I was given an anemone about a week ago. It seemed to be doing fine, would eat when offered food, opened up well during the day. Until last night. I saw it moved. No big deal, right? I could not find it today, and think the glob of mush on the circulation pump must be it. I don’t like to kill things and would like to keep one of these successfully. Unfortunately this is the 2nd one of these I have lost. The 1st, a RBTA in my DT lasted 2 months and the same thing happened to. Is there a way I can prevent this? What am I doing wrong? :-? I have not had problems with other things in this tank, a 30g QT. Am I destined not to keep these wonderful specimens? Have others experienced this before?
Anemones move to find suitable living conditions, the right amount of flow, light, food etc. Often times they will seem perfectly happy for months then decide to take a “walk” - unfortunately, we keep powerheads in the tank that often times will suck them in and kil them.
How old is the tank? General rule of thumb is a tank is not stable enough to keep an anemone without issue for 6 months to a year.
Basically what Craig said. Lighting and flow. MY RBTA in the beginning moved all around I had to pull it off and move it as to not cause problems elsewhere but other then that it stayed in the same spot for a year and just recently moved about 6" away from its old spot because I changed the flow on the mp20. My 2 anemones do not like direct high flow at all, they desire the low/moderate flow. My Sebae will move a little bit if it gets to much flow but luckily all of them have stayed in the same vicinity as where I placed them originally.
Did you do a water change yet after your anemone died in the powerhead? I believe they do release toxins when they die or are shredded.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:3, topic:5443”]
Did you do a water change yet after your anemone died in the powerhead? I believe they do release toxins when they die or are shredded.[/quote]
Good point - when an anemone dies it can easily crash an entire 75g tank (trust mne on this - - I know all too well). Make sure you do a substantial water change and run some fresh carbon to pull out impurities.
Per the above, and this is JMHO, anemones are really not worth the headache of having in a mixed reef tank. I will never bother with them in that fashion again. IF I ever attempt them again, I will plumb another tank into the system, using the circulation pump for flow, with just LR a pair of clowns and the anemone… other than that, I would agree, they shouldnt be kept in a tank that hasnt been running stable for a year.
The QT it was in is only 4 months old as I upgraded from a VERY small basic 10g QT. Note taken. The DT is now 8 months old. I guess I won’t be putting in any more of these creatures for a while.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:4, topic:5443”]
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:3, topic:5443”]
Did you do a water change yet after your anemone died in the powerhead? I believe they do release toxins when they die or are shredded.[/quote]
Good point - when an anemone dies it can easily crash an entire 75g tank (trust mne on this - - I know all too well). Make sure you do a substantial water change and run some fresh carbon to pull out impurities.[/quote]
I am mixing water now for a change, thanks for the heads up. I tend to over do stuff in general. (filter, light, heater, flow) and it just is not good for these.
[quote=“firecrackerbob, post:5, topic:5443”]
Per the above, and this is JMHO, anemones are really not worth the headache of having in a mixed reef tank. I will never bother with them in that fashion again. IF I ever attempt them again, I will plumb another tank into the system, using the circulation pump for flow, with just LR a pair of clowns and the anemone… other than that, I would agree, they shouldnt be kept in a tank that hasnt been running stable for a year.[/quote]
I originally accepted this gift for my pair of tomato clowns to host in. It seems that a dedicated tank will be in order for this since the SPS likes high flow in the DT and the QT is not suitable either. I have a 65 RR project and a 120 RR project in the works so I may make one of the 2 current saltwater tanks able to keep it in the future. I wish I had not killed it unnecessarily though. Some learning experiences are painful.
::hitsthefan:: ::hitsthefan:: Apparently this was a false alarm. I saw the little bugger today, where it was, I have NO CLUE. I lifted every rock, looked in each nook & cranny. So what was the mystery goo? The world may never know. I just hope it does ok and the clowns host in it eventually.
If it does not work out well for you, or for anyone else who is reading along, you could try an alternative host. Many clownfish can be seen hosting in healthy Sarcophyton(Toadstoll leathers) with long extended polyps.
I have to agree with FirecrackerBob. Anemones are very often more trouble then they are worth in a mixed reef. The most beautiful anemone tanks out there are anemone tanks… I keep around 15 or so bubble tip anemones all in a 30gallon aquarium and have 0 in either my softy or mixed reef displays. The anemone tank I have uses an MP10 with a screen I have to frequently keep clean. There is also very low flow coming from the return pump which means the drain isn’t likely strong enough to suck down anemones(even though I have found them one in my sump)
Probably a couple times a month I talk my clients out of anemones even though I have an excess of them I need to find a way to sell.
I hope yours does well Scottman81. May consider adding foam screens to your powerheads if possible and perhaps add a Sarcophyton to see if they may be interested in it.
Glad to hear it is alive. If its in the tank and you really don’t want to lose it just keep an eye on it and where it goes and how it behaves.
The little guy has been in the same spot 2 or 3 days now. The same spot I put him the 1st time. It seems happy, I guess things play hide and seek sometimes.
I don’t know how true this is, as i’ve never actually tried myself, but i’m fairly certain i read somewhere on this website that people have tried nylon stockings before as a protective layer over the intakes of powerheads and it worked well. as to the truthfulness behind that, I don’t know. I imagine they get dirty quickly, but wouldn’t be very expensive to replace. Just food for thought. I used to have a BTA before my roommates killed it. my clown loved that thing. I’ve since implemented the rule “what happens to the tank, happens to you.” It seems to be working fairly well.