is my anemone dead?

hawkfishman

Member
i got this bubble tip anemone on tuesday just to give my 2 clownfish something to do. it looked good yesterday, but today its "mouth" is open and most of the tips seem closed. here are 2 pics. one yesterday and one this morning.

 

hawkfishman

Member
the only thing that is high in the tank as far as paramaters is nitrates. its somewhere between 20-40 ppm. the lighting is 28 watt T5. i know the day light says 10KK. and this was right after i turned the lights on. hes "standing" upright now with his mouth a bit more closed than the last picture. probly doesnt help hes attached to a big snail shell which, of course, is round and if he puts most of his wieght on one side its gonna tip a bit.
the flow is decent i think. the spray bar from the filter pumps 300GPH i think and i have a korolia 1 on the left back of the tank and a korolia 2 on the front right side with the spray bar in the middle.
 

luvmyreef

Active Member
Yeah, my anemone did this when I first added him to my tank years ago....but when he did this...out popped a dead convict tang!! EEEEWWWWW!
 

king_neptune

Active Member
30 trates is still high(no...not lethal...just stressful). you really dont want anything past 20. you should really be shooting for under 5.
 

hawkfishman

Member
sadly, thats about all i can afford for the moment. doesnt help im unemployed either. and is it correct that in order to really get the nitrates down u need to do a pretty big water change?
 

king_neptune

Active Member
it helps,but your just going to be having high nitrates again within a week. Find the problem and treat it. Not the symptoms.
Whats your full tanks stats? bioload, filtration, ect.
 

hawkfishman

Member
filtration is a rena filstar Xp2 canister, bioload is lawnmower blenny, scooter blenny (eats brine shrimp and bloodworms), 2 misbar clownfish, 2 firefish gobys, a small/young green spotted puffer, and a tiger wardi goby.they have all been in there together now for a while and get along for the most part. the tiger goby gets territorial sometimes.
the CUC is roughly 15-20 nerite/cerith snails, 3 turtle/tiger conches and a blue spotted sea hare. plus about 150 snail eggs.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
indeed. your stretched pretty thin with a canister filter. i count 8 fish.
The canister is probably having trouble pulling everyting out.
Macro algae is a good idea. Would be the cheapest fastest way to get things lower.
Another method(and its unconventional) is to take some filter socks and fill them with carbon. then put them in the sump.
Just sitting in the sump will pull excess out of the water. Granted...not nearly as good as if you were using a canister or reactor, but it will work like a sponge to abosorb water moving through the sump. Try an experiment, get some cheap carbon and fill a few filter socks with it, rinse them out and then place them in the sump. Check in a couple weeks, see where your at with your trates.
Also do you have bad feeding habits? i.e. too much?
I myself fall prey to over feeding from time to time. Fish need about 5 min total eating activity a day. They are cold blooded and dont require the same levels of nourishment warm blooded animals need.
 

scottnlisa

Member
I had an anemone dead on me. You will definitely know when your it is dieing. It won't be attached to anything. Mine had a huge growth on the side. It's tenacles were shivered really small. Color was very blanched.
 
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