Sick Anemone

[bob60070@msn.co]

I have a Heteractis Magnifica Anemone. I bought if with a mated pair of Maroon Clowns. The clowns took to the anemone right after acclamation. When I added these things to my tank my light was substandard. I had a 2x40 watt fixture, the guy from the LFS told me that was OK. It was not OK, the poor anemone began to shrink and them real looking bad. The tentacles shrank and were looking dead. This took about a week or so for it to become noticeable but then it really was declining very quickly. I did change my lighting to a 4x9 VHO fixture after about 2 weeks. The anemone responded with in the first day and about a week later the trunk had become pretty large and so did some of the tentacles but most of the tentacles did not come back. The clowns, especially the lager one (1 1/2 inches), are really pushing at the anemone. I talked to a guy from another LFS and he told that the clowns could be hurting the anemone. He recomended that I get another anemone and the clowns would go to the new one and leave the sick one alone to recover.
I am tired of taking advice from these guys who something to sell.
I do like the idea of getting another one and I have plenty of room, I have a 75g tank with 50 lbs of live rock.
Does anyone think getting another anemone is a good idea?
Thanks

[Reefscape]

I have a Heteractis Magnifica Anemone. I bought if with a mated pair of Maroon Clowns. The clowns took to the anemone right after acclamation. When I added these things to my tank my light was substandard. I had a 2x40 watt fixture, the guy from the LFS told me that was OK. It was not OK, the poor anemone began to shrink and them real looking bad. The tentacles shrank and were looking dead. This took about a week or so for it to become noticeable but then it really was declining very quickly. I did change my lighting to a 4x9 VHO fixture after about 2 weeks. The anemone responded with in the first day and about a week later the trunk had become pretty large and so did some of the tentacles but most of the tentacles did not come back. The clowns, especially the lager one (1 1/2 inches), are really pushing at the anemone. I talked to a guy from another LFS and he told that the clowns could be hurting the anemone. He recomended that I get another anemone and the clowns would go to the new one and leave the sick one alone to recover.
I am tired of taking advice from these guys who something to sell.
I do like the idea of getting another one and I have plenty of room, I have a 75g tank with 50 lbs of live rock.
Does anyone think getting another anemone is a good idea?
Thanks


Hi....can you be a bit specific about your lighting? i think its a typo above.

I would not go and buy another anemone at this point, but concentrate on getting this one to recover. Yes, sometimes, active clowns can have a bit of a negative effect on a sick nem..What are all your current water parameters? What are you feeding the nem? how often? any chance you could supply a photograph of said anemone??

[archer772]

Maroon Clowns can be very ruff on anemones and Heteractis Magnifica Anemone can be one of the most difficult nems to keep. I think your lighting is still low if you have T-12 VHO's, in my opinion they need T-5's or MH's. I dont think a 75 would be big enough for 2 nems because you should never mix anemones and your magnifica can get pretty big.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Sea_Anemone

[bob60070@msn.co]

Thanks for replying. To correct my original post my new lighting is T-5's 4x96 Watt
One True Actinic 03 blue and three 10,000°K bulbs.
My water parameters:
Salinity – 1.025
Temperature – 78F
pH - 8.3
Ammonia - not detectable
Nitrate – not detectable
Nitrite – not detectable

I have some photos they were taken in dark with a flash so color is muted.

[Ace25]

Just recently I have seen CFL lights marked at "T5" lights on the package. Really bugs me they have started doing this. While yes, it is T5 in diameter, it is not to be confused with T5HO lights. 4x96 sounds like a CFL wattage, not a T5HO wattage.

If you got CFL lights unfortunately IMO they are not enough for an anemone in that size of a tank. You really need something like 6 or 8 54w T5HO bulbs for the anemone to be happy.

[bob60070@msn.co]

I am sorry, I am new to the hobby and I do not have a handle on all the terminology. The lights are not T5's, although they are T5 in size. They are CFLs and there are 4 96 watt bulbs or tubes. My tank is 75g and my lighting is more than 5 watts per gallon. You recommend 6 or 8 54w T5HO bulbs, the 6 54w is substantially less and the 8 is just a little more. I am confused with this.

[Ace25]

Watts does not mean anything in aquarium terms. Only thing that is even close to helpful are PAR ratings, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, which is the amount of light that comes out that the corals can use for growth.

1 96w CFL bulbs puts out around 65 PAR
1 54w T5HO bulb puts out around 150 PAR

Now do that math with those numbers in mind. It is better to divide your PAR number to your gallons. For me, I like to get around 10 PAR per gallon to been considered good lighting. :)

[bob60070@msn.co]

I have done a little research and everything I find tells me the the Power Compact Fluorescents are the best next to MH. I guess I need to do mire research. Thank you for your help.

[Ace25]

Lighting for aquariums goes.. from worst to best..

T-12 Flourescent -- Compact Flourecent -- T5HO/LED (Solaris I4) -- Metal Halide

[bob60070@msn.co]

Well I guess I screwed up on the lighting. But question still remains, If I get another anemone will the clown leave the current one?

[archer772]

I believe you biggest problem is lighting and the fact that your anemone is one of the hardest to keep so adding another will not help. Improving your lighting is the best thing you can do and mixing anemones will only cause more problems than you already have. You might try feeding it every day until you can get better lighting or find someone to take it that has the proper lighting for nems, sorry but thats JMO

[Blossom112]

I have a purple tipped and 2 cowns , everything seems ok , they are always around the anmone ,i do find they steal food from him tho , i use raw frozen shrimp cut small and thawed and get it as close to the mouth as i can so the clowns cant steal it lol
I have corallife 2x10,000 65watts 2x actenic 65watts , and everything is thriving.
90gl /20gl sump


http://i29.tinypic.com/mw6wj8.jpg

[bob60070@msn.co]

Thanks. My anemone is doing better everyday. It has been 2 days since I posted and it has shown vast improvements even in that short time.
Thanks to all who replied, I learned a lot and I know I have a lot more to learn.