Green Carpet Anemone Help/advice

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gomrjoe

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May 22, 2006
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Hi,

I am a new user to the forum, but not that new to the hobby. I purchased a Green Carpet Anemone about a month and a half ago, it had been doing great up until about 2 weeks ago. Now it has shrunk in size and moved off to the side of the tank. It is looking pretty pathetic these days. I have two perc clowns that it acts as a host for. They do nothing for it really, in fact they steel the food that I try to give it, such as frozen shrimp!
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Water tests: ph 8.3, specific grav 23, calcium and iodine relatively normal.
nitrates at 10-20, water change every 2 weeks like clock work.
lighting: compact floursecant
tank: 100 gal.
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Any advice or help that someone can share would be greatly appreciated, I am still checking out the rest of the forums, this place seems great!

Thanks in advance
 

Fishieness

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Jan 14, 2006
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gomrjoe said:
lighting: compact floursecant
that right there is your problem. an anenome like a carpet needs MH, or at least a lot of t5s. PCs arent going to do a lot. even if you have tons because they dont penetrate very deeply.
 

kcmo lawman

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Dec 10, 2004
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fishieness said:
that right there is your problem. an anenome like a carpet needs MH, or at least a lot of t5s. PCs arent going to do a lot. even if you have tons because they dont penetrate very deeply.
I too would agree. You need to upgrade your lighting to mh (metal halide) or take the anemone back to the lfs for credit. Most of the anemones need mh lighting in order to grow properly and/or just live.

Bradd
 

dorkfish

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Jul 25, 2005
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dose'nt matter what kind of light it is...


all that matters is if you have enough light.Not comepltly sure if it matters how you achiev this though, buy I know for sure it does'nt have to be any one type of light. I don't think it's actually been tested with identical setups with the only difference being the type of light (and the wattage the same).AND, if the light actually is'nt penetrating deep enough, couldn't he just move the anemone higher up in the tank?
 

Fishieness

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dorkfish said:
dose'nt matter what kind of light it is...


all that matters is if you have enough light.Not comepltly sure if it matters how you achiev this though, buy I know for sure it does'nt have to be any one type of light. I don't think it's actually been tested with identical setups with the only difference being the type of light (and the wattage the same).AND, if the light actually is'nt penetrating deep enough, couldn't he just move the anemone higher up in the tank?
no, he couldnt move it up enough because first off, the PAR on PCs are much lower than on MH to begin with, then the MH penetrate deeper, not only though the water, but though the air. a lot is lost jsut form those few inches. and a heck of a lot more with jsut the first inch of water. And what do you mean it hasnt been tested with everything identical but the type of light? And as far as having enough light, this is true, but for animals that demand high lighting levels, MH is the only availible option. For example, you arent going to be able to cram enough PCs on a 55 gallon to be able to house acros and carpets anywhere in your tank. However, one 250 watt halide and you will be able to keep them in about a 3 foot square anyqhere form the bottom to the top. And for the 6 inches on each side, that is where you put other corals that dont need as much. And i garentee that you cant do that with 260 watts of PC. even 4X96 watt PCs
 

gomrjoe

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May 22, 2006
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More info on my tank - RE: Green Carpet

Thanks for the replies everyone, here is some more info:

100 gal
385 total watts, 4 double pc's 2 actnic, 2 white
standard depth aquarium
approx. 75 lbs of rock
approx 110 lbs of sand

the first month was great, it was eating, the two perc clowns (which I bought at the same time, they were in the tank with it at the lfs), they sleep in it. I tested my nitrates again last night, they were at 20, I think that is too high for the more sensative corals and anemones. I think my wattage ratio is pretty good, not ideal, but respectable, what do you think?

the carpet hasn't eaten in two weeks, patially because the percs have suddenly started acting weird. One of them literally goes into the mouth of the carpet and takes the food out as it is starting to ingest the shrimp I give him, go figure? I thought clowns were supposed to live symbiotically?

Other info:
I have a huge frag of bubble coral that is doing very well in the tank. I also have a large frag of star polyp that is spreading faster than I know what to do with, and a small growing colony of pulsing xenia.

Fish:
1 coral beauty
1 pacific blue tang
1 yellow tang
2 perc clowns
1 diamond watchman goby
1 firefish
3 chromis
herm crabs, snails, 3 sand sifter stars

Any help or advice would be appreciated?
 

gomrjoe

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May 22, 2006
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Miami, FL.
lighting question - confused

Hey everyone, sorry the instant reply to my own message.

Now I am a little confused. I have 4- 36 inch dual PC fixtures for my tank. THey are the sunpaq dual 96 watt.

I bought the duals because I was under the impression, and still am from reading it, that each individual tube on the dual config is 96 watts. If that is the case, then my original wattage calculation was wrong, it was half of what I actually have. That would mean that I actually have 768 watts?

I know with the afore mentiond frag of bubble coral, when I first placed it in my tank, I placed it too high, I was actually burning it. Once I moved it down it opened up and as I mentioned before, is now thriving.

Does what I am saying make sense, or am I mis-informed, wouldn't be the first time.

Thanks again.
 

dorkfish

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look at the lightfixtures and count the bulbs, then you'll know how much light you have. About burning the bubble coral, what is the kelvin rating on the bulbs? 20,000 K bulbs will put out a lot of UV light wich is detrimental to pretty much everything , so if thats what you have I would suspect that as the cause of the coral burning.
 

gomrjoe

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May 22, 2006
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Miami, FL.
No, nothing above 20,000k, I know about that. Actually Bubble Coral is doing just fine now, it just would never open up in the beginning, for the first month. I moved it down to about mid level in my tank and as I said it is doing great!

My main concern is on the green carpet at this point. I am going to do a 20% water change tonight, but I just did one 3 days ago, and religously do them every 2 or 3 weeks!

Any ideas or thoughts on nitrate reducing filter media, and my 2 dillusional perc clowns?
 
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