Anemones

[ldkid1269]

I have three Anemones in my tank. For the first 3 days the Anemone will look fine and be puffed out. It seems like on the third day they shrivel up and look inheathy. So far its been 4 days and none of them have puffed back out. I bought 1 of the Anemones a month prior to the other 2. All of them "deflated" on the third day. Any help would be much obliged

 

[murph145]

what size tank do you have... and how long has it been set up??
what are your water paramters?? amonia niterate nitrite ph and such??
temp??
and mainly what is your lighting??
anemones will deflate from time to time to expel there waste but if they are staying shrunken and losing color then you could have a problem.... if u start to see there stomach come from the inside out then they are pretty much on there way out and u would want to remove them before they pollute your tank and kill other things in your tank...
answer some of these questions and it will be a start to see whats going on.... oh and what kind of anemones are they??

 

[ldkid1269]

Thanks for the reply my PH and everything is normal I took it to the Pet shop and they tested it. My water temp is 79 the Anemones are a long tentcle and Folrodia Condi and Pink Tip hatian Anemone my lighting is Power GLO 40 Watts. ITs a 55 gallon tank. I feed them my pressing a dime size peice of brine shrimp in the middle. Im stumped

 

[murph145]

well if all you have over your tank is a 40 watt single normal output flourescent blubl then thats your problem... on a 55 gallon tank you should have at least 165 to 220 watts of power compact lighting or even more....
lighting is key to anemones health they need lots of it.... ive kept quit a few in my aquarium experience.... the only one that died was a seba and i didnt realize those need lots of light and most do not live long term sucessfully.... otherwise i have kept various long tentacle and bubble anemones sucessfully....
u need better lighting bottom line.... i feed my anemones i have currently in my 100 gallon reef tank once every 10-14 days a small piece of squid and they are doing great .... but i also have about 700 watts of lighting over my tank a combo of metal halide and power compact....
sorry to say but ur anemones will most likely die unless u upgrade your lighting.... they are many retro fitted kits meant for canopies or actual hood systems that you can buy to make sure they will live

 

[ldkid1269]

Could you suggest what type of lighting I should get. It says on the bulb 40 WT I take it that means 40 Watt. I bought the light at ***** but if I need a more powerful light how could I order one on-line?

 

[murph145]

well ud have to look around to what exactly you can afford and what your looking to keep...
do you have a canopy currently or an open top??
if u have a canopy then you would want some sort of retro fit power compact lighting system that is very easy to install and screws directly into your canopy....
when u get the lights u want a mixture of daylight spectrum either 6500K or 10000K most likely with a mixture of actinics that way it gives the tank a nice overall look if u run only daylight bulbs the tank is very yellow and unnatural looking and can cause excessive algae... most power compact bulbs are offered as a 50/50 bulb meaning half daylight and half acitnic one bulb white the other blue or purple....
tell me what ur lookin to spend what your goal is for the tank corals etc and if u have a canopy or not?

 

[ldkid1269]

Yea I have a Canopy with a single light. I am willing to spend whatever it takes for me to have Anemones and Coral. Its a old Pleco Top with the single bulb in the back. The bulb is the size of my tank though (lengh wise)

 

[murph145]

your most likely lookin at about $225-$275 for a retrofitted 36" power compact system with either a 4X55 watt or a 2X96 watt bulbs

 

[murph145]

is the canopy made of wood or just plastic? hmmm ium tryin to picture it to see what would work.... i had a custom canopy made its black and outta pressboard to match the stand and i screwed my lighting directy into the top of it... if urs is just plastic i duno ??
hmmm

 

[ldkid1269]

Its a Perfecto plastic Canopy. Can I use a single 36" bulb to cover my tank with lighting?

 

[murph145]

i cant really give out sight on this sight since that woudl be unfair but u can do a google search for power compact lighting for saltwater fish tanks or you could also search the famous auction sight to see if u can get the cheaper but i would want to get them asap for the sake of your anemones health...
if u want to email me to give you possible sight information please do
murph145@aol.com

 

[murph145]

how wide is your tank??
its not a single 36" bulb the fixture is 36" the bulbs are different depending on manufacture of the kit but they space them out with a highly polished aluminum reflector behind the bulbs for maximum lighting...
it all depends on your tank its hard to say without seeing the tank u might do better removing the plastic top and have a nice self enclosed light hood over the tank... heating of the water is also an issue once u add more lighting the heat goes up so an open top might be best to disipate the heat....
i use a couple cpu cooling fans that i installed into my canopy one at both end to blow cool air into the tank and one to suck out the hot air.... i also run a chiller to keep my temp at 80 cuz metal halides get very hot and can raise a tanks temp quickly especially under a canopy....

 

[ldkid1269]

I sent you a E Mail I am lost on this lighting stuff

 

[ldkid1269]

My tank is 12 1/2 inches wide and 21 inches tall. My conopy covers my whole top except the back where my protean skimmer is and my heater

 

[murph145]

ok my bad lol how long is your tank....
i was thinking 12 1/2" long and i was like no way that makes no sence....
yeah ur probably guna wanna do away with that plastic hood and either have a nice custom one made or just get a complete lighting hood system with built in fans and moonlights...
lighting is one of the more complicated issues a person can face but its simple the more light the better a reef does .... in order to keep corals and anemones u need lots of light...

 

[ldkid1269]

My tank is 4 ft long. I dont think I could build one so I will have to buy one. Yes this stuff is very complicated

 

[murph145]

ok so u would need the 48" complete hood system for your tank.... or get a canopy built to hide the lighting the choice is upt o you...
heres one of my tank with a canopy on that hides the lighting....

 

[ldkid1269]

What exactly is a Canopy? Yea I relized it would be 48" haha

 

[murph145]

a canopy is the top part covering the top of your tank.... many times it used to house lighting and hide other pieces of equipment such as heaters power heads skimmers and returns to give the tank a cleaner look...
under my canopy i hide all the corad to the power heads the lighting the heater the skimmer my auto matic top off system and my returns from my canister filters and chiller just give the tank a cleaner look.... other will use a sump hide all the other equipment but i dont have a sump on my tank

 

[ldkid1269]

Alright that makes sense so how would I get a canopy I mean are they homemade. I am looking at buying the Lighting system that you told me in the e mail. It looks like a great deal.