help help help!

[marinemad]

help i got my first anemone at weekend he was fine but today well have a look one minute i think he is goner next think maybe be ok!
he ate yesterday, amonia0,nitrate0,nitrite0,ph8.2,mag1170 bit low!kh 10 bit high!cal1450 is this the prob?


http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg289/clairewill4/sick002.jpg

this was it at weekend

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg289/clairewill4/aenome001.jpg

[marinemad]

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg289/clairewill4/sick002.jpg
this it today

[salty420]

anemone's have many faces as i say. they may look very different day to day, hour to hour. when they poop for example they deflate and look extremely pathetic to the point where most ppl who are unfamiliar think they are dying. yours looks fine to me tho it seems like it may be bleached..? your calcium is very very high - why is that??

[marinemad]

we been trying to correct these levels, it was very very low! and took me a while to get it up the saifert test says this is an ok level???? same with the mag and kh trying to get it all settled! can you give me more info on if its bleached?

[mandy21]

what kind of lighting do you have? How long has your tank been set up?

[marinemad]

tank running with us for 5 months its second hand runnig for 2 years with last owner we bought the lot water rock etc and moved the lot!
upgraded the lights we got 2 400w halides so more than enough lol!
anyway panick over aenome fell off rock we moved it a little along sand and he has now attached to different rock and opened up!! and even better my clowns are in!!

[salty420]

is the nem new or did you get it with the tank as well? i wouldn't think it should be bleached if it's been under those lights but it really appears pretty white to me like it's been lacking sufficient light. your calcium is way high stop dosing!

[marinemad]

i have stopped dosing what level should it ? the sailfert tests say this ok!
bad news today he is looking bad again shrivelled at one side and wierd lumpy withe with brown stuff coming out his mouth! is this poo? or his insides? just bought him at the weekend from lfs maybe there lights not strong enough? what can i do to help him?

[marinemad]

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg289/clairewill4/eiw002.jpg
help!!!!

[Grins]

I shoot for about a 420-450 ppm calcium reading.

And that last photo looks like the anemone is perhaps on its way out. Looks like the mouth is gaping and there is maybe a scavenger on it?

[rdfriend]

That's too bad. I agree with Grins that with the mouth looking like that it is a bad sign. Just curious, in the weekend pic it looks nice but it also looks like the mouth is open there also. Was it like that when you got it? Also, while I don't believe lighting is your issue in this case I believe 4x watts to the gal is the minimum for anemones and if your 800w of MH is all you are running I would think that you would need 880w min. I of course am still a complete newb after just over a year of this hobby. Or is that a complete boob?:grinyes:

[salty420]

yes really your lighting is minimal for a nem (i wasn't really paying attention to how large your tank is) and looking back at the pics- was the mouth gaping when you bought the nem? maybe this creature was doomed when you purchased it...

[marinemad]

well he is dead now and out the tank! yes he was like that when we got him will be waiting a while before we try another.
anyone else we have spoken too say we have plenty light?? i will have to research again but most say we have more than enough! not putting on more our elec bill too high already!

[Ace25]

If you are running 2 400's on a 220G then I feel you do have plenty of light. Please don't ever go by the "watts per gallon" rule.. because it really is not a rule at all, nor should anyone think of trying to follow that. "PAR per gallon" rule I think is a much better rule to go by. Do you know the brand of bulbs you are running? Kelvin rating?

A single 400w MH can put out around 800 PAR on average, depending on ballast and bulb. So a rough guess, your running 1600 PAR / 220 = 7.25 PAR per gallon. More than enough for an anemone, although I personally try to shoot for 10 PAR per gallon to be able to have all types of corals. This is just the rule I go by.. 12 years of experience has taught me it is a pretty good rule to try and follow. It isn't the absolute final rule as far as lighting goes, but PAR is the best test we can go by for lighting and our hobby at this time.

[marinemad]

thanks ace that puts my mind at rest x