Does my anemone and clown combo look healthy?

[jacobzking]

I just bought this "couple" from my LFS last night. They had already been hosting when I got them. Is it normal and/or healthy for the anemone to be this big and open? Also, my clown looks REALLY still in this video, but as I type this he's doing his normal anemone fidget dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXoQCfkyYZo

 

[E.intheC]

honestly, that 'nem looks pretty bleached

 

[Gyr]

I don't know how mature your tank truly is, but the rocks don't seem to have any corraline growth. It gives the impression that the tank is pretty new. I worry about an anemone in a new tank. They seem to do best in a well-established system.
Sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion based on the limited view of your tank in the video.
Good Luck

 

[jacobzking]

honestly, that 'nem looks pretty bleached

Like literally bleached to make him look cleaner? I've heard of dying them, but not bleaching. Weird.

Asides from being bleached looking, how does he look (as fAr as how spread open he is.

 

[aquaph8]

Bleached meaning it lost the algae that gives it its color. The anemone feeds on this algae. It is a bad thing that it is bleached. Could you please share some info about your tank. How old is it? What lighting? etc etc etc...

 

[aquaph8]

Someone else could probably go into a lot more detail then me. With all due respect I recommend doing some reading and research about anemones and anything else you plan to keep in the future. RC is a great resource and you can find just about anything you want to know by using the seach function. If you cant find something post it up and some will help.

 

[ForSaleByAndy]

Agree with the above posters -- the rock in your tank looks VERY new. 'Nems definitely do best in very mature and established systems -- I'd likely advise you perhaps wait a bit for your system to advance a bit before trying these guys out.

Sorry if we're jumping to conclusions, but we're here to help. Hate to see you waste $$ unnecessarily if that's the case.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Would like to see the underside of the oral disc to confirm, but it sure looks like an LTA (( M. doreensis )), which are sandbed dwelling anemones.

Since there is only one video, it is hard to tell, but it is either recovering from being bleached, or the beginning of it being bleached.

What size tank?
What lights?
How long has it been set up?
What are your parameters -- with numbers.

 

[jacobzking]

all my levels are at 0
water temp 77-78
sg 1.022-24
kh 8
125 gal
90lbs of LR (some fully cured, some not, plenty of coraline on some of the rock)
30gal sump for additional live rock (20 of the 90lbs here)
t5 lights on for 7.5 hours (should I leave them on longer?)
6 weeks on the tank

 

[Toddrtrex]

all my levels are at 0
water temp 77-78
sg 1.022-24
kh 8
125 gal
90lbs of LR (some fully cured, some not, plenty of coraline on some of the rock)
30gal sump for additional live rock (20 of the 90lbs here)
t5 lights on for 7.5 hours (should I leave them on longer?)
6 weeks on the tank

Your SG should be at 1.026.
How deep is your sandbed?

How many T5 bulbs, what wattage, and what color temp?

The tank has only been set up for 6 weeks?? If that is true, you are about 5 months too soon for an anemone.

 

[jacobzking]

Your SG should be at 1.026.
How deep is your sandbed?

How many T5 bulbs, what wattage, and what color temp?

The tank has only been set up for 6 weeks?? If that is true, you are about 5 months too soon for an anemone.

i lowered my salinity a little for my cortez ray who seems to be happy.

i'm running 2x 36" t5 fixtures, each one has a 6700k and colormax running 21w each (so 2x 6700k and 2 colormax, all 21w)

 

[Toddrtrex]

i lowered my salinity a little for my cortez ray who seems to be happy.

i'm running 2x 36" t5 fixtures, each one has a 6700k and colormax running 21w each (so 2x 6700k and 2 colormax, all 21w)

What sized tank?

If you want to keep that anemone, need to raise your salinity back up.


And putting a ray in a 6 week old tank isn't the best idea. Really should slow things down.

 

[ocellaris123]

I'm not going to say your anemone is going to die, due to being in a 6 week old tank, since I generally do not wait 6 months before putting anemones in, but it does sound as though you should have waited. Forgive me if I am wrong but it does appear as though you are new to the hobby, which I assume is the case since you do not know what "bleached" is, you put your M. doreensis on the rockwork (when it is found on the sandbed in nature), and you are mixing an anemone and ray together (Rays IMO are best kept in species tanks or mixed in with bamboo sharks in large aquariums). I agree when others have said slow down, and do some research before making anymore livestock purchases.

Also IMO your lighting is really insufficient for your sized tank, for any anemone species, especially considering long tentacled anemones belong on the sandbed, meaning the light would probably not penetrate to the bottom.

Bleached means that your anemones has lost all of the symbiotic algae which resides in their tissue, which give them their color. This algae is called zooanthallae, and the anemones feeds off the byproducts produced from the zooanthallae. I do not see your anemone making a recovery under the current lighting setup you have.

 

[saltymight]

Since it it pretty bleached you need to be feeding him 3-4 times a week with raw squid,shrimp silver sides ect. until his color comes back than 1-2 times a week is good. When you feed him make sure the food is smaller than his oral disk in the middle of him. If he starts moving around a lot and then litterly looks like he is melting get him out
ASAP he is dieing and there is nothing you can do to help him. Another good sign is smell your water if it reeks like death than you know its time.

 

[bradjc]

To quickly answer your question. No. The clown should not be acting like that.

 

[jacobzking]

I've upped the lights to 10 hours a day. There is PLENTY of sand for him, he just chose to land on the rock and has stayed put since. The clown is normally active, that was the only time I saw him "limp-ish." The clown does however stay at the LTAs side. His color looks MUCH better to me today, what do you guys think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4idcje3RGA

 

[Toddrtrex]

From the looks of that video, there is not plenty of sand, it looks about an inch deep at best. The lights you have are not nearly enough for an LTA, and from that video it looks like it is getting more bleached.

 

[saltymight]

wait did you add all of the fish and the sting ray at the same time. If so expect another quick cycle and at least the sting ray to not make it. Your BIo load of bacteria can only take so much ammonia. You need to add maybe two fish Like a pair of clowns once every few weeks to allow your bacteria to produce more and convert the toxins like ammonia and ect. Keep an eye on your stats. If they start rising up a 25% water change is a must.

 

[saltymight]

Oh ya and the algae zoo's in the anemone take a while to grow back. my GBT got caught in an inlet about 2 months ago and he bleached out. but not finally a couple of weeks ago he started to get color back. So like i said before make sure you feed the little guy

 

[jacobzking]

No, I started out with damsels, waited a week, added the ray, waited a couple weeks then added the anemone/clown combo. my ray seems healthy and eats well. my levels have pretty much stayed at zero after my first cycle.