Sebae Anemone what should I know?

[jdecter]

Not sure if this is the right forum but I have a Fish only tank so I figured it would do.
Ok first my story:
Bought and Cycled a 80 gallon glass tank, started with 60 lbs of LS base and added 35 CC with it, had a huge nitrite issue during first month of cycle so as per some friendly advice I scooped out as much CC as I could and tossed it, then nitrites dropped as I hoped for, I also started using Cycle product regularly.
Since Cycleing finished my numbers are:
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
8.2 PH
77 Degrees
<10 Nitrate
1.023 SG
Now I did have 2 damsels die the first week of cycle, so I have 7 left, I bought a percula clown about a month ago (tanks now going on 3 months). He's been fine, I also have 5 turbo, 5 blue hermits and 5 red hermits (just got the red today).
I've lost a few turbo but I have 4 (bought 2 today).
I lost my Emperor Angel last night when I added 40 lbs of LS to thicken up my sand bed to 2 plus inches at the suggestion of my LFS (actually the store is an hour plus away but I make the drive because it's owned by a biologist and staffed by some of the best informed LFS people I've met, and I've gone to a dozen stores inbetween).
I have about 100 lbs of base rock. I have no idea why I lost the emperor expect that adding the sand was a lot of moving rocks around, sand adding and stress causing. It could be that simple, but I did notice it's fins were pretty beat up however I never once saw my damsels or clown bothering it much.
Now to my question.
I bought a nice sebae Anemone beautiful creme color with purple dots at the end of the tons of little fingers. I'm told will be a great fit for the percula which I hope to pair up with another smaller one in the next week or so.
I dropped the Anemone in after dripping it for a bit and hes sorta moving all over with the current a bit but has for the last hour circled in the little area on top of a rock, upside down.
I'm sure this is normal I'm just curious what I should look for, I'd really like to .... encourage him to flip over and plant right where he is it's exactly where I was hopeing he'd go.
Also I'd like any info about Anemone care that anyone can advise, I bought frozen brine shrimp which My fish already eat, I usually alternate days with some pellet formula one product that my LFS says he feeds most his tanks.
I'm pretty sure Anemone's need fresh food so I wont give it the pellets. But tell me what I should know I'd love to limit my pet deaths with any info everyone can give to me.

 

[lion_crazz]

I see in a post from 3-21 that you set your tank up at the beginning of March. This would mean that you definitely added both the angel and anemone very prematurely. I would fault that to the "best informed LFS people" for selling you 2 things you really should have waited to add. Both things need very established tanks.
Also, if they are still recommending people to cycle thier tanks with damsels, they are really not that well informed, in my opinion. I would start questioning everything these people tell you.
What types of light do you have for the anemone?

 

[jdecter]

I have normal Florecense at the moment, The Sebae at the store wasn't in a lit tank, and I'm told is not light sensitive.
I do plan eventually to buy two MH but the costs will be a bit before I do that.
The tanks been up about 3 months or so. It finished Cycleing at least a month or so ago.
Is there something I should be looking for?

 

[jdecter]

I will add that yes I am frustrated that they sold me the Emperor, not only did they tell me they are easy to take care of if you are on top of your water, they sold it to me knowing I have an 80 gallon tank, which is a bit small for a mature Emperor which I didn't know until after I had it.
On top of that I read later that Angel aren't easy keepers they don't like balance changes which are going to happen in a new aquarists tank no matter what.
I guess Experience costs money, I just look to these forums to make sure it is as inexpensive as possible.

