Help needed with anemone

[Eloise]

A quick sum up of my tank:
155 liters, saltwater with; 2 clowns, 2 blue star damsels, 1 bi-colour angelfish, 1 scooter blenny, two red legged hermit crabs.
Yesterday, I added 1 jade wrasse and 1 scarlet hawkfish.
Had the water tested, everything fine.
Today I added 1 Ritteri anemone and 1 anemone crab. I am a first time anemone owner.

I added them, after acclimatizing them for 15 minutes (which I now know should have been longer, the shop where I purchased them didn't tell me this)
I went out and when I came back the crab was dead and the anemone looked very dead; it has completley closed up, the pink is now green, it's not moving and there is a bubble and brown stuff coming out of it's mouth, it's also extra slimey, definitely not what it was earlier today.
I have since been told that this is their way of getting used to the new climate though I am not convinced.

If anyone knows anything please please help!!!
If it is dead, I'd rather get it out of the tank before it starts to go horrible but if it's not, how long will it take to acclimatize, if at all?

Thank you,
Eloise

 

[reefnrod]

how long has your tank been setup? what are your paramiters?

 

[reefnrod]

when you had your water tested. what did they test for you? what were the results?

 

[Reef1589]

should have definantly done a longer acclamating process more than 15 minutes,

i dripped acclimated my RBTA i got 3 months ago for an hour, and my Haddoni i got a week ago for 2 hrs...

and what reefnrod said how long your tank been setup? and params? and lighting?

 

[bradleym]

Ritteri is very hard to care for. Not good as a first anemone. Because they won't put up with much.

+1 for parameters and how long it's been set up. Definitely sounds like it's dying to be honest.

 

[Eloise]

Tank has been set up for the best part of a year, though it has only had a light for a couple of days before I added the anemone. Not sure about all the parameters, I had the water tested at the shop for free and they test ammonia and the two nitrates. I was told the nitrate was slightly high (not enough to be worried) and I did a water change before I put it in. The temperature is normal and so is the salt as far as I know. The light I have in there is a blue/white LED Aquabeam 600 Ultra, which cost me an arm and a leg! I was told that this is the right size for my tank, it's pretty damn bright.

 

[bradleym]

No offense to the LFS but knowing the numbers from the test would be ideal. Sometimes their idea of ok levels isn't all that ok. Also, what is "normal" for the salt and temp?

 

[reefnrod]

no offense, but i do not think you are ready for a nem yet. you sould have bought test kits with your money or a refratometer. how much live rock do you have? you had a tank set up for a year with no light? have you done any research on the nem?

 

[Eloise]

I figured I'm not ready for it, I obviously didn't do enough research. Yes I had a tank set up for a year with no light, I have more than enough live rock. I have always had my water tested at this shop and they have never been wrong before. There is nothing wrong with the water. I appreciate the queries but does anyone actually have an answer to my original question?
Is it normal for it to do this when acclimatising? If so, how long will it take?
Or is it completely dead?

 

[bradleym]

Sliming and changing color are very bad and not normal for acclimating. The brown stuff out of the mouth can happen sometimes when acclimating but the rest sounds like it is dead. If it hasn't moved or started to look normal again by now it's dead and you should remove it.

You should know that anemones are MUCH more sensitive than the other pets you have and unless it took several days for the anemone to look bad it is very likely that there is something wrong with your water that isn't bad enough to hurt the fish, but killed the anemone. The only other option is that they sold you an anemone that was already dying when you got it.

Many MANY people have thought that their tank was "fine" for fish and crabs, only to watch anemones melt away, which is what it sounds like yours is doing. When it happens very quickly, it is usually something in the water that hurt them. Have you ever treated your fish for any diseases? Most fish meds contain copper, which will kill an anemone. And once you use it in the tank, it gets into the rocks and sand and it's almost impossible to remove it. Good luck with your tank, but be careful until you figure out what is wrong.

 

[Eloise]

Thank you bradleym. It is definitely dead now, there was obviously something wrong with it and the crab because when I went back to the shop all the fish in the tank where it was were either dead or dying too. I understand that anemone's are difficult to keep and I think I picked a very difficult one to start with, not knowing!

I've never treated the other fish so there should not be any copper in my tank at all.
Also does anyone know at all if the anemone was sick/dying already that it could 'poison' the other fish? I had the water changed and tested the day I put the anemone in and when I had it tested again 3 days later (after I had removed dead anemone) the nitrate levels were high. I did an immediate massive water change because all my fish suddenly decided to sit on the bottom of the tank looking very sad. They are all absolutely fine now (thank god - what a panic) so I assume it was the high nitrate levels, which I was told could possibly be because the anemone was dead and releasing rubbish. Does that sound about right or is there something else that could have caused it because the fish at the shop all seem to still be poorly and the anemone was in their tank for longer? ( they say they changed the water yesterday )

 

[Reef1589]

im gonna say it has alot to do with probably only acclamating it for 15 minutes... it probably had a pH/Alk Shock.. and just went down hill from there.. unless the mouth was already open the store? then idk why you woulda bought it.

 

[hypnoj]

when anemone's die they release toxins into your tank. This has the ability to kill everything in your tank. This is what probably made the fish do that.

 

[bradleym]

when anemone's die they release toxins into your tank. This has the ability to kill everything in your tank. This is what probably made the fish do that.

+1

I would worry about the LFS though. IDK what's up with their tank since the nem is gone and they've changed the water, but that doesn't sound good.

 

[reefnrod]

if you had your water checked at the store with all the dying fish i would get some test kits. if you had test kits your would be able to give the wise people on this board exact numbers to better help you. without knowing exactly what your params are everybody is just shooting from the hip with their answers to your questions.

 

[sjwitt]

I had the water changed and tested the day I put the anemone in and when I had it tested again 3 days later (after I had removed dead anemone) the nitrate levels were high. I did an immediate massive water change because all my fish suddenly decided to sit on the bottom of the tank looking very sad. They are all absolutely fine now (thank god - what a panic) so

First, I'm glad to hear the fish are okay... but I have a question, how do you do water changes? What I mean is, how do you know the water you're putting IN the tank is the right parameters? If you're mixing yourself and can't check at least the Specific Gravity, how do you know the mixture's SG matches the display tank? Maybe the difference in SG is what made them 'look very sad.'

I agree with others, you really need to be able to test your own water.

 

[hypnoj]

first, i'm glad to hear the fish are okay... But i have a question, how do you do water changes? What i mean is, how do you know the water you're putting in the tank is the right parameters? If you're mixing yourself and can't check at least the specific gravity, how do you know the mixture's sg matches the display tank? Maybe the difference in sg is what made them 'look very sad.'

i agree with others, you really need to be able to test your own water.

+1