Anemone color question...

[Doomed]

My anemone has slowly changed color over the time I've had it.. Anyone know why?? It split a few weeks ago but it had changed color before that. Ive had it for about 6 months. Here are a couple pics. (There not the best, but you can get an idea.)

When I first got it it looked like this:

Here are some from today, its even brighter pink in person:

 

[The REeFFers]

what do you feed it ?

 

[Doomed]

I feed it mysis shrimp and small pieces of frozen regular shrimp once a week.

 

[Doomed]

^ Not both the same day. Just one or the other. ^

 

[elegance coral]

It's bleached.
What lighting do you have?
How old is the tank?
Do you test your water? If so, what are the readings?

 

[Doomed]

I'm positive it's not bleached. My LFS has a tank the is dedicated to growing these anemones.

My light consists of 2 metal halides, 4 T5s, and 4 LEDs for the night. The lighting of the tank I came out of only had T5s.

The tank has been setup in November 13th 2009

 

[Doomed]

Oh and yes I test my water weekly

Calcium: 450
Alkalinity: 16
Salinity: 1.025
Phosphate: .5
Nitrate: 12.5
No Ammonia
No Nitrites

 

[elegance coral]

I don't know how to convince you of this, but your anemone is bleached. Probably because the lights are to bright, or it wasn't acclimated to them slow enough. Good luck. I do hope you can turn it around.

 

[ocellaris123]

Yeah, as elegance coral said, it is bleached, and i'm 100% sure of it. Be sure to offer extra feedings of finely shredded mysis or krill until it recovers.

 

[Gold Stripe]

Is that alk 16 dkh? Thats a bit high.

 

[2Addicted]

I'm positive it's not bleached.

Its bleached. pretty bad

 

[Toddrtrex]

Like others have said, it is bleached. In fact, it is a great example of an anemone bleaching.

 

[Doomed]

Damn. Thanks guys. I'm gonna have to have a word with the guy at my LFS. If I'd of known I wouldn't have bought it..

 

[ThunderOKC]

I think we need to be more clear here when people is using the term - bleached. Are we saying the LFS bleached the anemone to the color he bought it as, and then it turned to the true color after the bleached color faded? Or are we saying that it is a natural process that the lighting and/or other factors bleached the anemone, meaning it lost it color? We wouldn't want to point blame at the LFS without knowing for sure what you guys are meaning with that word - bleached. I don't think the LFS is at fault. Something bleached the anemone, and I take it as a meaning that the anemone lost it colors. What can he do to restore? Can you guys help him with that?

 

[Gold Stripe]

"Damn. Thanks guys. I'm gonna have to have a word with the guy at my LFS. If I'd of known I wouldn't have bought it."

"I think we need to be more clear here when people is using the term - bleached. Are we saying the LFS bleached the anemone to the color he bought it as, and then it turned to the true color after the bleached color faded? Or are we saying that it is a natural process that the lighting and/or other factors bleached the anemone, meaning it lost it color? We wouldn't want to point blame at the LFS without knowing for sure what you guys are meaning with that word - bleached. I don't think the LFS is at fault. Something bleached the anemone, and I take it as a meaning that the anemone lost it colors. What can he do to restore? Can you guys help him with that?"

I think you are confusing "Bleached" with "Dyed". I dont think anyone is saying that the anemone was dyed. It appears to be a healthy rose anemone in the first pic but it is obviously bleached in the remaining pics. Dont know if its insufficient lighting or excessive lighting but it is absolutely failing to thrive. We would need more info on tank dimensions, bulb watt, type and age and other parameters to determine what the problem might be.

 

[Doomed]

Well my tank is 4 feet wide, 18 inches from front to back, and about 30 inches tall. (I can't really tell for sure because of the base and canopy.) Its a 110 gallon RR tank made by marineland with a sump. I have 2 #3 Koralia power heads. 180 pounds of live rock with different corals and mushrooms.

Here is the light i have. I have the 4 foot version of course. It say the metal halides are 150 watts.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=20394

I keep the tank at 80 degrees.

 

[Toddrtrex]

What are your water parameters -- with numbers.

I don't think the lights are the issue at this point.

 

[Doomed]

Oh and yes I test my water weekly

Calcium: 450
Alkalinity: 16
Salinity: 1.025
Phosphate: .5
Nitrate: 12.5
PH 8.2
No Ammonia
No Nitrites

Is this what your asking for? If not I'm not sure I understand what your wanting..

 

[Gold Stripe]

I'm certainly not an expert but if I were gonna guess I would go with lighting and alk. Generally speaking, 150s are not near enough for a 30 inch deep tank. Most go with 250s on 24 inch tanks and 400s on 30+. And alk of 16 dkh is high. Normal suggested range is 9-11. Beyond that I dont see much in the way of trouble. Good luck.

 

[Gold Stripe]

The reason I say lighting is that you would be surprised how fast par drops when traveling through water. Thats one of the reasons a lot of people run carbon, to keep the water as crystal clear as possible. 150s are, in my opinion, quite undersized for a 30 inch deep tank with anything more than soft corals. Also, you indicated that you have had the nem for 6 months and by looking at it without any other info I would have first guessed a slow starvation from light. I hope you can figure it out and save that guy because he is, or was, a beautiful anemone.