Sebae anemone problem

[youmademeink]

I have just purchased a white sebae anemone and a mated pair of periculi clown fish. The clown fish don't appear to be too interested in the anemone yet. For the first two or three days the anemone kind of bounced around looking for a spot to stay in, and now that he has found one he seems fine. Well almost fine, the other night he deflated himself, then in the morning was full again. He did this again last night and reflated this morning. Is that normal? Also I read somewhere not to get a tube anemone as the clowns won't live in them. Is the sebae considered a tube anemone? And if not, how long before my clowns deside they will live in him? I have a 46 gal tank, with ample lighting (I don't remember exactly what the numbers are). The water parameters are good, just checked on Wednesday and my amonia, nitrite and nitrates are all at 0. The pH is 8.2. This is my first tank, and the clowns are my first fish. I allowed the tank to cycle fulling for three weeks prior to even adding the cleaning crew. I have a sea hair and a sea urchin as well as the usual hermits and snails. All of them seem to be doing fine, infact they seem to be enlarging. So what is wrong with my anemone? He also seems to have gotten a bit brown in color, not the bright white he was when I first got him. Any help would be useful. Thanks in advance.

 

[bronco300]

you're gonna have to be patient with your clowns, it may take a while for them to decide to host your anemone, if ever...i bought one maybe 2 months ago and my clowns FINALLY started hosting them this week...so it can take a long time...as far as the brown color i believe that is the coloration you actually want, better sign of it being healthy...but maybe a anemone expert can give more info

 

[salty sam]

I purchased one also, but I swear they sent my a Rock Anemone. Hey YouMadeMeInk, does yours have rings around the tentacles. Mine is also missing the purple tips. I wonder if I got the wrong one sent to me. :thinking:

 

[youmademeink]

No mine does not have rings around the tenticles. He has purple/blue tips, they seem to change color depending on what light you hold him under. When I first got him, he looked blue under my normal lamps in my room, then under the tank lights he looks purple. But there are no rings, the tenticles are mostly brown/tan with purple/blue tips.

 

[hollister_08]

This is noraml for an anemone! Your clowns might host it, just give them time! And about the browning, that is a good sign that the anemone is getting healty! When they are white (bleached) they are unhealty, and very hard to keep! And the brown sebae's are alot easier than white.. Good luck with your sebae and clowns!

 

[boricua]

I guess Iam one of the lucky ones. I added a white sebae and a wild maroon the same day and by morning the maroon was already within the sebae.
The only problem I have is that the sebae has yet to attach to the rock, he is kinda in the sand. I move him to the rock but end up in the sand.

 

[thomas712]

Sebae's often plant their foot in the sand, but also in the rocks as well. As stated white sebae a is bleached and unhealthy. You definitely want it to regain its zooxanthellea (that brown color is small animals living inside the anemones tissue). For the time being I would be feeding it 2 or 3 times per week, fine chopped meaty foods, no brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp or other meaty type foods would be good.
Also as stated this inflating / deflating is quite normal. Anemones often have a night time more compacted mode as opposed to lights on.
As long as you have proper lighting you should see this brown color develope better in the months to come.
Sebae is deffinatly not a tube anemone. Tube anemones do not host clown fish, but might eat them.
Cheching your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates is fine, but when having an anemone or corals also check calcium and alkalinity, pH as well.
I have posted photo's before of white sebae turning brown, a before and after kinda thing, you should be able to find them or I can repost them for you.
Good luck
Thomas

 

[emeralcrab]

I have two sebae's, one turned brown right away and the other is finally starting to turn after about 6 months.
The one that is brown with purple tips is absolutely beautiful. It has tripled in size but is a menise with my corals. I spent an hour last night trying to rearrange my 2 fox corals so that the monster sebae would leave them alone. For something that doesn't have a brain, he sure seeks out my other corals to sting them. My fox's were starting to recede, so now have them up above the sebae, hopefully far enough now. But the monster sebae still is reaching up and out as far as it can. The fox corals look a LOT better today.
I have never seen my totally deflate, it is a little smaller at night. I have a black clown that finally started hosting it after about 4 months. I feed mine weekly with krill, silver sides and he catches quite a bit when I feed the fish.
Good luck with yours, but watch it around your other corals.

 

[skipperdz]

some fish just dont host, plain and simple. others take a while, and others in minutes. all anemones shrink from time to time, they are expelling waste. just make sure they arent expelling their innards thats not good. i havent had sebaes just LTAs, even so mine is brown w/ green highights. its also the norm from what ive read. no worries mate! i hope they host man

 

[damselz]

I've had my sebae for about a year now and it shrinks every night and inflates in the morning. It is getting more aggressive now, every time a fish swims past it it closes really quickly. From what I've heards not many percs will host this anemone. They prefer LTA's. Mine don't go any where near it.

 

[fisherkid91]

I had a Bicinctus Clown and it loved my sebea, unfortunately it got ich.

 

[youmademeink]

Well the good news is that my anenome seems to be happy and healthy. He deflates a little bit after he expells his waste, and he found a home in the sand bed kind of under a rock. However, after about two weeks he now bounces around my tank and won't seem to find a place to stay. The clowns clean his waste sometimes, and if I accidently put too much food in it, the clowns will pull out the extra. My big concern now though is why he won't stay in one place, he even flips himself upside down from time to time, then the next time I look at him he is right side up. Water parameters are still great. All where they should be, my calcium is up pH stable at 8.3 and amonia, nitrites and nitrates all at zero. Not sure what else to do for him. Thank you all for your help regarding the other issue. I think his moving around is normal, but I just wish he would settle down and stay in one spot.