Anemone advice for a new keeper

[chrissfoot]

I have posted this already in the new to the hobby forum but they advised me to post here so I'm hoping someone can help.

A month or so ago, my mother turned up with an anemone from the LFS for me as a gift. My tank was way too young (only 2 months!) but what could I say when she turned up with it!

Since then the anemone has not done all that well. I think it was pretty bleached when I got it and doesn't seem to have got better. I have an aquaray grobeam 600 (left over from a tropical tank some time ago) directly above the anenome and have just added a 30 watt led floodlight also pointed in it's direction. At first it was feeding well, taking mussels without any effort but recently it has been unable to hold onto food unless I turn the pumps completely off though it will then eat successfully and doesn't spit anything out afterwards. It moved around a little when I first got it but refused to move across sand to any other rocks. It settled after a couple of days right under my rotating pump outlet and it gets really blown about!

One thing that particularly worries me is that it's stomach seems to bubble out sometimes, I have attached a picture of it in this state. There isn't a hole when it does this, just a bubble where the mouth usually is. Other than this it seems to go through a cycle of completely opening up and completely closing. Other times it completely deflates it's tentacles, they go really stringy though the base stays inflated all the time.

My clowns seem to love it and started hosting only a day after it was put into the tank!

I have no ammonia or nitrates. Though my ph has been rapidly falling and I've been having to drip kalkwasser in to keep it above 8. I have tried the outdoor aeration test with little difference and I have a skimmer running constantly. I've done a couple of 25% water changes (with ro water). The only other thing is that I think my salinity is a little low (1.023).

So can anyone offer any advice on how I might be able to nurse this anenome back to health. I'm really new to reefkeeping so any advice would be much appreciated. Additionally, can anyone identify what species the anenome might be?

 

[GT350pwns]

definitely need to raise your salinity to ~1.025. All the advice I can give with my limited knowledge, some other folks should chime in shortly!

also, are you getting adequate surface agitation? Your gas exchange may not be sufficient which can cause a problem with the chronic low pH

you may have to remove the nem to a separate "hospital tank" to treat it with medication.

 

[davocean]

I'm pretty certain that is a mag/ritteri, but would be nice to have confirmation on that, I'm fairly new to this particular species myself.
That bump you see is on mine as well, and I don't think that in itself is anything to be concerned about.
My exp w/ bleached nems is it seems best to not give such strong light until they have recovered a little bit, build up some zooxanthallae so they can actually process that light.
I would be inclined to lessen lights, or use eggcrate/light diffuser to shade that area until you begin to see darker colors/beige color, then slowly increase light.
Small feedings like mysis usually aid in recovery of bleached nems, and that is what I would keep to for a while.
What you want to watch for is deflation, that would call for more dramatic care and need for QT/cipro.

 

[nemmy]

Looks pretty healthy besides being bleached. Does it ever go 100% limp like a pancake?

Davocean gave very good advice that I agree with. I also second his ID of it. They are one of the hardest to keep species but hands down one of the coolest.

 

[bjledbetter]

I'll agree with the Mag Id. It is most defiantly bleached and needs some tlc.If it is deflating that is not a good thing. Read the sticky at the top of the forum page about cipro and be ready to treat. Mags are the second only to gigantea in hardest to keep. Also I'm concerned about your lighting not being enough as well. Mags like as much lighting as they can possibly get. Most are kept under MH or a large bank of t5's Watch out for the pump you don't want to end up with chopped nem floating in your tank

 

[davocean]

Yeah on his other post w/ only two pics I first thought LTA as well, except tentacles are fairly blunt, and in showing OP my LTA base he says no spots.
Also it moved from sand to rock on placement.
The base/column is more orange than mine, but I've seen mags w/ that color base, so I'm pretty sure that is what it is.
Deflation is the biggy if that is actually what you are seeing.

 

[chrissfoot]

It's only the tentacles that deflate, the body does not deflate at all and it's only usually for a couple of minutes at a time. It doesn't seem to have done it at all for the last couple of days.

It seems like it would be quite difficult to feed mysis when it's not really sticky, bear in mind that this thing is a good 5 inches across. It seems to accept the frozen mussels I have been feeding it. I do have some frozen squid which is much smaller if that would be better. How would I go about feeding mysis? I've been hand feeding it with the larger food up until now. Is it better to feed in the light or the dark?

It's definitely not reacting to food the way it did when it first arrived. It would happily grab the mussels and not let go despite the strong currents but now it barely reacts and the only way to feed is to leave the food on top of it with the pumps off. It does swallow the food after 10 minutes or so though without any further help.

