Emergency! My anemone!

C

Caliloaner

New member
My anemone won't eat... everytime I feed it either it won't take it or if it starts to the clowns will take it from it for some reason and it has looked healthy for the past two weeks besides the fact that it hasn't been eating and this morning I looked at it and its bulbs have withered... I think it's dieing! anything I can do?
 
You should feed the clowns before you feed the anemone so they don't steal from it.

As for the tentacles they will deflate to expell waste it's normal. But if it's repeatedly doing this then there is a problem.
 
I posted another thread a while back that said my clowns are punks because I feed them plenty 15 minutes before I feed the anemone and they will snach it from it still... I bought it the same day the fish store got it and I called them today and they said that it is just photosynthesising and that if it was hungry it would take the krill I gave it for sure... They said not to worry... But not eating for two weeks and then expelling waste kind of concerned me... How long will they deflate for???
 
They can deflate anywhere from an hour to a day.

If the anemone is trying to eat it but the clowns steal it then I would:
1) feed them more and feed the anemone as they are chasing the food around the tank
2) throw in a piece of whatever you feed the anemone for the clownfish to eat and then feed the anemone
3) seperate the clownfish from the anemone
 
thanks for the info... It's not like the anemone is even really agressive about eating though he won't really grab the food with it's tenticles...
 
I would try to seperate the anemone from the clownfish for maybe a week or two so that the anemone can eat at its own pace and get back up to speed. My oldest bta swallows food pretty much immediately when I place it on it's tentacles. The food is gone in under 15-20 seconds.
 
I can turn on 130w of PC or a 250w MH over 37gallons... I pretty sure it has plenty of light and flow... It looks great the past week... the bulbs full sometimes up to 3x its normal size... Its base is bright purple, tenticles green and tips pink... Its very beautiful (and expensive)and this is my first anemone... the light has been on for about an hour now and it is starting to slowly inflate... I guess it was just expelling waste... I hope it eats soon though... How long will it photosynthesize for??? It's been in there for two weeks
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10965432#post10965432 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Caliloaner
How long will it photosynthesize for??? It's been in there for two weeks
Click to expand...

?? Not sure what you meant but anemones are photosynthetic so they will constantly photosynthesize (in all actuality the anemone doesn't photosynthesize, the symbiotic algae in the anemone is what photosynthesizes).

And for your lighting what's your light schedule? How long is the MH on and how long is the pc on? what color temperature is the MH and the 2x 65 watt pc bulbs?
 
MH is on for 10hrs a day to help keep algae build up down... I think it is 14k or 15k bulb and sometimes I will alternate the PC and the MH depending on if my nitrate reaches 20ppm before a water change... I also turn on the PC's 15 before and after the MH to simulate dawn and dusk then I have blue LEDs for moon lighting at night...
I don't know what I mean either by photosynthesizing? That's just what the lady at the aquarium store I bought it from said when I ask her about my anemone not eating... She sounded like it would for sure eat the krill if it was hungry... I was thinking more like shock from soo much movement... It was transported to there shop and then to my house in the same day... It moved around alot in my tank the first week and now it has been in the same spot for about a week...
 
Do have any problems with keeping your water temperature stable with your MH on for 10 hours a day? Most people recommend only having your MH on for 6-8 hours a day but you can certainly go with 10 if you like.

And your lighting has no direct effect on what your nitrates are.

How often do you change the water? Try to keep the nitrates <10ppm.
 
The temp never goes over 78 degress... I am blessed as far as that goes... I do 25% once to twice a week with ro/dis water that I puchace from the nugget market for .29c a gallon.... I've tested it, its really pure water and I mix instant ocean with it which usually stabalized the pH pretty well... Do you think the anemone will want to eat now that it is starting to reinflate?? I will try to give it a krill tonight after work.. another thing does it matter if I feed it day or night? Is there a prefered time... I usually feed my clowns in the evening with the light on...
 
I usually feed mine during the day towards the end of the afternoon. You could try feeding it a small piece of krill now since it's inflated. Try and keep the clowns away from it or occupied with their own food.
 
should the anemone grab the krill... I stab the krill bairly so that the slightest nudge will take it off but it seems not interested in it at all... I just tryed and it doesn't want it I guess... I also try by hand with the same results... I don't want this expensive bta to die... will he starve himself to death or what... I have a little bit of a hard time believing the lady at the LFS....
 
he wont starve himself--i sort of 'forgot' to feed my bta for about two weeks, he actually got bigger from both the symbiotic photsynthesis (can we just say the bta's photo from now on? :) ) and whatever scrap he got from the tank.

just cause i'm nosey, how old is your setup? what kind of pumps do you have?

alk? ph?

good luck and GO SLOW :)
 
Would be helpful if we know what type of anemone it is.

How long has the tank been set up?
What are your water parameters? And actual numbers.

Perhaps I mis-understood one if your posts, but alternating b/t PC and MH is not a good thing, won't allow the anemone to adjust to the light.

And as for feeding often -- my BTA is lucky if it gets feed once a mouth. For BTAs, I don't feel that a healthy one needs to be feed as often as other anemones. That is JMO.
 
My alk. is way up there and my ph is 8.2 bubble tip, purple green and pink.... My ammonia is 0 , my nitrite is 0, and my nitrate is 15ppm... I'm about to do another 25% water change tomorrow... As for lighting It's led's at night, Pc's for 15min. in the morning then the MH Powers on and is on by itself for 10hrs. then the MH Powers down and PC's on for another 15min. then to leds all night... Just to ajust my livestock from super bright light to a night time setting... The tank is not that old, It has been cycled for about a month now... I'm just basing that on the ammonia and nitrite reading.... It is young for an anemone but I do not slack on the health of the tank... I try to keep my parameters as on point as possible... Oh and to answer the other question I have a 900 power jet in the 37 gallon tank and a bak-pak protein skimmer... Anyways the main thing is I try to feed it every few days and I've had it for over two weeks now and it looks happy just won't eat....
 
You should of waited several months before adding it, but since you have it it won't be impossible to keep, just harder. Make sure you stay on top of the water quality as new tanks (like yours) do not have stable water chemistry and stability is essential.
 
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