Pink tip hiatian good starter anemone?

kilofey

kilofey

Member
I bought one today, but I looked them up a bit prior to buying it. I read that they are fairly hardy and need meaty food, strong light and flow, which I can provide. The store had him under what looked like an actanic t5 & a 14k t5, so I assume this specific nem is pretty hardy. Hes still floating in the bag atm, but hes already reaching his tentacles out toward the light :)
My concern is:
I know anemones cannot tolerate poor quality. My water quality is good right now, BUT what if a fish happens to die and I dont notice for a day or 2? (i have 3 small fish in a 75 gal btw) Is it going to just keel over if that happens? What exactly is considered "poor" water quality whwn it comes to a pink tip hiatian? What about nitrate reading of like 5? Just trying to get a feel for what it will and wont tollerate
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Pink tips are generally hardy anemones. A small nitrate spike caused by fish death isn't going to harm them, but constant medium to high nitrate and phosphate is detrimental to their health, just like any coral. Just keep it well fed with some brine, mysis, or home made food mixes. If it shrinks up for more then a few days and looks like it's melting away - then you may have to worry a little bit.
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Ok cool, thank you. After consulting swf.com pricing... I paid a bit too much lol ($28 compared to their $13.99) but today is my birthday and I had an absolutely terrible day at work... So him and my new cleaner shrimp are serving as my birthday present to myself and a pick-me-up all is right with the world :rotfl: its funny how a fish tank can give me so much joy on such a cruddy day oh, and my duncan has a new baby head, I can see its mouth now and it just sprouted a new nub today as well yay! I know its just a duncan and they reproduce like guppies, but its always exciting to see something growing
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Oooohhhh kay... So I was browsing on the forum about my anemone, and now im kind of worried.... He is white, still has pink tips and his foot is a pretty orangy pink color, but the rest is white... Whenever Ive seen pink tip anemones at a lfs, theyve always been white, so I assumed this was normal. I now know that he is bleached :( he has found a comfy spot toward the top of the tank under my 175w mh and 108 w t5 (2x 54w) and in a very high flow area. He obviously knows what he needs... Is it likely that his color will come back? Is he completely doomed? At the lfs, it looked like he was under t5 lighting which was mounted about 2 feet above the water surface and had a trickle of water going into the tank. He had been there at least a month that I know of and I kept looking at him before I decided to get him, so that being said, id say hes definately a very hardy individual. He very readily takes food, should I boost his feedings to 3-5 times per week? I am feeding him my home made fish food which has a wide variety of meaty foods.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
they are fairly hardy just give it what it needs (meaty foods and good water parameters along with the right spectrum of lighting and it should recover. just keep an eye on it like they said above for melting and such.
I had one in my 100 aggressive that did great under normal flor. lighting. ***not advised to that BTW***
I will see if I can find a picture of mine just not sure if I still have a copy or not.
Mike
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
I did forget to add something in there that there is NO anemone that is a beginner anemone. Even most people with a lot of experience will tell you that the life span in the home tank is limited in a lot of species that in the wild could live for 100's of years. There are a few that are acclimated very well and have been tank raised clones one that is very familiar is the Rose BTA. But they can fetch a pretty penny.... Most if not all of us have had them or do have them in our tanks though.
Mike
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
I know there is no "beginner" anemone. Thats why I said starter anemone. There are some that are considered more hardy than others and if im going to venture into the world of anemone keeping, id like to start with one that is a bit less sensitive than most so I have the best chance of success.
That being said, as stated above, I purchased a bleached pink tip (didnt know it was bleached cause ALL the pink tips ive seen at lfs were all bleached, thus, I thought thats what they were supposed to look like) so now instead of having a beautiful anemone I can enjoy, im on tweak mode checking on him every half hour or so :( since he is bleached, I am offering meaty food whenever I feed my fish. Im turkey basting the food near him not at him so he can choose weather or not to eat it. He is taking it, so I assume thats a good thing. But he deflates his tentacles later in the day. Ive read they do that when pooing... But does melting look similar?
DOES ANYONE HAVE A PIC OF A "MELTING" ANEMONE SO I KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR?
As of right now, I do not think he is melting. I think its because of the extra feedings cause my tank is as close to perfect that I can get for him (but pls check me on my tank stats for 'nems)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 (id like it to be 0 but never have been able to eliminate it completely)
Ph 8.3
Sg 1.024
Kh 13
Temp 78
He is in high flow area and at the top of the tank under 175w mh abd 108w t5
...any other tank stats I should be aware of for a nem?
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Well, just to update... I decided to put my nem out of its misery today :sad: the more I read about them when they are beginning to go down hill, the more I realized that when I bought him, he was just too far gone to save. He was bleached really bad and had no color at all. His mouth was wide open ect. I acclimated him for about 3 hours and let him decide where he wanted to be, but in the last few days, he has been staying shrivled and he was laying face down. I think he was just in very poor condition prior to buying him so the move was just too stressful on him. As far as I know, my tank params, lighting and flow were perfectly fine for him, so I really doubt there was anything I or anyone else could have done for him. This experience has prettymuch discouraged me from having an anemone ever again cause I dont ever want to have to kill it if something goes wrong. I wish I could have just waited to see if he came around, but I dont want him to poison my tank, and I know he wouldnt have recovered.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
Sorry to hear that.
If you are set on an anemone take a look at a cultured Rose BTA Most if not all are tank clones and are more adapted to our tanks. There are some others The BTA and LTA are better than some others as well.
Did you take any pictures of your anemone while you had it. You asked if there were some pictures of one that is on its way out just wandering if you had one that can be posted and then we might have one to direct people to when the same situation shows up.
Again sorry to hear about your anemone.
Mike
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Im done with anemones for a while, but if I decide to get another, I will look into a RBTA, thank you. I actually didnt think to take a pic of it I really wish I had. I think ill be looking into something like a bubble, torch, or other corals that look like nems and are known to host clowns. Thank you for your help :hi:
 
