is my anemone sick

crash103k

New Member
Ok so i got this guy a few days ago i followed the steps of choseing a good anemone. the problem is only when the lights are off. i cant think that this is normal. also do i need to leave the lights on all the time now? is this guy just sleeping when the light is off? or what cause he looks but hole out and the guy at the fish store said that it would look like this if he was not doing good.
the following pic's ahould show you the dif from day to night
day time

night time

Thank you all in advance. and if this is normal forgive my ignorance
 

22caddy

Member
They will expand and contract when the lights are on and off respectively. The lights do not need to be on all the time.
 

promisetbg

Active Member
It looks like an RBTA..they do retract at night however,it should be just deflated or balled up.The fact that the mouth is so gaping and extended can be a bad sign.Have you tried to feed it?What are your water parameters...all of them?How long has your tank been set up,and what type of lighting do you have?Has anything{shrimp perhaps}been picking at it?
 
T

thomas712

Guest
I'd say its in some type of shock, stressed out about something.
Post up those water paramiters, lighting, oh and include pH ave, salinity, temp.
Thomas
 

crash103k

New Member
ok so i understand that this guy might be stressed. he is verry new to my tank . i just got him on saturday. so that could say a lot. my water lets see i'm testing now but my
temp 78-80 depending on lighting and time of day
amonia = 0
no2 =0
no3=0
ph=~8
Light is kinda funny i have a 220 W powercompact but the tanks are right under a window. so all day thay are lit like a christmas tree. i have a lot of natural light that comes in the tank
and i put one scoop of photoplaynkton in yesterday. as for its other diet needs could you please tell me what to feed it. i only have that stuff:notsure:
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Well it could just be acclimation stress, many anemones experience this during the first two weeks into a new tank.
The lighting issue. Tanks should not be recieving any natural sunlight, this will cause algea issues like you would not believe. It will also produce alot of natural phyto plankton and thats not really what anemones need alot of. They could benifit from some occational meaty food like, shrimp, krill, silversides, scallops, mysis shrimp, zoo plankton..etc..
Natrual sunlight will produce alot of green algae and cyno bacteria unless the nutrients are kept under tight control. The sun could also play havic with heat issues in the tank causing temps to fluxuate wildly when they should remain fairly stable to prevent temp shock, and lack of oxygen at high temps.
Thomas
 

22caddy

Member
Since he is normal during the day, are you sure he didn't just expel some waste before or after that pic?
 

dominican

Member
Do you have actinics for night time? Not sure if that would make a difference, but there's definitely something wrong in pic #2... My actinics come on when the MHs go off, so my green carpet is always getting "sun" or "moon" light...
 

crash103k

New Member
Yah I have atonics 110 W and 10,000k 110W 220 W total on my 55 G. And wow I did not know that the natural light would cause so many problems. I have had it under the window for about a month now with no problem yet. Is that something that will happen over time? I have an ok clean up crew of about 30 turbo’s 15 hermits and 2 sand sifting stars. A few Peppermint shrimp here and there! And some asters snails. Wow I hope I got that all right. But as for the lighting do you think he will do ok under just the 220 W.
and about the expelling waist he stayed this way for the whole night so I don’t think it was waist but it from when I turn the light off on the tank at about 10:00 till the sun comes up at about 6:30 here in Denver. He looks great in the daytime very relaxed and its foot is extended all the way. Head is as big as I have ever seen it get Tents. Stretched out pretty good! And for some reason my domino damsel is hosting this one.
As for the water temp I’m not worried about that it’s a pretty warm tank already. Days are cold in the winter so it kind of equals it all out. I don’t have the blind open as much in the summer and I can get a chiller if it gets out of hand.
As for how long the tank has been set up. It’s been about 3 years. All my tests come up ok at least no red flags to me? I do about a 9% water change 1x5G bucket a weak on both my 55’s and I have a log of the water changes.
my salinity is a little on the high side cause the guy at the fish store told me that corals and anemones like a little bit more salinity. Not overly high just on the high side of normal. Catch my drift.
So I guess I’m trying to ask
If I close the blinds, will the anemone survive on 220 W on my 55 Gall.
I think everything as far as water goes is ok.
And I think it could be just stress? I don’t know
Let me know what you all think. Thank you in advance.
 
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thomas712

Guest
No you do not need to run actinics during the night.
Will an RBTA make it in a 55 with 220 watts of lighting? I can't say for sure what will happen in your tank, from all the folks that I have talked to it seems that the Rose BTA, is a bit more delicate to raise. Beth and Kip both had one, and they each had great lighting, and they both had difficulty with them. In others tanks they do fine. go figure.
Personally I like to see a little more lighting over your 55, but if you aren't having any problems with the natural sunlight, well I just can't factor in how many more watts thats giving you. I see the natrual sunlight as a problem, one you may learn about, but if your system isn't broke then don't fix it.
All I can say is good luck and keep us posted if anything drastic changes.
Thomas
 
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