first anemone

[evo]

im new to sw fish and have aquired my first anemone, it started deflated and small , but after the first night it was full and found a perch. however after 2-3 days it has started to deflate... is this natural or should i be concerned? my clown LOVES the anemone , so i want to make sure i can keep it healthy for it. As far as i can tell, it has not started to fall apart , or turn in on itself, it is still attached to the rock, and as i spot feed it i see it react so its still alive to the best i can tell, but it 'looks' less vibrant as time has gone by ... any help would be appreciated, the web is almost devoid of any useful info on anemones!

 

[skipperdz]

what size is your tank? lighting? anemones do deflate throughout the week, it is normal. usually after they expell waste. sometimes they do it based on water quality/ph and so on. check your water. do you have intinic blue lighting in addition to your lighting?

 

[evo]

i have a 30g biocube, its got the reg and florescent lighting, both are run during the day, and the soft florescent at night, ph is a bit low, 7.9ish, and as you can see have a bit of algea im contending with as well,

 

[viper_930]

The biocubes have way too little light for any hosting species of anemone. The algae is a bad sign too, is the tank new?
Hard to tell, but it looks like the anemone is a ritteri, which isn't exactly the easiest anemone to keep. I would consider them to be for experienced anemone-keepers only.
What are your other water parameters?

 

[skipperdz]

want your ph a smidge higher (low 8's) see if you can get an intinic blue light to go with that. as far as the algae is concerned whats your cleaning crew like? did u use tap water or ro/di water?

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by skipperdz
want your ph a smidge higher (low 8's) see if you can get an intinic blue light to go with that. as far as the algae is concerned whats your cleaning crew like? did u use tap water or ro/di water?
That will not provide proper lighting for an anemone.

 

[evo]

i used purified water, cleaning crew is 7 hermits, 7 snails, 1 sandsifter star, 1 lawnmower goby, ... sounds like lighting may be an issue, does anyone know if i can pickup a higher intensity bulb to fit a biocube?
my metrics are ..
ph 7.9
ammonia 12
nitrite 0
nitrate 7.5

 

[mrsgoose]

Originally Posted by Evo
i used purified water, cleaning crew is 7 hermits, 7 snails, 1 sandsifter star, 1 lawnmower goby, ... sounds like lighting may be an issue, does anyone know if i can pickup a higher intensity bulb to fit a biocube?
my metrics are ..
ph 7.9
ammonia 12
nitrite 0
nitrate 7.5
Whoah... I'm new at this, too, but to me those levels are way off! Did your tank cycle? Ammonia should be 0, nitrates 0 - I hope someone else with more experience chimes in, because I think you need to do something! Just trying to help...

 

[24aqua]

you need to take that anemone back until you get your lighting and parameters right, how long have you cycled your tank,that anemone looks very stressed

 

[ol'salty]

Your anemone is dying from the ammonia... How new is your tank? Did it cycle? What else is in there? You need to do a large water change immediately to get the ammonia down. Go ahead and mix up about 10 gallons of salt water now and get it heated up and mixed thouroughly. Normally you would let it go over night mixing, but i don't know if you have that kind of time. I would say let it mix a couple of hours and do the change. Also, where the water tests like before the anemone?

 

[triga22]

I didnt know ammonia even went that high! You gotta take that anenome back. Make new fresh saltwater and start the cycle.

 

[evo]

haha, oops, thats a typo .. !

ammonia .12
thanks for all the help thusfar tho , i really appreciate everyones input

 

[bang guy]

The tank looks too dark for that Anemone. Not slammin' you, not my intention, just my opinion.

 

[catawaba]

I'd take the sand sifting star/other inhabitants back too!
Maybe your LFS can give you credit for a future purchase.
Welcome to SW tanks!