Sebae Help

[littlebuck]

I bought a sebae the other day and hes looknig a little weird. First he has like dead skin looking stuff falling off of him? Today before i turned the lights on he was upside down. Is there anything wrong with him? the water prems are all normal. I just dont understand why hes not really moving around the tank very much and hes always on the side. I cant get my cam to take a pic small enought to post here so if some one could help me i can send a pic on e-mail. I would appricate some help thank you.

 

[thomas712]

Send pics to birdsall12@chartermi.net
Please, post your water paramiters so I can help you narrow this down. ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, calcium, alkalinity, temp, salinity or specific gravety, pH if available.
Please post lighting information.
What do you mean by flake? Are the tentacles tight and bunched up? Is the sebae white by chance?
Thomas

 

[littlebuck]

For lighting i have a 300 watt vho on my 29 gallon tank. By flaking i mean it looks like dead skin coming off of it. I sent you the pics hope that helps
water
no3 20
no2 0
alk 300 might be a little hight my test only goes to 300
ph 8.6
sal .026
What is a better test to get i have the quick dip strips which the LFS said was one of the best but im think it sucks. Thank you for you help

 

[littlebuck]

thomas did you get my pics?

 

[thomas712]

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[thomas712]

Ok first off I recommend Salifert test kits, or LaMotte but they are more expensive. I simply do not trust those test strips.
You have 300watts of lighting which isn't bad over a 29 gallon tank. However you have a sebae anemone which is 1. a rather touchy specimen to begin with, 2. From almost everyone I have spoken to about them we can almost all agree that they require a Metal Halide bulb to truly thrive.
From the pics, it looks like you may have picked up one of the more healthy of the bleached specimens I've seen normally posted. Bleached anemones are at a high risk because they have lost most or all of their zooxanthellae which they must have to live. It can take several months for them to get this zoo back, but under the proper lighting it can be done.
I suspect that there is some type of acclimation shock if you have only had it for a couple of days. I really can not see the flaking that you are talking about but I would think that it would not be a good thing. I've never heard of an anemone with scales ( a dermatology problem) before.
While in the first two weeks your anemone will be going through many acclimation adjustments. Your water chemistry is one, lighting is another, searching for a prime location (usually the substrate or close by it) It will be spending alot of energy going through these moves.
If it were me I'd take it back and try to get an aquacultured Bubble tip anemone. You would stand a better chance with it. I have tried to help alot of folks with sebea anemones. Unfortunatly after a few months you never hear back from most of those posters, no one likes to post that there anemone has died.
You can:
1. Continue to try and see if you can make this anemone live, and keep me posted.
2. Plan to upgrade your lighting to say a metal halide pendant, for a better chance of success.
3. Try to exchange it for a Bubble tip
4. Play it by ear and let me know how it does.
I do have picture examples of a bleached anemone that was saved and brought back to excellent health if you would like to see them.
Thomas

 

[littlebuck]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I think i should try to return it. I didnt want one of these really anyways but the guy at the LFS told me that i would be better out with one of these instead of others or say a frogspawn or a hammer. He said either a bubble or a sebae. and i didnt like the bubble that they had. Well i hope that i can return him since i just got him on thursday. But i will keep you posted on what happens? One more thing if you could help me out with. I want to get 2 clowns. Also there is a marron and yellow clown at a LFS thats kinda big but could i get one for now and then get another one later on if so should it be a bigger one or a smaller one? or do you suggest on getting 2 at one time? What do you recomend on getting? Is there any thing you would suggest on getting as far as a coral since im just starting out. I have some button polyps in there now but didnt know if i could get anything else that might be so picky like anemones. I appricate all of your help.

 

[littlebuck]

Well i wanted to tell you that i took my sebae back to another LFS since the place i got it from said i couldnt bring it back . I got a bubble anemone. I think thats what it was called so much going on i cant remb my own name LOL.He said i would be better off with one of these instead of the sebae, I hope hes right, hasnt done me wrong so far and IMO knows what hes talking about. I havent got him in the tank yet but when i do thomas i will send you a pic on the e-mail since i still cant figure out why i cant send them on here, If you could let me know how to i would appricate it very much. Once again thank you for your great help.

