Anemone help!!

[wdflier]

Ok, so i bought an anenome for my tank. It is a sebae anemone and was told that it would be fairly easy to keep. I only asked as i am fairly new to the reef business and now how sensitive water quality can be. I have had the little guy for a bout 2 weeks now and think it is on its last leg. It has shrunk to about the size of a golgball now and is looks completely deflated. I did try the smell test and it seems to smell like sea water. I havent noticed the horrible smell i read about. Also, this morning i noticed that there seemed to be a small pin hole in the back of the anemone and a milky substance seemed to be coming out of it. Yesterday, it seemed as if it was going to turn inside out. Is this thing dead?

water parameters

ph 8.3
cal 380
alk 13
salinity 1.025
mg 1290
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <5

55g tank with 216w lighting (108w florescent/108w actnic sp)
bought this tank used-had been running for 2 yrs....water change after purchase and move.

sorry but i do not have pictures, but I plan on pulling it from the tank to avoid it killing the rest of the inhabitants. I will check ammonia level later when i get off of work. Hope he dont destroy the tank. I really hope he isnt dead and just a part of his life cycle, but i dont think so.

On a different note, in the future does anyone have a suggestion on a hardier type of anemone

thanks

 

[wdflier]

ok so today i got home and my ammonia is zero....and the anemone is not dead, but it does not look healthy. Removed it from the tank to avoid a catastrophe and see if i cannot nurse it back to health. seemed to deflate when the lights were off and starts to turn out as well. when lights are on you can see the tentacles begin to move around... am hoping it will bounce back

 

[Toddrtrex]

What color was the anemone? If it was white, it was bleached, and should have been avoided. And assuming that this was/is an H. Crispa, if it was yellow, it was most likely dyed, and should have been avoided.

 

[wdflier]

it did look white with a yellow tint and purple tips when i initially purchased it. won't make that mistake again

:crazy1:

 

[Nebthet]

That sounds similar to the color of the one small one I purchased a little over a month ago now that I have been nursing back to health. If it only had a yellow tint, but not the bright yellow coloring then it is more than likely only bleached.

If you can, put it in an in tank plastic holder or one of those fabric breeding nets, and feed it a couple of really tiny pellets, mysis shrimp and very finely chopped up other meaty items every other day then you can keep it near the surface and watch it as well as keep crabs away from it when you are trying to feed it as well as get rid of any excess uneaten items easily.

If the light is too much on one of those, find some old window and cut a few layers of the screening to put over top to filter the light some so you are not bleaching it further.

I made a thread here, "The slow healing of a sebae" http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1882109
and I am documenting the progress of mine. It is in an area that is hard to photograph but it is slowly healing and gaining the zooxanthellae back in it's tentacles and turning brown on a few of them.

When it starts to improve you will see a couple of tentacles begin to darken and it will very slowly spread.

 

[wdflier]

thanks for the information.......did not know that it was light that bleached the anemone and not a chemical induced bleaching....learning something new about these these animals every day

 

[Nebthet]

Actually there are several causes to the bleaching on these nems. From light bleaching, chemical and many of them once harvested, especially in Bali, they put them in the dark for an extended period of time until they expel most of their zooxanthellae so that the nem will have the noticeable purple tipped white color or they can dye them better.
It is all about marketing. Not many people want to buy a brown turd looking anemone when they can have one that has really bright colors.

 

[wdflier]

well the bad news has finally hit.....the nem has bit the dust...poor thing...think im gonna wait awhile to get another one, but ill be better prepared for the next one.

:eek2: