Help Anemone Issue

jisha729

jisha729

AC Members
Jan 7, 2007
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Sugar Land & San Antonio
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I need help. I got a biocube about two months ago. I had previously went to a LFS and saw an anemone and told my boyfriend I wanted it but I wasn't really serious-- well I was serious, but I wasn't planning on getting him this just yet. Well, anyway my boyfriend surprised me with a bubble tip anemone last Saturday.

When I put him into the tank & he immediately found a spot and has stayed there since.

I did research and found out I should wait 12 months before getting an anemone so I am a lot worried. I also read that an open mouth is a bad sign...his mouth is open but not wide open...it looks as open as the slot you put a quarter in an arcade game. Is this normal? He is fully inflated, but has deflated about 3 times since I have had him. He currently has my clown fish hosting him. I notice a little brown stuff coming out of him.

Well, I am not really sure what normal anemone behavior is. My main concern is the brown stuff that I saw-- I read that he could be expelling zooxanthellae but then I also read it could be waste. I hope that someone with a BTA could give me some insight and tips on keeping him happy and healthy!!

I hope people don't attack me for getting him because it is too late -- my focus is keeping him healthy and alive! Thanks!
 
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12 months? I had not heard that before. I just lost one of mine, but I dont think it was due to water conditions or the like, he just never latched onto anything from the day I got him and generally found him sitting face down in the sand, even when healthy. I'd give him some time to correct himself before i'd move him, but generally he never did.

Anyway, my bubble tip is super healthy, happy, stationary, and hosting a porcelain crab atm. That said, I have a 75g with sump and refugium so that gives me an advantage obviously.

The brown stuff is his discharge, he has no anus, the clown should clean that up for him, or it will just drift away eventually

The closing up is either when he's eating usually, night time, or discharging. Totally normal. Mine usually has his mouth a tiny bit open, i don't think they can really shut it tight, so I would think yours is fine.
 
That's a super long time...as long as its open and stays in a spot then it's probably happy.
 
Sounds like all healthy behaviors to me too.
 
12 months is typically recommended as ppl tend to rush in to getting nems before their tank is mature enough and they have knowledge enough to support them. i personally say a tank should be at least 6 months before getting a nem. that being said it sounds like the what you are seeing in your nem is perfectly normal. often times my rbta's mouth is a tad open as well, they should just never be gaping. nems can look very different day to day, sometimes looking very deflated with brownish goo being expelled (waste indeed). as long as your nem has found a nice place to plant it's foot and is getting sufficient light (what kind of light is on your biocube - not just the cf i hope?) it should be fine. you may want to feed it pieces of silverside via tongs once a week or so to keep it happy. what size cube is it? honestly most nems really need at least 40g IMO as they do tend to get quite large... i recently upgraded from a 37g to a 75g and much of the reason for the upgrade was because my rbta was getting just too big for the tank...
 
salty420 said:
12 months is typically recommended as ppl tend to rush in to getting nems before their tank is mature enough and they have knowledge enough to support them. i personally say a tank should be at least 6 months before getting a nem. that being said it sounds like the what you are seeing in your nem is perfectly normal. often times my rbta's mouth is a tad open as well, they should just never be gaping. nems can look very different day to day, sometimes looking very deflated with brownish goo being expelled (waste indeed). as long as your nem has found a nice place to plant it's foot and is getting sufficient light (what kind of light is on your biocube - not just the cf i hope?) it should be fine. you may want to feed it pieces of silverside via tongs once a week or so to keep it happy. what size cube is it? honestly most nems really need at least 40g IMO as they do tend to get quite large... i recently upgraded from a 37g to a 75g and much of the reason for the upgrade was because my rbta was getting just too big for the tank...
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My biocube is a 14 gallon. I have the standard lights that came with the biocube -- which is also another question I was wondering about.....please let me know what to do about my lighting so that my anemone will be happy -- I hope that me getting an anemone this soon won't be detrimental...how long did you wait before you got yours?? Thanks for your help!
 
jisha729 said:
Also, my tentacles look more bubbly than most pictures I see of other people's BTAs...is there a reason for this??
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it's really happy? I've read that it varies from animal to animal and the size of the bubble doesn't matter. ;) Post some pics for us!
 
jisha729 said:
My biocube is a 14 gallon. I have the standard lights that came with the biocube -- which is also another question I was wondering about.....please let me know what to do about my lighting so that my anemone will be happy -- I hope that me getting an anemone this soon won't be detrimental...how long did you wait before you got yours?? Thanks for your help!
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It's definitely going to outgrow the 14g. I'd plan on upgrading the tank at some point.

In terms of lights, definitely going to need to upgrade if the "standard" is the cf. I thought there might be a version with metal halide, but I can't remember for sure.
 
To my knowledge, all the BioCubes have PC lighting. The only way to go halide is with one of those mod kits. I've heard good things about www.nanotuners.com , or you could run the tank open top and get a Sunpod or something... but honestly, I'd just upgrade the tank rather than throw down all that cash for a halide kit when the nem will outgrow the tank anyway, plus cooling the tank will be a big issue. Either that or see if you can return it. The power compacts won't keep it happy long term, I don't think.
 
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