anemone okay?

[katarina]

I just bought a setup off of Craigs list. This is what I have (I think please correct me if I am wrong)

I have a 40 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump, bioballs and a protien skimmer.
A heater
a 4 bulb light fixture 36 W each with one large reflector ( I think they are T5s) I have attached a picture of the bulb. Two are white and two are blue.
There is a power head but I took it out because everything seemed to dislike it.
4" live sand bed
A lot of live rock.... I have attached a picture

ammonia is 0
nitrites are 0
PH is 8.2
Temperature is 79'F
All lights are on about 9 hours... Just the blue are on 4 hours or so.

I have a green chromis, two false perculas(I think), a LTA (I think), one head of frog spawn and arious volunteer feather dusters and sponges.

The LTA looked very bad when I got it. It was cream and darker cream but now it is a light brownish orange color. The lady I bought it from said that it never settled for her in 6 months and that she did not feed it. I do feed it and it has been in the same spot in the sand for a week now. It eats mysis, blood worms and flake food. The mouth is open and that is what worries me. Sometimes it is less open than others but it is never what I would call tightly closed. Is there anything else I can do? It has pooped twice and there is no foot damage.

*I have tried to attach pics but I keep getting the message that the server is busy. Any info that you can give with the info provided would be appreciated. The lights have 4 straight pins in a line in one end with two thin tubes, about a half inch wide sticking out.

 

[katarina]

Ahhha Got them

 

[bradleym]

The bulbs are PC, or power compact, bulbs FYI. And if you only have 1 white one, it might not be enough light for the LTA. Other than that, you might just wanna do a couple water changes, say 10 gallons every couple days to get things straightened out. 4 or 5 should make a big difference. Since the tank's new to you it might be a good idea just to start erasing any bad history in the water.

 

[bradleym]

And BTW, welcome to Reef Central!

 

[katarina]

Thanks Bradley! I have two of the white bulbs. I have been changing 15 gallons per week. I'll try the 10 gallons every few days and see if that perks it up. Thanks for the advice and the welcome

 

[bradleym]

15 is good too but I would just do a couple real frequent changes. Like every other day or every 3 days. That way you'll get ahead of the nutrients, toxins, chemicals, whatever might be in the water now. You'll want to use a gravel vac on your sand too. Also, what is your salinity? Anemones are a little sensitive to that? I would suggest 1.024-1.027.

 

[garygb]

It is a Macrodactyla doreensis, LTA. It sounds like it's getting healthier if the color is darkening somewhat. That species likes to bury it's foot in several inches of sand, and you said there's around 4 inches in the tank, that might be enough. If you find that the anemone detaches and wanders, you can take a tupperware or similar container and put a few inches of sand in, put the anemone in, let the anemone attach, then fill the container to the brim with sand. This way you can locate the anemone where you want it. To conceal the container put a piece of liverock in front of it.

I wouldn't worry particularly about the mouth at this point. Just stay on top of water quality. Do you have a nitrate test? I suggest you get one if you don't have one already. Also, as suggested, regular water changes and proper specific gravity are important. I would say 1.025-1.027 range (with a good hydrometer or a refractometer that is properly calibrated).

 

[katarina]

The tupperware thing is a wonderful idea. If it moves I'll have to try it. My salinity is 1.026. I do not have a nitrate test... Well maybe, but it will require some digging to find out. If not, I will get one. Thanks for the info!

 

[katarina]

I have all sorts of little gastropods that live in my sand that my kids have picked up over last summer. They were in a little 10 gallon tank before this and seemed to do fine. I moved them to this tank. Will the gravel vac hurt them? I thought that with them in the sand that the sand would be moved about enough to be okay.

 

[bradleym]

If they are over an inch they should be fine. They may get tumbled but they'll get over it lol. And if you see them just go around them. The problem with the sand is that they may stir it up but they don't get rid of things that settle in over time. As time passes you will likely see red or black growth in the bottom of the sand bed. This is caused by the excess nutrients building up, and if there is a problematic element in your water, it would've gathered there also.

 

[katarina]

I see. I have a gravel vac and will use it. It will at least make water changes easier. Thanks for the info

 

[katarina]

I started thinking about the gravel vac and I realized that I have a lot of things that are under an inch. Things like tiny 1/4 inch shrimp, sand fleas and tiny tiny starfish. We use to bring a bucket (kiddie sand bucket) of wet sand home every time we came home from the beach and that is what I used in our 10 gallon so there is lots of micro life. I added all that sand to this tank. With my fresh water tanks I use a turkey baster to stir up the gravel without killing my tiny snails and breaking up plant roots. Would the same thing work for the sand instead of using the gravel vac? I know that my hand will cramp afterwards but my fresh water is bigger than my saltwater and it hasn't fallen off yet.

 

[bradleym]

Yea that'll do just fine. If you stir it while holding a gravel vac a few inches over the spot it'll clean up most of it from above to.

 

[katarina]

Ahhhh, so you mean the snow storm effect isn't actually a requirement?

 

[bradleym]

Yeah, in fact you're probably better off if you can stir your sand and NOT get a snowstorm lol. But that's easier said than done obviously.

 

[Apercula]

I went to your photobucket and got a couple larger pictures. The anemone looks pretty good to me. It will probably darken some more, the mouth does not appear to be gaping in the larger pictures. It looks to me to be fairly happy and well expanded where it is, though with power compact lights it will probably want feeding(which you are doing) to supplement the light.

The clowns are Amphiprion ocellaris as you suspected.

Anemone

Clowns

 

[katarina]

Thanks for the info.... Ummm, I didn't know anyone else could get into my photobucket without my password....