Help with Bubble Tip Anemone! It moved to sand..is it ok?

[monhall]

Hi..I am pretty new to reefkeeping and brand new to Reefs.org....but...

Finally tried to add an anemone to my 95GAL tank. It has 100lbs live rock and 100lbs live sand. The water parameters seem to be ok, including calcium at 450ppm. No amonia or nitrite. PH is 8.2. I think the water flow is good. It is an overflow tank with a Rio 2100+ providing the return flow into the tank. Also, a separate powerhead flows water at approx 50GPH through my UV sterilizer and back into the opposite side of the tank.

The anemone stayed on the nice rock ledge I made for it for a few hours. Then it started to slide down the rocks toward the sand. I'm concerned that it is getting too far away from the lights (Coralife Lunar Aqualite http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/po ... light.html )

Anyone have bubble tip advice they might be able to share? I acclimated it over a 2+ hour period. Looked great at first..now I am concerned. And BTW, my true percula clownfish doesn't seem to have noticed it yet. Too bad.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi..I am pretty new to reefkeeping and brand new to Reefs.org....but...

Finally tried to add an anemone to my 95GAL tank. It has 100lbs live rock and 100lbs live sand. The water parameters seem to be ok, including calcium at 450ppm. No amonia or nitrite. PH is 8.2. I think the water flow is good. It is an overflow tank with a Rio 2100+ providing the return flow into the tank. Also, a separate powerhead flows water at approx 50GPH through my UV sterilizer and back into the opposite side of the tank.

The anemone stayed on the nice rock ledge I made for it for a few hours. Then it started to slide down the rocks toward the sand. I'm concerned that it is getting too far away from the lights (Coralife Lunar Aqualite http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/po ... light.html )

Anyone have bubble tip advice they might be able to share? I acclimated it over a 2+ hour period. Looked great at first..now I am concerned. And BTW, my true percula clownfish doesn't seem to have noticed it yet. Too bad.

Anemones will go wherever they feel most comfortable. You cannot place them and expect they wont move. Mine, unfortunately, is in the back of my tank where it found a sweet spot for food falling due to the circulation, and the lighting is perfect as well. Kinda sucks. I have a beautiful anemone that no one ever sees :roll: But I wont move it of course, since it is healthy.

Your lighting concerns me a bit, I dont think you have adequate lighting for the anemone. I would think you need more than what you have.

How are you filtering your water? Do you have a protein skimmer? What are your nitrates, alkalinity, sg or salinity, etc....

 

[monhall]

oh no...really (on the lighting)? I went with what my LFS suggested...and spent $300+ on that lighting...still not enough? (Did you follow the link and check on the lighting) i have the version that is : 48" Coralife Lunar Aqualight (260W Total). That gives me approx 3 watts per gallon. (rounding)

Thanks for the input..i'll certainly check on the lighting if necessary. I do have another light I can use in addition...if necessary.

i use a wet/dry to filiter the water..i do have a protein skimmer (Berlin Turbo). SG is 1.023. Nitrates between 5-10.

 

[Anonymous]

oh no...really (on the lighting)? I went with what my LFS suggested...and spent $300+ on that lighting...still not enough? (Did you follow the link and check on the lighting) i have the version that is : 48" Coralife Lunar Aqualight (260W Total). That gives me approx 3 watts per gallon. (rounding)

Thanks for the input..i'll certainly check on the lighting if necessary. I do have another light I can use in addition...if necessary.

i use a wet/dry to filiter the water..i do have a protein skimmer (Berlin Turbo). SG is 1.023. Nitrates between 5-10.

My opinion is you do not have adequate lighting for it, though others may chime in. Watts per gallon is useless, and even buy that formula, you have way less light than is needed for many coral and creatures that need good lighting.

I am not an expert in lighing, so I do not know all of the proper terms, but the type of light you have doesn't penetrate the water as well as say a MH light. You MAY be able to get away with the watts if it was MH (metal halide), as it penerates the water deeper and more evenly. As you have it, I would say no.

 

[Anonymous]

im suprised they didnt tell you to get the next model up....the 48" with 4 x 96w if they knew you were keeping coral or anemone :?

 

[monhall]

OK, thank you. I believe you are probably correct.

 

[monhall]

Thank you for the information. As a result of all of this, I guess I'll offer my 260 Watt Coralife Lunar Aqualight to anyone who may want it...

Here's the listing:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 7741164330

 

[Anonymous]

Keep an eye on the anemone in the meantime. It shouldn't slide down if healthy, but move using it's foot (more crawling than sliding). If the mouth is gaping, it's worth keeping an extra close eye. If it can't keep a firm grip on anything, then it's also in trouble.

Once it's on its way out, fish it out quickly, otherwise it'll pollute the tank.

Not to say all this will happen, but be careful.

HTH.

 

[monhall]

Thanks. I am keeping a close eye. For the last couple of days, it seems to have taken a liking to its position. I nudged it close to a cozy looking notch in one of the big rocks. It put its foot in there...and keeps the tentacles out in the light....inflating/deflating a couple of times per day it seems. I have tried to feed it directly (shrimp mixed with cyclop-eeze). It seemed to like it..but hard to tell. The mouth seems to be staying closed. Is that good?

