Bubble tip anenme question>>

[55reef55]

I just bought a Bubble tip anenme, this is the biggest one iv ever seen, its about 1 foot in diamiter and its a green bubble tip. But i have a problem its not eating!! iv fed it silver sides and it ate one then spit it back out. Also the damn clow (tomato) keeps taking them out. Even if i scare the clow off for a bit the anenme does not eat the food it will just drop it to the sand. It will look real good one day then the next the tenicles will be short and shivled then the next full and green. What should i do? Try something different like food? But what else can i feed it? shrimp or somthing? thanks for any help

 

[k.lee]

Are your nitrates high?

 

[stupid_naso]

Bubble tip acts like that, they shrink and they grow back. They do that all the time. About eating behavior, don't worry about it. Just try to feed it once a week. It often spits it out, mine does that too. Don't worry try to feed him again a week from now. What kind of lighting does it live under?
And yes, water parameters might have some effect to its behavior too.
stupid_naso

 

[55reef55]

not sure about nitrates will check here in a bit. lighing is a compacq light thing and a big blue light. its alot, my LFS hast he same setup on his front display tank, same size same lights same filter and he has had a big a$$ carpet anenme and tons of coral b/c its a desplay tank you know. and he pushed himself behind rocks and then he comes out during the day and shinks behind the rock at night and fills up the entire space, he on on the leftside of my tank in the back corner so you can see him at night and he fills this huge spot, ill take photos and post later. Ok i guess ill try to feed him in a week or maybe monday, i just dont want this thing to die b/c cost me 90$.

 

[k.lee]

Nitrates make things in saltwater "dumb". It's notorious for making smart animals stupid. If you see weird behaviour, it may be related to nitrate pollution.
edit: forgot to say that anemone's seem to be one of the most difficult species to keep today regarding water quality. Blood shrimp used to be hard, AFAIK, but since quality ways to add calcium to water have been marketed these animals don't have as many problems.
HTH
Lee

 

[55reef55]

the nitrates are 0.3mg/l the mg might be wrong but it is 0.3 somthing/L i dont feal like going back downstairs... i dont think this is high

 

[k.lee]

I think that's a good sign. Two things I'd recommend, but could be wrong. 1. Keep your temp in the lower to mid seventies (this will increase oxygen). 2. Keep you SG higer 1.024-1026.
/shrug
Anemone's are tough and even tougher with fish using the anemone as a host.

 

[55reef55]

what are the "2. Keep you SG higer 1.024-1026."??
and the temp is in the mid 70's right now and stays there. it might drop down to like 72 at night but stays right at 74 or so during the day.

 

[k.lee]

For inverts, a sg (specific gravity around 1.025) is prefered. I think that temp is right, but, I'm not an expert.
Your anemone not feeding could be simply irritation from the clowns. I have had anemones highly irritated keeping with clowns that died later, and I could see the clowns "bulldozing" into the anemone. It was very troublesome for me, and more so for the invert.
I haven't owned any bubbletips tho. I had a ritteria live several months tho, and grow till water temp hit around 85 fahrenheit when it succumbed to temp or high organic load (probably a combination of the two - I had a lot of fish with it).
Lee

 

[55reef55]

Ok how do i test that, im not new but new to the terminogly, so you have to help me out a little bit.

 

[k.lee]

Hydrometer shows your SG.

 

[55reef55]

thanks for the help, anyone feed their anenme shrip? im thinking of trying it any sugestions or just stick with the silversides?

 

[jamesp]

I've had my bubble tip for 2 years now. When I got him he was about 3" in diameter. Now he's about 8-9" and all I feed him is mirco-vert once a month and what ever he gets out of filtering the water.
EDIT: Here's a picture of him.
<a href="http://www.fastraqs.com/fish/anemone.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.fastraqs.com/fish/anemone.jpg</a>
-James

 

[ironreef]

1 pc and one big blue light? I dunno but that doesn't sound like much depending on how many pc. Temp i would keep it close to 80. If you need more o2 add more current. When my 55g was set up i had 4_110w vho and concidered than min lighting not alot. The lfs keeps alot of corals ect but do they sell them fast? Imo lfs if its there display and they never sell the animals I would gauge that tank but if they sell livestock from there I wouldn't= long term = success. But I wouldn't worry about feeding so much it will get foods when filtering the water when you feed the fish. If you have good lighting don't worry. Sometimes they don't eat. If it moves alot then its not happy. if it stays put let it be. try feeding every week or every other.