freaking out alittle

[Shanxnon]

Your bubble tip is going to die, get it back to the shop if you do not have anyone that has a mature set up to nurse it back. Your tank will not support any anemones until it has aged probably a year from now. You need an established colony of good bacteria,, add a lot of live rock or base rock and some nitro max,stability,or cycle to kick start your nitrifying bacteria. Also read and read some more before killing something else. At least ask someone here on reef central for advice before listening to the guy at the local fish store. Sorry but we are here to help you.

wow, you don't need to be so rude? I'm new to this which i have clearly said the entire time. I AM asking for help and i bought the anemone BEFORE i was a member of this website. I have been asking for weeks and everyone has said just give it time I was still worried so I started taking pictures the fish store people are knowledgeable and have helped me all through out my freshwater tanks and they have been right. I'm doing the best I can. I don't need the negativity or a lecture.

 

[cet98]

Shanxnon....I don't think ReeferBill is trying to be rude, maybe at bit too direct, but not rude....
he is only trying to get you to understand that there is really nothing you can do to your system now to help your anemone quickly enough to help its chances of survival...
I for one am not surprised your LFS people told you that it was okay for you to add an anemone since I "rarely" find anyone at any LFS that asked the right questions about their customers tanks to begin with. For the most part they presume when you tell them "my parameters are perfect and I cycled the tank" that you are confirming in their minds that you did what you needed to do and you're ready for them to sell you livestock...

with that being said, unfortunately your system is not ready for much of anything IMO other than a fish or two. SW systems rely on bacteria colonies within the live rock and sand to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate...the rule of thumb in generally 1 or 2 lbs of live rock per gall on water...so in your case, based on your photo, you basically have almost nothing and therefore a very small amount of bacteria which is no where near sufficent for an anemone...
Keep in mind that each time you add any livestock to your tank, you are essentially changing the bio-load and effecting the water parameters.
In a well established system, the effect of the additional bio-load is minimal at best and likely undetected...but in a system like yours with little to no real bacteria colonies established, the effect in most cases can be deadly as your system with being a new cycle and with so little surface area available for new bacteria colonies the results will liking lead to continued losses.

again, IMO you need to get the nem out for it to have a resonable chance to live....you should SLOWLY start adding quality cured live rock (by that I mean rock encrusted with coralline algae, not white base rock) to your system so you can being the process of building and established bateria bed throughout your tank....

sorry you are learning this the hard way

best of luck

 

[asharerin]

wow, you don't need to be so rude? I'm new to this which i have clearly said the entire time. I AM asking for help and i bought the anemone BEFORE i was a member of this website. I have been asking for weeks and everyone has said just give it time I was still worried so I started taking pictures the fish store people are knowledgeable and have helped me all through out my freshwater tanks and they have been right. I'm doing the best I can. I don't need the negativity or a lecture.

I do not know if your anemone is too far gone but I do know your high nitrate level cannot be helping. What you want to do is some daily 10% water changes to get it down close to zero. Like others have said you need 5 good size pieces of live rock in your tank. Secondly you will want a powerhead. Thirdly I would use that aquaclear filter and drop a bag of carbon in there and some batting material. The powerhead and filter will give plenty of flow and oxygenation.

Personally I do not believe the age of the system matters for keeping anemones. What you need is stability. That comes from frequent small quality water changes. I have a 20 long and do one gallon daily water changes. I have an AC50 filter and MP20 powerhead. No sump. Change my batting weekly and carbon monthly. Nitrates have been at zero since the first cycle. I have had my anemone since the tank was 1 month old and 9 months later it is still doing great. I have a 4 bulb t-5 fixture which is complete overkill so I have 1 layer of screen material to drop the PAR. 2 bulb t-5 would be plenty. Even if this anemone does not make it do not be discouraged. Get that live rock in there and your routine down and the next one will thrive. Don't give up!