000K placed @ surface of tank 9 watt U.V. Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 20 <<Mmm, edging up there...>> pH - 8.4 - 8.6 Temp. - 78 Calcium - 380 Alk - (don't really know - The 5 in 1 strips I use say over 300ppm) <<The dip-strips are worthless in my opinion...much better to invest in a titration test kit (Salifert, Seachem, etc.)>> Mushrooms, Zoos, Star polyps, small frag of Monti, Condy.  All flourishing!  My concern is with a Sebae anemone I have bought within the last week (first mistake). <<Indeed, not a good addition...I do hope you have read our information on anemone care/systems>> I saw a gorgeous white Sebae with yellow tips at a LFS (second mistake) and I had to have it. <<No such creature/color...bleached>> Well, of course, it doesn't seem to want to attach to anything or eat. <<This animal is possibly stressed beyond recovery>> I have tried mysis, krill, and silversides.  The only way I have gotten him to eat is by gently sticking a piece of silverside literally in his mouth and gently force him to take it down. <<But does it stay down?  Likely the food is too large (minced meaty foods are best), and you are also probably causing more stress/possible physical injury>> He has very minimal stickiness, which worries me a lot.  I am really curious about his behavior however.  When the lights are off he seems to attach to something for the night and has decent polyp extension, and when the lights go on, he loses his foothold and shrinks up. <<Hmm, sounds like a reaction to the lighting due to the absence of UV filtering pigmentation in the bleached anemone's tissue...though I wouldn't have though your specified PC lighting to be that strong>> At night looks like a bleached Sebae but during the day he shrinks up and almost looks like a bubble coral. <<Well Michael, the coral is likely instinctively opening at night to feed as this is when the water column would normally be full of plankton (you might try feeding after lights-out with a slurry of Sweetwater Plankton, Mysis, and Cyclop-Eeze...or similar.  With no symbiotic algae in its tissue to foster photosynthesis the "daytime" reaction may simply be a way to conserve energy for the nighttime feedings...or perhaps it is truly irritated by the light (hopefully there are no clownfish present exacerbating the problem)>> His tentacles are half the size and very round almost egg shaped.  Any idea as to why he is doing this? <<Tentacle size/shape can be variable due to environmental conditions or the mood/health of the anemone.  This animal was probably on the decline when purchased...should have done your homework beforehand my friend>> Will the Condylactis help or hurt in his survival? (help with zoox or hurt with chemical warfare?) <<As stated in much of our data re, it is never good to mix anemones with sessile inverts, and usually worse with other anemones.  Not only due to the potential for disaster if the motile anemone decides to go walkabout, but these organisms detect one another's presence and yes, chemical warfare becomes a factor.  Couple this with the Sebae anemone's weakened state, the very noxious nature of the Zoanthids and Corallimorphs, and the Condylactis' ability to release nematocysts to physically attack the Sebae...well...you do the math...>> I hope this is enough information, please let me know if you would like a picture or more info. <<This is enough information to know the Sebae is likely doomed I'm afraid.  It's not unheard of for the odd specimen to recover from such bleaching events...but under the current circumstances I hold out little hope>> Much Appreciated! Michael <<Regards, EricR>>

Sebae Anemone/Health/Systems  - 06/07/2006 Hi there, I'd just like to start by saying your site is very useful, and has certainly saved me from inadvertently given LFS misinformation. I have a question about what I believe may be an ailing Sebae Anemone. I have a ten gallon nano with about 12lbs of live rock and 20lbs of live sand, Nano-skimmer, carbon/bio filtration, and I change the water 10% every other week. I monitor the levels very closely, but only with test strips. According to the strips the levels are all optimal. It's a fairly well established (4 months) system with several blue hermit crabs and turbo snails, 2 Ocellaris clowns, and a Royal Gramma. I got the Sebae about four days ago, and it immediately moved to a part of the tank with pretty constant but light water flow, and dug its foot in to the sand. Since I got it I have realized (thanks to your site) that the white coloration of the anemone is actually a sign of bleaching (doh!). But at the LFS it was all inflated and actually had a clarkii nesting in it. I went on the fact that the guy at the store said an Ocellaris would probably like a Sebae. I since also found out that there are probably more suitable choices of anemone. <Believe the LFS gave you more misinformation.  Your tank is too small just for the fish you have in there.> (lesson learned. Always do research) however, I put the Sebae in. I invested in some invert supplements for the water to give the thing better chances. I have noticed over the last few days that the anemone has a habit of inflating and deflating during the course of the day. It will plume out for about an hour to two hours, then deflate for the same time. I didn't really think much of this at first because I heard they do this to get used to new water. However, I got up today, and its lying sideways on the sand, deflated, with its foot exposed. There's no sign of it breaking up at all, the foot looks like its not torn or anything like that. There was a problem in the oral area, it looked almost like it had hemorrhoids in its mouth. Today that's gone, and the oral disk is rather smooth. Although on its side the disk is opening and closing slowly, and the foot does seem to me moving somewhat (but extremely slowly. Is this thing doing its swan song? Or is there a way I can save it? <I'd see if you can take it back to the store, won't live in your tank.> I couldn't really find this specific situation in any of the articles. <You probably won't.  The situation shouldn't exist.> I appreciate your help, and apologize for writing you a book here. Thanks in advance, <Chris, you should have researched the Sebae before buying.  You have nowhere near the requirements for keeping one alive.  You do not mention lighting, so I'm assuming you do not meet the needs there either.  Enough light for this anemone would probably heat up that 10 gallon to 100 degrees.  I will post a link for you, too much info on keeping anemones to pen here.  Do read along with related topics above and you will see how far off you are. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm James (Salty Dog)> Chris H.