Another questio...does it have a sting capability? It seems to let the cleaner shrimp crawl on it (taking food it looks like). Also, my dwarf angel has picked at the anemone a couple of times...with no "stinging" or deterrent of any kind. Is this normal? Should I worry that the dwarf will get more confident and agressive toward the anemone? So far, it doesn't seem to have hurt the anemone..but I hate to see that fish pick on it!

 

[Anonymous]

Well, that all sounds good. As ctg said, you may want to look into getting more powerful lights at some stage though.

Bubble tips have a far less potent sting than carpet anemones, but can still catch the occasional unwary fish. Their sting, AFAIK, will get more potent (and stickier) as they stronger and more healthy. Your dwarf may then get a bit of a shock!

Try to distract the dwarf with some food, and then feed the anemone, which may help.

 

[david999]

i put 1 bubble tip in 4 yrs ago i now have 14 all i have is 5 fluresent tubes they seem to move now and then till they find somewere they like

 

[tazdevil]

monhall posted:

i use a wet/dry to filiter the water..i do have a protein skimmer (Berlin Turbo). SG is 1.023. Nitrates between 5-10.

That may cause you trouble down the road- w/d filters can turn into "nitrate factories" which will cause your anemone to die. They really don't like nitrate at all.

Another questio...does it have a sting capability? It seems to let the cleaner shrimp crawl on it (taking food it looks like). Also, my dwarf angel has picked at the anemone a couple of times...with no "stinging" or deterrent of any kind. Is this normal? Should I worry that the dwarf will get more confident and agressive toward the anemone?

Some Angels do this, does not cause undo harm to the anemone. Shrimps tend to be immune to the sting- that hard exoskeleton makes it nearly impossible for anemone's to sting them. But anemones can always sting, it's possible that someday youll wake up to a fat happy anemone and 1 less dwarf angel.

 

[Anonymous]

i put 1 bubble tip in 4 yrs ago i now have 14 all i have is 5 fluresent tubes they seem to move now and then till they find somewere they like

what size tank...height of bulbs off the substrate...type of florescent etc....?

It can be done, no one says it cant be, but at the parameters set forth in the original posting, it didnt seem like it was a good solution in the long term.

 

[Anonymous]

i put 1 bubble tip in 4 yrs ago i now have 14 all i have is 5 fluresent tubes they seem to move now and then till they find somewere they like

what size tank...height of bulbs off the substrate...type of florescent etc....?

It can be done, no one says it cant be, but at the parameters set forth in the original posting, it didnt seem like it was a good solution in the long term.

Actually, I'd say he's got 14 because they're stressing. Healthy anems don't usually split that much. It's not how many lights you have it's what type they are and how much par they give off.

 

[Anonymous]

i put 1 bubble tip in 4 yrs ago i now have 14 all i have is 5 fluresent tubes they seem to move now and then till they find somewere they like

what size tank...height of bulbs off the substrate...type of florescent etc....?

It can be done, no one says it cant be, but at the parameters set forth in the original posting, it didnt seem like it was a good solution in the long term.

Actually, I'd say he's got 14 because they're stressing. Healthy anems don't usually split that much. It's not how many lights you have it's what type they are and how much par they give off.

Thats a good point...I didnt know they split more often under stress.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeap, a stressed anem will split faster and more often than a healthy one.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeap, a stressed anem will split faster and more often than a healthy one.

cool...learned something new today...thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 30 ga. aquarium and I bought this light. I'm not sure if the light will be enough for anem's eventually. I don't have any now. It's a new tank and getting all the kinks out before I invest in anems. Do you think this is enough or should I get something else.

Specs of light:
new jebo ODyssea compact light, odyssea will replace the older model which is called the Jebo.

The NEW Features of the JEBO Odyssea 36"

COME WITH 1 96W DAYLIGHT 12K, AND 1 96W ANTINIC TOTAL OF 196WATTS

COME WITH TWO BUILT IN FAN

INCLUDE 1-PAIR OF FLIPABLE LIGHT LEGS

LIGHT BULBS COVERED WITH ACRYLIC SHIELD

TWO ON AND OFF SWITCHES

REFLECTORS FOR MORE REFRACTION INCLUDED

INCLUDE 3 MOONLIGHT LED NEW FEATURE

The Dimensions are: 38" X 8" X 2 3/4"

 

[david999]

my tank is 6 x2 x2 they are all healthy i feed them once a week they are home to my own bred common clowns i have 2 blue lights and 3 white circulation is 15 times per hr

 

[Anonymous]

cvp7900, no that is not enough light for most anenomes. You want either vho's or mh. And please wait at least a year before adding one. so that your tank can get truely established and stable.

david999, I'm glad all 14 of your anenomes are healthy. Would you please post a picture of them?

For the record, Anenomes split when their stressed due to improper lighting, water chemistry or diet. Most anenomes need better lighting than NO florescent or pc lighting. Some will do fine with it like condys (I have seen those wither and die under pc lighting tho) but the other types need suffencient amounts of par to remain healthy. A health BTA will grow to over 12" in diameter while carpets can reach up to 3' inour tank. No telling how large they can get in the wild.