my new 130 gal

[headlessfish]

Ok, this is my first saltwater tank, i had freshwater tanks for years and after a few years out of the hobby i decided to buy this tank. It is 4 x 2 x 2 and was established by they guy i bought it from. I have had this tank at my house for a little over a week now, everything in the tank except a few crabs came with the tank.

It came with several things that i have been having a hard time to ID.
here is an anemone that i can't seem to figure out what it is.

here is another anemone

ok here is the last one, when i tried to describe it to my LFS it was a losing battle.

 

[headlessfish]

ok this one went from this :

to this one day when i returned home from work

while i was very concerned, it was a relief to know that this is a stage that they commonly go thru and wasn't anything to be of real concern.

 

[headlessfish]

I have 5 damsels in my tank right now, i added two sally lightfoot crabs to the tank and the damsels seems to constantly poke at or mess with the sally lightfoots, while the tank is large and there is quite a bit fo LR for them to hide behind it seems like the damsels are relentless with picking on these crabs. has anyone else had this problem? or perhaps is this normal?

 

[andy51632]

Hey welcome to the boards and to saltwater. Okay lets take a look at this tank. The anemones are not looking very well. I have never kept an anemone but have researched them quite a bit. What type of lighting is that you have? It looks like a regular flourecent light which is not enough for an anemone. do you have any powerheads in your tank for flow? you will need to get some. how about some test kits for ph, alk, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. you will need these. when you get these can you post your results along with your sg? keep asking ?'s and we will try and help.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by andy51632
http:///forum/post/2520302
Hey welcome to the boards and to saltwater. Okay lets take a look at this tank. The anemones are not looking very well. I have never kept an anemone but have researched them quite a bit. What type of lighting is that you have? It looks like a regular flourecent light which is not enough for an anemone. do you have any powerheads in your tank for flow? you will need to get some. how about some test kits for ph, alk, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. you will need these. when you get these can you post your results along with your sg? keep asking ?'s and we will try and help.
ph is 8.3, i am using marine buffer to hold the ph, this was suggested by my LFS.
SG is 1.022
temp is 76.5 and holding
ammonia,nitrite, and nitrate levels are too low to measure.
I have a test kit that i have used, everything came out looking correct. I have also taken several water samples to 3 different LFS and watched them run water tests and they all came up with the same results.
I do have two powerheads that came with the tank, however the guy i bought the tank from he didn't have them running and he had this tank setup for over 2 years. I will install one of them today.
The lights i have are both the blue flourecent light and white flourecent light.

 

[headlessfish]

I also performed a 15 gallon water change which i intending doing once a week. I have concidered getting a potein skimmer, but i am still doing research at the moment.

 

[lexluethar]

I would research into more intense lighting. I do not believe your lighting is sufficient for anemones.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by LexLuethar
http:///forum/post/2520400
I would research into more intense lighting. I do not believe your lighting is sufficient for anemones.

well it was sufficient for them to live 2 years before i had the tank with exactly the same lights.

 

[andy51632]

Alright well I am not going to get into the anemone battle. You should try to get your sg: up to 1.025 if you have any inverts in the tank. Don't trust everything the LFS tells you most people on this site know far more about this hobby then any LFS I have been to. Damsels are very aggressive fish so this behavior is normal for them. It will probally be pretty tough to add anything to your tank without them attacking it.

 

[uberlink]

Nobody's trying to flame you or get you to do anything unnecessary. But two thoughts on your anemones...
First, definitely get your sg up to 1.025 or so. Do this slowly by simply topping off with saltwater for the next week or two...however long it takes. That's the safe way to accomplish this. In my experience (including very recent experience), that limp appearance in anemones is commonly a result of low sg or other environmental stresses (temperature flux, etc.)
Second, do consider some more powerful lights. The anemones' coloration suggests that they may not be getting enough light to thrive. While they are obviously still alive, they do not appear to be well. The salinity issue noted above may make some difference, but their coloration looks like the result of long term underexposure to light. You could consider upgrading to T-5 lighting or metal halides. This would be a good investment, particularly if you hope to keep any stony corals in the longer term.
Otherwise, welcome to the boards. Please give people a chance and don't get defensive. For the most part, we're just trying to help.

 

[spiderwoman]

What is the current lighting if you don't mind me asking? Looks like the standard fluorescent lighting that comes with the tank.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2520573
What is the current lighting if you don't mind me asking? Looks like the standard fluorescent lighting that comes with the tank.
one bulb turns out blue light the other turns out white light. I don't really plan on getting into a reef system so while i might concider adding perhaps another set of lights i don't really plan on going overboard.
I didn't know that the damsels were so aggressive fish, so i would imagine that the two sally lightfoot crabs i have probally are not safe in this tank with the damsels on such an aggressive mood. Will they (for lack of a better word) "lighten" up or would i expect them to act the same even a few weeks down the line?
Perhaps i should just flush them down now and then worry abvout what fish i want in the future.

 

[keri]

4x2x2 = 119 gallons (not that 11 gallons makes much of a difference! I'm just anal-retentive)
Congrats on the big tank! is this your first SW? Are the lights you have on there PowerCompacts or T5's? Maybe the 'nems are doing poorly because the bulbs actually stop producing the light they need after a certain period of time (even though the Look the same to you and I) You could try asking the person you bought it off of how old the bulbs are. Good luck
edit: your damsels are actually more likely to get Worse, rather than better, sorry A lot of ppl get damsels because they are so beautiful and inexpensive without realizing what big jerks most species become. Try searching for "catching a damsel" on the boards.

 

[headlessfish]

i am pretty sure i can catch them, i guess the toilet bowl is in their near future. While they look ok, i don't plan on having them as the only fish in my tank, and with their aggressive nature that leaves me little choice.

 

[spiderwoman]

Even if you don't plan on a reef tank, the lighting that anemone requires is more than a lot of corals in a reef tank. I'd recommend checking out what exactly your lighting is (PC's or T5's) and changing the bulbs if they are close to or older than a year.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2520644
Even if you don't plan on a reef tank, the lighting that anemone requires is more than a lot of corals in a reef tank. I'd recommend checking out what exactly your lighting is (PC's or T5's) and changing the bulbs if they are close to or older than a year.

I will start there first, two new bulbs.

 

[mike15]

Incase it hasn't been answered, the first anemone picture is of a rock flower anemone (Epicystis crucifer i think).
Hope this helps,
Mike.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by Mike15
http:///forum/post/2520668
Incase it hasn't been answered, the first anemone picture is of a rock flower anemone (Epicystis crucifer i think).
Hope this helps,
Mike.

thanks, no it hasn't been answered yet, but it is now. They came out a little more pale in the pictures then they are actually. Alot of the color didn't come out in the photo.

 

[headlessfish]

Originally Posted by andy51632
http:///forum/post/2520561
Don't trust everything the LFS tells you most people on this site know far more about this hobby then any LFS I have been to.
That is why i ran my own test and also had several of the stores i went to do the same tests.

It would be wise to trust the LFS about as much as you trust people on the forums

 

[uberlink]

Originally Posted by HEADLESSFISH
http:///forum/post/2520968
It would be wise to trust the LFS about as much as you trust people on the forums

Okay, that's actually a little insulting...at least given most people's experience with LFS. The difference is they are looking to give you whatever advice allows them to sell you more. We will try to tell you what's worked for us. I'd hope that's worth something.