anemone okay?

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mathwhiz

Guest
I am looking for experienced advice. I have two anemones, and one that seemed to have been doing well is almost closed up and almost looking wilted. I also have 2 clowns who have avoided both anemones. There is also a piece of something in the middle of him - looks like brown fuzz? We can't figure out if it is dying or what. Any suggestions? The other anemone seems to be doing okay.
 

spiked09

Member
Are they all the same species? It is not advised to keep different species together in the same tank. This could easily cause what you are seeing.
I know my anemones can shrink right up before they have a big ol' poop. That could be the brown stuff.
How long have you had them, were any put in recently?
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
I am not sure what species they are, the lfs said the one of them would be good for our clowns. We bought another at another fish store on the same day. One of the is purplish and a little smaller. The one that is having problems is off white with pink tips and a large orange- redish foot and the tentacles are quite a bit longer. They started out on opposite side of the tank, then the white one moved to the other side so they are near each other now. I have heard that a dying anemone can mess up a tank quickly, but we hate to take it out if it is okay.
 

spiked09

Member
The 1st month is the crucial time to see if they will survive shipping/handling and acclimation. So one could just be dying from shock etc.
By the sounds of it they are different species. The fact that one moved right next to other one tells me they are probably fighting. One will most likely die. If you can, separate them and skim lots.
I would pick your favorite and try to give the other one back to the store or find a good home for it.
And yes a dying or dead anemone can release a ton of toxins into the tank.
Is the flow or light better than the other side of the tank in the spot where they have both decided to stay? The large one could be trying to share the light or current and is getting attacked in the process.
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
Now the white one has bloomed out again and attached itself to the side of the tank (Away from the purple one) The purple one (which was bloomed out earlier) is now inside a piece of live rock, and looking a little shriveled again - that one has done this before.

We live nearly two hours away from the fish store - so taking it back would be difficult and we currently do not know of anyone else in town that owns a saltwater tank.
The light is ZooMed Coral Sun (recommended by the fish store for the anenomes). What is the best food for these things - we have been using the frozen brine shrimp - thawed first of course.
 

spiked09

Member
Hmm, it sounds like they are still trying to figure out the best spot to call home, either that or one is seeking out the other, chasing him around. Atleast they aren't as close to each other anymore.
I am not sure what to tell you. I know you won't want to hear this but you will probably have to get rid of one in order for the other to have a healthy environment to thrive in. After all you want it to be healthy, happy, grow and possibly reproduce right? I see a lot of people that think everything is okay in their tanks if nothing is dying. I would rather have a perfect environment that things flourish in. Do you have any other spare tanks in the house?
I am not familiar with the lights you are running, what wattage are they? Once again I hate to say this but I think you will only get lasting results by running metal halides. You don't need much, even one 150 watt bulb over the section of the tank the anemone is in would do it. They are easy to build or cheap to purchase second hand. Trust me these lights are amazing when it comes to bringing a anemone to life and many would argue that they are a must have for any anemone.
If you do decided to get one or more lights and suspend them over the tank you should lower them slowly, start high, like 12" or so. Bring them down an inch a week. Once they are about 6-8 inches off the water you should be good to go. If you are lowering a single light over the anemone week by week and suddenly the anemone moves, don't follow it with the light, leave everything as is. It will know how much light it wants.
Feeding frozen brine shrimp is fine, I feed it to mine every now and then too, a variety is good. Right now I am feeding mine frozen silver sides, just small pieces. You don't want the food to be any bigger then the anemones mouth. I feed mine once a week, or even longer. It's easy to over feed them. If you ever see it puke up what it ate then note the size of the chunk of food and when the last time was that you fed it. You may have to decrease the size of the food or lengthen the feeding span.
Anemones get a great deal of their food requirements from light, that is why it is SO IMPORTANT to have strong lighting. They produce zooanthelle, basically it's algae living inside the anemone, which it uses for nutrients.
One final note. You have mentioned the person at the pet store and the advice they have given you a couple of times. Far be it from me to say when some one is wrong but you should use EXTREME cautiion when taking any advice from pet stores owners and employees. Always double check or go in informed.
These people are running a business and it is utterly impossible for them to know each individual animal they sell the way a person who specializes in specific animal or group would. The people on these forums base their HONEST information on experience and communications with other people who have enjoyed this hobby for many, many years. Pet store employees try, it's their job to convince you that they know what they are talking about. But when you think about it how can they possibly know unless they have a degree in animal medicine or they have read endless books, studied their own specimens and shared knowledge with fellow enthusiasts on every single animal in the building. They have way too many animals to cover to know them all inside out.
Hope this helps
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
How do you know if an anemone is dying? They shrivel then come back out, so how can you tell?? Also if it is dying how do you get it out of the tank safely???
 

spiked09

Member
It's hard to tell. Generally they just get smaller everyday, look droopy, their mouths start to gape open all the time or if they are not attaching anymore, just floating around.
The best way to remove them is to wait until they are attached to a rock. Remove the entire rock and place it in a bucket or something. If you are giving it away give the person the rock and ask for it back once it moves off. Same if you are taking it back to the pet store.
If it's dying you will just have to wait until it dies or slides off the rock.
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
thank you for all your advice / suggestions. It may be a couple of weeks before we may be able to get back to a fish store. We'll do the best we can in the meantime. Right now the white one is still attached to the side of the tank and the purple one is inside of a live rock, looking kind of small. They have been staying away from each other for now. I agree with what you said about pet store employees and we have learned to get 2nd and even 3rd opinions from different places and then sometimes we still learn from experience. I have also found these message boards very useful. Again, thank you for your time in making replies to my thread.
 

spiked09

Member
No problem. A simple thank you makes it all worth while. Best of luck and if you need anything else just let me know.
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
How often should we feed them? Right now I have been doing it probably a couple times a week with Brine shrimp. We were told to mix some microvert with the Brine shrimp for them.
 

spiked09

Member
I would feed them one a week, I feed mine once a week. They will grow fast if you fed them more than that.
Most people feed every week or two, some never spot feed them at all. However these people are usually running metal halides.
How is the little one in the rock doing?
 

1journeyman

Active Member
So much advice depends on what type of anemones you have.
For instance; when someone describes an anemone as "white" it normally throws a flag in my mind. Anemones host algae. a "white" anemone often describes an anemone that has purged it's algae and is dying. Given proper care and pristine habitat it can come back, but it's a difficult struggle.
You need to give some more info;
Type of lighting
How old tank is
Water parameters etc.
An anemone should move around a bit at first, then settle in. A moving anemone is not a happy anemone.
 
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mathwhiz

Guest
Here is the white anemone that I am still unsure if he is okay. I tried to take photos from different angles - although he is still hard to see clearly - maybe some of you can tell what is going on. (Hope the photos show up - if not I'll try again.


 
M

mathwhiz

Guest
The First Photo Was Of The Purple One In Lr The Rest Are Of The White One. Any Suggestions From Anyone?
 
M

mathwhiz

Guest
THIS IS WHAT IT DID WITHIN THE PAST HOUR.

PLEASE HELP - IS IT DYING - DO I NEED TO GET IT OUT OF THE TANK?
 

spiked09

Member
Yup, it's dead, sorry :-(
You had best get it out right away before it does any serious damage.
Whenever they just float around the tank they are in bad shape.
My guess is that the other one will perk up once you remove the dying one. It's releasing all kinds of chemicals into your water. You may want to run some carbon, if you aren't already and do a good size water change asap.
The other anemone may still have a chance.
 
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