S

siptang

Guest
Happy belated and I'm sorry hear about your anemone... they are rather hard to keep. WOW and that price is outrageous... In south Florida, they go for $7.99
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member

Happy belated and I'm sorry hear about your anemone... they are rather hard to keep. WOW and that price is outrageous... In south Florida, they go for $7.99
Well, im convinced it was the move that was too stressful for him cause as far as I know I did everything right and he was in poor condition when I bought him.... BUT... Sometimes the best way to learn things is the hard way... So ill stuck to corals that are "anemone-esq" lol.
Ya I know that price was stupid high, and the place I got it from is a place ill never go to again. When I was very very new to the hobby, they sold me a sea apple and daid oh theyre super easy.... They never told me they could kill all my fish and really arent that easy.... Then they sold me this bleached pink tip, and since the omly ones ive ever seen in person are his pink tips, I thought white was normal
So now there is one lfs I can go to. The one I wrote about above sucks, the other one close by sucks cause all of their fish are disease ridden.
Anyway, enough ranting :flamed: I appreciate no one being too harsh on me since my anemone didnt make it.... Thought id get a couple high-insight kind of responses like "you couldda this", "you shouldda that" lol. Anyway, thanks for being nice about it
 
S

siptang

Guest
You can still go to both. Just don't listen to any of the idiots and just look for good deals and have a smart phone with you for instant SWF access. ;)
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Well, one I wont go to no matter what cause all their tanks are tied together by the same system and ive counted at least 5 different illnessess in their tanks. Ive never seen a completely healthy system there its sickening *ugh* but luckily theres one place I can go to. His prices are high but he holds all his fish for 2 weeks in a separate system in the back. Its not a full quarrantine, but anywhere that holds their stock before selling, is worth every penny in my book. I just got a little fox face and a green chromis from them today :) the fox face is the one with a spot, which im not hugely fond of, I prefer no spot, but hey ya cant be picky if the guy is going to quarrantine lol
 
S

siptang

Guest
Actually all foxface do ahve a black dot in the rear don't they?
Mine did and as she grew up it started to vanish a bit.
My friend does that for me in his LFS. (holding for 2 weeks in his q tank)
He also runs copper in his tanks so that disease will be bare minimum.
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
I googled it real quick, just to check myself... It seems there are no spot fox faces. Some say no spot ff's are better algae eaters, others say theres no difference
 
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