Anemone not moving, closed up, brown goo??

[acpants]

So-- my first anemone-- Hooray-- and i need help reading her! She hasn't moved any on her own, although I have touched/moved her b/c she looked stuck in a rock once- looked due to water flow. She was sticky [so much so we named her Stickyface], and sorry it is a horribly quality, but below is a picture of what she looked like when i got home. Is the brown lil goo in the middle poop? I haven't touched her at all-- thought it was best to leave her be and let her do her thing? The 1/2 fish in the picture was her food yesterday, and seems to keep spitting it out -- from reading other threads, is that a sign the food is too big?
HELP!! I want her to live!!

 

[spiderwoman]

Yep, he is dispersing food. I see that you fed him yesterday. How often do you feed him?
My now ex-anemone would act like that the day after eating.

 

[acpants]

I have only had him for 3 days, and only fed him that half fish once-- probably won't feed him again for about a week from yesterday?

 

[lexluethar]

The brown stuff in the middle, in this picture is the tenticles. That little hole will actually open up into a round disk with all the tentilces.
THe fact that it hasn't moved on its own, or hasn't attached to anything isn't the greatest sign. Although it is early so there is still hope. I think it threw up the food due to stress from moving (how long have you had it?)
Some questions for you:
How long have you had the anemone?
What is your water parameters?
Tank inhabitants?
Type of anemone?
Type of lights?
How old is the tank?
I ask because before we can say "oh ya that is a healthy specimine" we need to know some more things about your tank. Although from the picture the base and tenticles (from what i can see) look healthy, there is no way to tell what the long term success rate will be until we know more specifics.

 

[lexluethar]

About feeding - make sure the food is smaller than its mouth, and I would tenderize the fish for easier digestion.

 

[perfectdark]

first its too early to expect the anemone to eat. Offering food wont hurt but not uncommon for it to reject the food. Also in general the size of the piece of food you gave it is wayyy too big for it. Offer it a piece no larger than its mouth, when you do feed. What type of light is it under and what kind of anemone is it?

 

[acpants]

I am using T5 light system, and the following:
Ammonia- .25-.5
pH- 7.8
Alkalinity- 300
Nitrite- 0-.5
Salinity- 1.026
So, ammonia and nitrate a lil high, and I am lowering the salinity now-- recommendations??
Thanks!!

 

[spiderwoman]

Yep, both ammonia and nitrite needs to be 0. Is your tank done cycling? How old is the tank?

 

[perfectdark]

Water changes, it sounds like your tank is still cycling. This is not good and could result in death for your anemone. What type of t5 lighting and how many watts? Any amount of amonia is bad for your animals but more importantly why is there amonia and if your chemistry is still fluctuating I feel your tank is still premature to have an anemone.

 

[acpants]

Tank is just about two months old...
2 false percula clowns
1 seastar
scavenger snails
1 firefish
1 tiny horseshoe crab
...and the long tentacle anemone
I added everything slowly so they would adjust. Tank cycled, and i've been doing water replenishments every couple days.

 

[lexluethar]

You've either added things too fast, or something has died. If you were completely done cycling (which after two months it should be done) then you would have 0 AM, 0 NI, and some NA. But since you said you've added everything slowly my guess is that your tank wasn't done cycling when you added your first fish, OR you added everything too fast. The star, snails, and crab won't contribute to the bioload (at least anything noticable), but when did you add your fish?
My guess is you just added the fish within the past few weeks and your bacteria is still trying to catch up with the new bioload.
Any traces of ammonia or nitrite can be deadly to an anemone, and honestly my best advise would be to take it back and let your tank become more established. Once you have 5 weeks of CONTINUAL 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and <10 nitrate then you are ready for an anemone. But right now you are setting yourself up for failure.