 

[chrissfoot]

Taking a look around the web at lots of pictures of Heteractis magnifica it definitely looks like that is what it is. I have seen a few pictures that look almost exactly the same (though with obviously much darker tentacles).

It does seem to have improved a little since I got the flood light installed pointing at it, I'd tentatively say that might well have been when it stopped deflating. It just looks a little happier! Can you give me any specifics in terms of light readings I should be aiming for at it's current perch? I have a light meter that can do par, lux and kelvin that I will test with tomorrow when the lighting is all back on.

Nothing else in my tank is particularly light sensitive so everything is aimed directly at the nem!

I'll keep an eye on it in terms of pumps. It's a drilled system with a weir that it would not be able to get over even if it tried but I do have some circulation pumps high up the glass though it hasn't shown any signs of wondering for a while.

The only other thing I should mention is that when it arrived I had a few aiptasia and it settled right on top of a reasonable sized one for a couple of days, could this have damaged it?

 

[nemmy]

I'd keep doing what you are doing. Just don't feed it too often or undigested food can go bad in its stomach-y-thing.

If its new to the tank and its not deflating long or very often I'd start keeping a close eye on it. Mine will from time to time have some tentacles go somewhat deflated but when you see it pancake you will know it and that's when you really have a problem. If you find it deflating for extended periods of time and pancaking you need to treat it.

 

[davocean]

I doubt the aptasia did anything.
if you keep feeding what you have that should be fine, but just very small pieces and not too often.

 

[OrionN]

FWIW. I fed my Magnifica live oyster. Of course I shelled the oyster and he deflated. I also feed him clams with same result. I have not feed my anemone she'll fish since. Consider feed him small pieces of fish but only ever 3 rd days or less often

 

[hecdr34]

I see you have a 3D background that is usually used in freshwater tanks? Was this tank used as a freshwater setup before this? I ask because most freshwater meds contain copper and that could be leaking in your tank now. Just a thought

 

[nemmy]

I see you have a 3D background that is usually used in freshwater tanks? Was this tank used as a freshwater setup before this? I ask because most freshwater meds contain copper and that could be leaking in your tank now. Just a thought

Woahh good catch. That could be a serious issue.

 

[davocean]

Having problems keeping any other inverts, shrimps and such?
Is that one of those foamy backgrounds in tank?
Even if no copper present they are a nitrate sink.

 

[D-Nak]

I see you have a 3D background that is usually used in freshwater tanks? Was this tank used as a freshwater setup before this? I ask because most freshwater meds contain copper and that could be leaking in your tank now. Just a thought

I noticed that as well. I recommend removing it even if it says it's safe for saltwater as sometimes they may leach chemicals that could be harmful to sensitive inverts, as well as absorbing chemicals that you used for the freshwater set up.

Regarding feeding, much like when people are sick and doctors recommend a BRAT diet, I recommend feeding bleached nems relatively easy to digest food -- fish without bones such as tuna chunks (sushi grade raw tuna, not the canned stuff!) or raw salmon, or chopped up chunks of shrimp. I avoid shellfish as Orion mentioned, but scallops seem to be the exception.

 

[davocean]

Scallops are my main spot feed, and usually means I eat well that night as well!
All my nems responded well to scallop, again, very small pieces.

 

[chrissfoot]

The background has exclusively been used in this tank and it's solid with no space behind. We were thinking of replacing it anyway however once we can decide what to replace it with because it looks pretty awful to be honest!

I will avoid the mussels for now then. They were what my LFS said was best for it! I have a load of spare frozen squid that my fish won't go near, would that be any good?

 

[D-Nak]

The background has exclusively been used in this tank and it's solid with no space behind. We were thinking of replacing it anyway however once we can decide what to replace it with because it looks pretty awful to be honest!

I will avoid the mussels for now then. They were what my LFS said was best for it! I have a load of spare frozen squid that my fish won't go near, would that be any good?

Squid is usually rubbery, which leads me to think that it would take a lot of energy for the nem to digest it. Given its condition, I would choose a different food. Once it gets better -- in terms of gaining a healthy zooxanthellae population -- I would then think about trying to feed it squid.

 

[bjledbetter]

Frozen Krill from lfs, and shrimp from the grocery are what I feed all of my nems.

 

[chrissfoot]

I have krill cubes for my fish, can I just pop it on the nem frozen? Once defrosted I'm not confident that it would be able to catch such small pieces in its present state. I did see my clowns take it some mysis this morning though I don't think it held onto it. I've got frozen shrimp too so I'll give that a go tonight.