help please with my anemones

[ilikeb00st]

So I've had my tank for about 2 months now. I purchased the livestock from a fellow aquarist who is getting out of the hobby. I bought the sand/rocks/fish/corals/inverts from him. The tank has been running great until the past 2 days. I notice that my anemones are curling inward like a ball shape and then it goes back to normal and repeats. I also notice that my green star polyps are retracted and inside the purple mat.

I did water test

Ammonia 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
Phosphate 0

calc about 400 based on the drop using API test kit
Alk over 11dKH the number of drops was off the chart until it turned to the yellow color like its suppose to. (could this be the problem?)
pH 8.3
temp 80.9F
Salinity 1.025

I have some red algaes on the sand and rocks.

I feed the anemones Shrimp 1x a week (should I increase feeding?)

lights I'm running is 2x 65w actinic 2x 65w 10k CF and 1x 39w actinic 1x 39w 10k T5HO

not sure what other information to put up here but maybe I can get some input from you guys. This is my first saltwater set up.

additional info:
tank is 120gal 4'x2'x2'
wet/dry with skimmer but no fuge
Just added aquaC XP phos reactor with 50 gallon worth of media (all i had laying around) Added 1 week ago..

middle of the picture is the purple mat of the greenstars polyp

 

[Toddrtrex]

Do those T5's have individual reflectors? That isn't a whole lot of light over that sized tank.

Are you using RO/DI water?

Even those the tests say otherwise, you are having excess nutrient issues --- hence the cyano and algae issues I can see.

What is all in the tank as for as livestock go?

 

[JLopez]

That lighting is insufficient for a 120gal setup. Also as todd stated, despite what those tests might say, you have excess nutrients in the water. Thus the red slime everywhere. Maybe a few small daily water changes using RODI water would be a good idea. Make sure to keep them small, maybe around 20 gallons a day for 3 or 4 days. good luck.

 

[ilikeb00st]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15739507#post15739507 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
Do those T5's have individual reflectors? That isn't a whole lot of light over that sized tank.
its just a cheap current T5 with no reflectors, I do have 2 DE MH, I just haven't gotten around to make a canopy for it. Didn't want to put it over the glass and crack them due to heat. I will get the Halides running asap and add on to the current lighting hopefully tomorrow
Are you using RO/DI water?
Yes
Even those the tests say otherwise, you are having excess nutrient issues --- hence the cyano and algae issues I can see.
will do some water changes tomorrow as mentioned by JLopez small one 15-20 gallons
What is all in the tank as for as livestock go?

3 clowns
1 coral beauty
3 brittle star fish
3 other starfish that I'm not familiar with
1 butterfly
2 anemones
1 damsels
1 kenya tree coral
1 green star polyps
various hermits and snails , still need more CUC

some questions(sorry if it's a very simple dummy question):
these excess nutrient causes the polyps to go back inside the mat? and the anemones to shriveled up? the tentacles are shorten and does not move as freely.

I'm testing the salinity at tank temperature at 80F using a refractometer that was calibrated at 60F from the a mfgr, is this accurate?

 

[garygb]

To calibrate your refractometer you should use Pinpoint calibration liquid. The liquid can be bought online at various places, such as Marine Depot. The solution is 1.025 and you will know that your refractometer is set accurately when you adjust it using that solution.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Will try to address everything ---- if I forget, feel free to ask it again --- allergy meds have me a bit spacey.

What is the other anemone in there? The one in the picture appears to be an LTA (Macrodactyla doreensis) --- IME, mixing certain anemone species with another species makes for unhappy anemones.

Can remove the glass tops, which will allow for more gas exchange and cooler temps. But, when you do add the MHs, make sure to acclimate them to the lights.

"Poor water quality" --- excess nutrients can make for an unhappy anemone. I know that if I slack off on my water changes my Haddoni becomes "unhappy" even if my test kits say all is fine.

Have you noticed the butterfly picking on it?

Long term 3 clowns will most likely become 2.

 

[ilikeb00st]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15740339#post15740339 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garygb
To calibrate your refractometer you should use Pinpoint calibration liquid. The liquid can be bought online at various places, such as Marine Depot. The solution is 1.025 and you will know that your refractometer is set accurately when you adjust it using that solution.

i bought the milwaukee refractometer and the user manual said to calibrate it using distilled water, so I did the adjustment to 0.

I did test using 2 different swing arms, and the salinity are both reading between 1.021 and 1.022 while my refractometer said 1.025

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15740354#post15740354 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ilikeb00st
i bought the milwaukee refractometer and the user manual said to calibrate it using distilled water, so I did the adjustment to 0.

I did test using 2 different swing arms, and the salinity are both reading between 1.021 and 1.022 while my refractometer said 1.025

Using distilled water is better then nothing, but all that does is set the zero point. But, if you use the calibration fluid it sets it to 35/1.0264, which will be more accurate.

 

[garygb]

yeah, with distilled water your refractometer will be about .003 points off. In other words, if it says the water is 1.025 then it's actually around 1.022.

 

[ilikeb00st]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15740353#post15740353 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
Will try to address everything ---- if I forget, feel free to ask it again --- allergy meds have me a bit spacey.

What is the other anemone in there? The one in the picture appears to be an LTA (Macrodactyla doreensis) --- IME, mixing certain anemone species with another species makes for unhappy anemones.

Can remove the glass tops, which will allow for more gas exchange and cooler temps. But, when you do add the MHs, make sure to acclimate them to the lights.

"Poor water quality" --- excess nutrients can make for an unhappy anemone. I know that if I slack off on my water changes my Haddoni becomes "unhappy" even if my test kits say all is fine.

Have you noticed the butterfly picking on it?

Long term 3 clowns will most likely become 2.

i think the other anemones is a haitian pink tip, not sure. I've heard the same thing about mixing anemones, but I had to bring home both since i bought the guys rocks and sand. So far I have not seen the butterfly picking on any of them and I do see aggression between the 3 clowns but 1 will just end up going to the LTA and the other two to the Haitian pink tip.

I will do some water changes tomorrow and hopefully see some improvement. And I have the feeling that garygb is correct about my refractometer, it is probably reading 1.025 while in reality it is only 1.022 (which is what my 2 swing arms are reading).

 

[rbnice1]

You said your alk was off the charts as well. You need to get a better alk test kit if yours only reads to 11.

Mine has gone up to 11 and no worries but your is over 11 but you dont know how much over 11. Could be 18.

Also 1.022 killed my RTBA so make sure your salinity is right.

 

[windlasher]

A two month old tank is pretty young for anemones. I would make sure your water prams are right on the money.