 

[lion_crazz]

I'm sorry, but that that anemone is not going to survive under normal lighting. Metal halide lighting would be ideal. The LFS can get away with poorly lit tanks because they know they will not be there any longer than 2 or 3 weeks. It is just a holding tank basically. Your tank is its home, and in its home, it needs the proper conditions to survive long term.
And I am sorry to nitpick, but on March 21, 2006, you said, "I set this up about 3 weeks ago and added 9 damsels about 2 weeks ago." That does not indicate that the tank has been set up for three months. Nonetheless, this is still too immature for an angel and an anemone. Both need very mature and very stable tanks.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by jdecter
I will add that yes I am frustrated that they sold me the Emperor, not only did they tell me they are easy to take care of if you are on top of your water, they sold it to me knowing I have an 80 gallon tank, which is a bit small for a mature Emperor which I didn't know until after I had it.
On top of that I read later that Angel aren't easy keepers they don't like balance changes which are going to happen in a new aquarists tank no matter what.
I guess Experience costs money, I just look to these forums to make sure it is as inexpensive as possible.
Sounds like you are on the right track now. We know what we are talking about here. Your LFS is a bit lacking in the advice department. I would stick to getting answers from these boards, rather than your LFS.
Everything you said about the angelfish is correct.

 

[jdecter]

Well I just called the LFS and asked their opinion on this Anemone he says it should be fine, they had it well over a month in that tank without lights, and said it isn't going to have an issue with Florecent only lights, as its not a "light hungry" anemone.
I really feel stupid now stareing at this beautiful creature that I somehow allowed myself to be convinced I could take care of it.
Any suggestions on how to keep this little guy alive is appreciated.
I did do a 25% water change before I put these new creatures in, I did it because well I hadn't done any major changes yet, and two because I wanted to drop my salinity more closer to the LFS to have less shock with new fish.
They run at 1.021 I was at 1.025 I'm back at 1.022/23 not sure it's about in between.
While watching this anemone it amazes me how much it can move. I know its mostly flowing with the current but it has to be doing something to control its motion its found almost every spot in my tank by now and seems to keep ending up right where I hope it will stay.

 

[volcom69]

i hate to tell u but ur local fish store dosnt know what there talking about u need mh lighting to have ur anemone survive sorry.

 

[lion_crazz]

Well, it is not a very light hungry anemone like a carpet or ritteri, but I would still say it needs more than normal output. That is my opinion though. If you want to add a power compact fixture to your tank for a nice price, send me an email. I know a site where you could get a nice fixture for a very good price.
Ry84@MSN.com.
The salinity that you have your tank is okay, but not ideal. I would have left it at 1.025 like you originally had it. Leave it where it is for now though. Let the anemone settle in.
If possible, start feeding the anemone some meaty foods like frozen krill, silversides, mysis shrimp, and prawn.
Please don't feel stupid. We are all mislead at one point in time. That is this hobby though. You should feel good about yourself now. You were conscientious enough to get a second opinion and you are here on SWF.com. Now, when you go into the LFS, you will never not know again!

 

[jdecter]

Sent you an email and i appreciate all the info guys. Another question, sometimes the anemone seems to get stuck in a tight spot, should I worry about it and push the water around him to move him out of it or does he deal with that by itself?
I so far have fanned him out of one stuck situation but then he's really moved about alot on his own accord so much I have to believe it actually can move itself or at least guide its movement.
But right now its in like the worse possible place to plant if it decides too, is there a way to get it to move if it goes somewhere I dont want? If so how?
Also should I feed it even before it plants itself?

 

[lion_crazz]

If it is possible to feed it, do so. I would not try to move it, you are probably only going to stress it. I have not received your email yet, but when I do, I will send you a response.

 

[saltwater8]

Originally Posted by jdecter
Well I just called the LFS and asked their opinion on this Anemone he says it should be fine, they had it well over a month in that tank without lights, and said it isn't going to have an issue with Florecent only lights, as its not a "light hungry" anemone.
How in the HEL* do these LFS stay in business?! :scared:
It is AMAZING to hear all the "crap"/lies they tell people....

 

[jdecter]

Upsetting as it is I think it may already be dead, I just checked it before bed and it is either sleeping or dead.
I will check in the morning but I can't believe with all the research and hours and hours of talking to people I am going through such a bad case of new tank syndrome at this point if it dies I'm not buying a new fish for a long while until I figure out what on earth I could be doing wrong.

