bleached anemone RX

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OK here it goes,
I could't help myself and bought a small anemone about a month ago on a impulse buy without knowing a thing about them. I picked the coolest brightest WHITE one in the tank!!! I thought the colored ones were dying!! DUUUGH
well after coming home all excited and "then" doing my reasearch I learn I just bought a bleached one. I feed him 1-2x a week shrimp which it would eat but I would have to hold it on his mouth for a min because he would wrap around the food but not seem sticky and loose it easy. He seemed to take a turn for the worse after seeming fine 2 weeks and stayed inverted for like 2 days so I freaked out that he was dying and would fowl my water quick (20 high with coralife 96 watt 50/50) so I pulled him out and put in a small cup of tank water for the night. I just couldn't bring myself to put him in the freezer just yet. The next day I was at a differant lfs talking about it and the guy said their id a solid white anemone and mine may have just been taking a poop. ?? I went home put it back in the tank and it looks beautiful. It has attatched to a rock in full light and stays open and its tenticalls full of water. At its fullest it is almost transparent in spots. Today it had some stringy snotty stuff trailing out of its mouth, is this normal? i have feed it every day for three days now, is that to much? What sould I do with this anemone? I really like him but don't want to crash my system over a $9.00 animal. Since it is just 20 gal I am very concerned about it dieing and fouling my water overnight. I will try to get a digi camera from a neighbor tommorow and post a pic. Sorry so long, thanks ahead for any advise.

 

[clown_nut]

i have heard of one anenome that stays practially completely white and doesn't need near the lighting of most all others...also i saw a website selling them for $3! It's possible you've nothing to worry about. Then again..

 

[thomas712]

A short - Do you know what type of anemone you have? Can you post a pic of it? What type of lights do you have?
Thomas

 

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thomas:
out of all the pictures I have looked at it kinda looks like a white sebae but with no colored tips. It is about 3 inches across when fully inflated and looks like a flower but not the flower anemone picture. I will try my best to get some pics tonight. My light is a coralife 96 watt 50/50 and it heats my water in my 20 high to 79-80 degrees. Is this too hot for an anemone? And enouph light?
Thanks for answers everyone!

 

[clown_nut]

that temperature sounds find...what you should be more concerned about is rather or not you have a heater keeping it in that 79-80 degrea range 24/7

 

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yes I have a heater set at 79 since my lights keep it that hot during the day. Have pics on the way as soon as my hubby pulls himself away from the republican convention! I am very computer illiterate!!

 

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Finally, I have attached my anemone pic. Can anyone identify the species and if it is "bleached" or not?

 

[viper_930]

That is one very bleached bubble-tip anemone.

 

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Like I said, I thought the brown ones were dying! Absolutly had no clue the beutifull white one I picked was the sick one. Now what can I do for him or is there ant hope???????

 

[viper_930]

There still is hope. Feed him 3 times weekly with meaty foods like mysis shrimp. In a few months he will regain his zooxanthelae with the light.

 

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thanks viper for your help! so I am confused on how much light I have. I have a 96 watt 50/50 coralife fixture on a 20 gal high. Is this low, med, high? One guy was telling me it was very high and I could put anything in their, even a clam. I am not sure I belive him.

 

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her is a full tank shot

 

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here is my pagoda cup coral the same store sold me as live rock for about $3. It opened up under my lights after about 2 days and is doing well. It had alot of die off but seems to be doing OK now. The polyps it has left stay open beautifully unless a shrimp is walking across it!

 

[thomas712]

Ouch, really white, dead white. I agree to feed mysis, krill, silversides, but NOT BRINE shrimp. I would also soak it in selcon, zoecon or zoe if possible before feeding.
96 watts, now to me that would be low lighting, but for that size tank its not bad. Id be interested to see if you squeek by with that amount of lighting and the anemone recovers.
If I were you I would NEVER trust that LFS again. Always check their advice on this forum first before proceeding with any purchase.
Even a clam huh, I don't suggest it, Most clams require Metal halide bulbs. Once again bad advice.
Brown ones dying? No Green/Brown BTA's are normal healthy critters, white is bad. See for yourself.
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

 

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Yes, the lfs I got this at doesn't much have a clue on anything. The tank this came out of had regular strip lights with one side burnt out and said its been here awhile and doing fine. Probably where it got so bleached. I thought my lights were on the low side. I want a metal halide but this is in my 3 year olds room and a dangeling hot light would be a disaster.

 

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I also have been altarnating between zoe and selcon and have noticed a small tint of color on a few tips lately.

 

[clown_nut]

yeah that fixture you have is really meant for a 10g. WHich is what I have and the light seems great..I made the mistake of putting a Condylactus Anenome in there right after the cycle period was over...Now my light was not the problem...the longer he was in my tank the darker and even slightly bigger he got...however Since my tank was so new and I was overfeeding my fish and other critters my tank sorta crashed and well..that was the end of that fella. And By the way If you are so worried about that MH bein so hot...I think you would do well with VHO's...I've seen nice kits for the 20g.

 

[annanymous]

thanks for pointing out this thread. i was just curous how do you make an anemone eat. mine hasnt eaten in like 2 weeks. however he ate a few of my crabs and a slug that ihad in the tank. i try giving him mysis and frozen cuisinecubes but he just holds it and lets it go after a while. i use my hand to feed him. cant figure how to use a turkey baster to feed pieces of meat. last question, do i need to let the mysis stay out for a while and warm up, or can i just separate one and give the anemone right away?
thanks all.

 

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My anemone that is vert bleached as you saw has lost all its sticky stuff. I have to hold a small piece on its mouth orafice for a few min till it kinda sucks it in and this keeps the shrimp away. It looks like its color is improving daily.