 

[thomas712]

I think that you made a very wise choice in getting the BTA instead. One warning there, please watch your powerheads, if necessary get some sponge covers..
As to the clownfish question. If ever possible always try to get two of them at one time and of one spieces. I have two false percs and they absolutly love their colony of BTA's. If you prefer the maroons then fine but get 2 juvinals at the same time. Never mix a maroon with anything else IMO,IME. Maroons can get very aggressive. Double check the sticky at the top for clownfish compatability with hosting anemones.
About the pictures: I think the only problem you are having is sizing them. I simply made sure that they fit the 500x500 pixel rule, then had no problem posting them. I use a program that came with my Canon G5. Some say you can use photobucket or paint or something like that to resize them.
Thomas

 

[clown123]

i have a sebae and urs looks/looked really sick

 

[thomas712]

The new BTA, 1

 

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[thomas712]

Watch out for the intake of that filter (canister filter) or the BTA might just find it, you don't want that to happen.

 

[littlebuck]

OK i appricate you help, I have tried to use paint to resize the pisc but it will never let me i might have to get a new program or something who knows. I really dont have any where for him to really go since the filter that is there isnt really that powerful and on top is just a return form the sump. I dont have a powerhead on my tank which i know i should get one but the current is really good. Also what is the best thing to feed the BTA? I have been feeding brine shrimp to my fish but i want to get more items for them and whats a good thing to add for the BTA? I know everyone says go to the store and get reg shrimp and other seafood items and food process them and feed that way. Also everyone says that garlic is good can i use reg garlic or should i get stuff actully for a tank? Do you have any other pointers for the BTA? I greatly appricate you help.

 

[thomas712]

Can the brine shrimp, unless its live then its really of little value for the fish or anything else.
Go with mysis shrimp, frozen plankton, krill, silversides, Flake food is better than brine. I don't use garlic myself anymore. Just some zoecon vitamin suppliment once in a while. I have combined much of the FAQ threads about anemones in the top sticky of this forum. Feeding is the last post in that sticky, check it out.
Thomas

 

[popnfrresh]

If you were going to go with maroon clowns i would not add them at the same time. You should get one large one and then if you wanted another one add a MUCH smaller one. This way the much smaller one should submit to the female and the will pair off. IMO 2 maroons are too much for a 29gallon tank. They will both grow around 5". Try going with somehting smaller like the percs/false percs. HTH
-Ryan

 

[littlebuck]

well thank you again for your help, i changed my mind and i got to Nemos thats what my little girl decided so thats what i went with. but havign them for a day one looked like it had ick so i took him out and put him in a qt tank and since the salitity is a little lower later that day the spots were gone so i took him to a friends house to see what he thought and he said it didnt have ick so i was like ok what could it be he said maybe co2 bubbles so i dont know but maybe he knows what hes talkign about i have no clue, so i took him back home and put him back in teh qt tank for the rest of that night and was fine, then the next day i put him in the main tank and was doing good then the next morning i went to see how he was and couldnt find him anywhere. i look under the LR and thought maybe the shrimp ate it. Then i looked on the side of my tank and then the back and thought maybe he jumed out but i didnt see how that was possibe since my canopy is 8" high, so when i looked in the back i looked at the pre filter and say that he was in there stuck to the sponge. So maybe he was trying to tell me to take him out for good. JUst like Finding Nemo he wanted to get in the filter. BUt need less to say he was dead and im not sure why. Do you have any thought to this? I think he might have been stressed out from moving him in and out of the tank. I cant believed i killed him that sucks so bad. And now that hes gone i want another one. SHould i wait? and do i need to get a smaller one? And since he died the other one wont hang out in the BTA anymore.Thank you for you help sorry for the long post.