 

[n_sarno]

Is it like deflated? Anemones do that from time to time..
You should take it back to the LFS or get rid of it to someone on here maybe, because it is for sure, going to die. I would say that I would take it, but I want to get a rose bubble tip anemone

 

[jmick]

I really hate hearing stories like this one. There are some shops out there that really give out poor information and take advantage of new/uninformed hobbyists. Thankfully, there are sites like this one where people can get good info and keep from repeating the same mistakes. I would not shop at that LFS again and hit them where it hurts for giving out such poor information.
It can be hard to find a good shop to buy from and in my area there is one shop that gives our terrible info and has poor livestock. The other 4 are rather good, I like walking in and seeing tanks with proper lighting and owners/employees who know what they are talking about. I’d rather pay a little more and know I am getting a healthy animal then pay less for one that might be dying

 

[jdecter]

Thats just it this LFS is the best in the whole area, I drive litterally 80 miles extra just to go to this one because its so good, not only do the fish look great, the workers and owner know a ton, not just a ton to a new guy I sit and listen to them talk to people who have well established reef tanks and they too tell me that these guys are the best in the area.
I live in the Bay Area (about an hour east of San Francisco) I drive from Tracy where I live to Southern most part of San Jose.
I noticed something else he either has got some tank gunk on it from floating all over or he's shedding a skin layer, I can't tell but its got what looks like a dirty thread of some kind on it.
I plan on writing an on going article about all this to help future hobbiest avoid the expensive mistakes I'm making.
Maybe I can solicite some of your guys advice into it as I go. I'm just so upset over this that I have to do something that will hopefully save future hobbiest from doing the same thing.
One question I do have is this. If all my water is well balanced, just did a 25% change, and I keep vigil on my water levels what is it that killed this guy so fast?

 

[thomas712]

I'll move this over to the anemone/clownfish forum, don't have time to imput as I need to shove off to work.
Yes, you've been had by your LFS
Thomas

 

[saltwater8]

Originally Posted by jdecter
I lost my Emperor Angel last night when I added 40 lbs of LS to thicken up my sand bed to 2 plus inches at the suggestion of my LFS (actually the store is an hour plus away but I make the drive because it's owned by a biologist and staffed by some of the best informed LFS people I've met, and I've gone to a dozen stores inbetween).

I dropped the Anemone in after dripping it for a bit
What is "a bit"?
Well I just called the LFS and asked their opinion on this Anemone he says it should be fine, they had it well over a month in that tank without lights, and said it isn't going to have an issue with Florecent only lights, as its not a "light hungry" anemone.
And this store is "owned by a biologist and staffed by some of the best informed LFS people"?!

:happyfish

 

[jdecter]

Well I don't know what happend but it looked dead this morning, I went to the Gym and hung out for a bit with my mom then my wife called me and said my Anemone looked great that it had moved came back out and puffed up and even set itself to the side of a rock.
It's sorta wierd it picked a spot right in the current (expected) and ontop of my bubble stick I have under my sand bed. It's basically in the sand, against the glass and rock and stuck to the rock.
Not my preferred placement but he seems happy as hell so I'm not gonna bug it.
Matter of fact its tentacles are much further out than they were in the store and I read a article online saying a good sign for sebae is that their tentacles are out as far as possible combing the water current for fod.
I tried to crumble up a frozen block of shrimp for him but all the shrimp kept floating away as soon as they came off the block.
I'm sure the current probably carried a few to him by now but do any of you have a suggestion on how to get the shrimp in him for sure?
Also I'm told cutting bits of frozen shrimp from the grocery store or clams is a good food for these guys.
I also plan to hunt for some type of tubing I can get for my 2 florecent hoods both 2ft. That is good for fish and anemone's.
So that this little guy has a good chance of a healthy life.
Also any other info you guys can link or tell me about that will educate me on sebae's would be great.

 

[lion_crazz]

I sent you another email. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
I am VERY glad your anemone is doing better.