anemone help

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Joey D

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Jun 15, 2003
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I have in my little 10 gallon tank a bubble tip anemone and a carpet anemone. I use a 6000k 50/50 actinic light. My water temp is usually at about 80 degrees. For some odd reason, i cannot keep bubble anemones healthy and alive but my carpets always seem to do very well. I do the weekly water changes, i also maintain a good salt(1.20-1.24) and Ph(8.0-8.4) level and ammonia and nitrite are always in trace ammounts. I have been told by valuable resources that bubble tip anemones thrive in water temps of 76-78 and start wilting around 80 degrees whereas carpet anemones thrive in most water temperatures.
Any help would be appreciated.
 

gcvt

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Hi Joey and welcome to AC!

If you have detectable levels of ammonia and nitrite, it doesn't sound like your tank has finished cycling yet.

Also, a specific gravity fluctuating between 1.020 and 1.024 isn't good. You SG should be rock steady; anemones are extremely sensitive to changes in SG. Same thing goes for pH - it should be as steady as possible.

How long has the tank been set up?
 

Joey D

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anemone help reply

Well, my tank has been setup for at least a year now, and nitrite and ammonia levels are always very low or undetectable. The ph does change slightly because sometimes i will use the instant ocean salt and sometimes i will use actual ocean water i get from my retailer. I have just been told that bubble anemones dont like temps above 76-78 degress, but carpet ones do just fine in a wide range of temps. My tank is currently at 80 degrees, and i dont have a chiller. I take very good care of the water quality in my tank, and the fish and carpet anamone do just fine. But every bubble anemone i get tends to shrivel and shrink and eventually lose its tentacles. As far as lighting goes, I use a single 50/50 actinic light, but was recently told to get a compact flourescent.
 

gcvt

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Re: anemone help reply

Originally posted by Joey D
...nitrite and ammonia levels are always very low or undetectable.
Ammonia and nitrite are extremely toxic to fish and inverts. Any detectable ammonia or nitrite can kill.

Originally posted by Joey D
As far as lighting goes, I use a single 50/50 actinic light, but was recently told to get a compact flourescent.
How many watts is your current 50/50? Anemones require very intense lighting so this may definitely be contributing to your problem.
 

OrionGirl

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Another possibility is that carpet anemones are very aggressive, and in such a small tank, the bubble can't get far enough away to avoid the carpet.

A carpet anemone will easily outgrow a 10.
 

Joey D

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thanks for the info

Thanks for the info guys. My anemone has been responding well since I have lowered the water temp to about 77 and when the lights are out it looks good. But, when the lights go on, it starts to wilt. I am going to order a more intense bulb for my lamp.
 

Ray Pollett

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Awestralian,

"Wouldnt that tell you to order a light not so intense?
If it wilts when the lights go on, that says to me there is too much light for it."

Come on now, you know common sense is not allowed here!
:D

Ray
 

Kit Walker

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I was also going to suggest what oriongirl said. A 10g is a small tank and the carpet anenome has a much superior sting to the bubble anenome. Bubble tips move a lot when the lights are out, so I'd say there is a high chance your bubbles are wandering into the carpet, or the carpet is attacking your bubble. In a 10g there really isn't any room for one when to keep away from the other, and I think they can chemically detect each other.
 

Joey D

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setting my anemone record straight!

Ok guys, here's what's going down. I found that even after I replaced my 15 watt actininc 50/50 with a 32 watt power compact, my bubble anemone still didn't respond well, in fact it responded worse. What i did find out is that once i turned the rock upside down that the anemone was attached to, thus blocking the light from it, it opened fully and has been looking better and better each day. This anemone has no color so maybe it lost it's tolerance(during shipping) to intense light? Now, my carpet anemone is centered in the tank and receives full light and loves the new light and is getting its green color back. Keep this in mind: WHEN YOU PURCHASE AN ANEMONE, AND IT MOVES TO A NEW LOCATION, THAT IS WHERE IT LIKES TO BE, EVEN IF IT'S OUT OF SIGHT. My problem is that i kept putting it back in the center so i could keep my eyes on it. By the way, my local retailer has huge carpet and bubble anemones side by side in his reef display and no such stinging of one another seems to be going on. It's a mystery of the world. One more thing, for full bad ass info on fish, from lighting to skimming, to anemones, coral, and to fish compatability, check out "peteducation.com". It has more info than you'll ever need.
 
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