Heteractis magnifica like the dark?

[flakey]

I bought this H Mag from my local LFS 3 weeks ago. They've only had in in store for less than 1 week. It looked ok for rhe first week but has since started to shrivle up during the day, not eating and generally looking in decline.

My setup is 600l, all water parameters are fine, Vortech MP40 in random flow, TMC LED lighting with a 1000 HD white and a blue 600 strip directly above the H Mag. In total i have 4x600 strips, 2x1000HD and 1x1500xg in illuminating tank, all on controllers.

Anyway I really don't understand whats wrong, I hear these are quite hard to introducing into the home so maybe this one isn't playing ball...
Funny thing is when the lights start to dim down for the night, the nem seems to start filling up. It's only in the morning and when the lights are on full that it seems to look all flat, deflated and ill. Anyone had this experience before and can offer any tips?

Here is is look half ok with it's mouth open, I'll post a picture when its at it's worse tomorrow

 

[BairdimusPrime]

honestly same thing happened to me it lasted 2-3 weeks and that was it... wouldnt eat or anything dont know why and it always looked better at night under the moon leds

best of luck

 

[flakey]

Just one more thing, the nem seems to be sticking ok and it has moved a little but stays on the same rock so i assume lighting and flow is ok ?

 

[nikon187]

They are one of the hardest anemones to take care of on the planet and they do not ship well. Could be any number of things, did you acclimate it to your lights? When you say water quality is fine, what does that mean? levels ect.

 

[flakey]

nitrate and nitrites 0, ph 8.4, salinity 1.025.
i had them double checked at the LFS as well.
i turned the lights off when i purchased the nem and placed it in a large cage overnight to prevent it moving around too much. i then carefully placed it on what i thought was the ideal positionhigh up on the rocks near the mp40 and it's really just stayed there ever since, it's moved around the same rock a little but more or lass staying in the same place.
I know they're hard but they are so nice..... we don't seem to get many of them here in the uk either.

 

[nikon187]

Keep an eye on it. Mags are nortorious for inflating and deflating right before they die. Are you acclimating it to your lights or just blasting them. What kind of lighting did they have it under at the store. They are really nice anemones, they just should be left in the ocean as 90% die durring shipping, acclimatiing or shortly after they have arrived. Getting a healthy one is most of the battle. Hopfully it makes it.

 

[flakey]

They had T5's in the store. Will keep a close eye on it and hopefully it'll make it... Thanks...

 

[nikon187]

Any updates, hows it doing.

 

[flakey]

Unfortunately it didn't make it and I had to remove it from the tank. Think I will stick to my BTAs going forward. Just feel bad putting them through this stress. I will keep an eye out for another one sold by another reefer, that way I know it is acclimatised and doing well in captivity.

 

[njudson]

a healthy Mag will want more and more light. When I introduced mine it keep getting happier week to week as I ramped up my Radion. Now it's less than 12" from the light at 80% and the nem stretches up towards it wanting even more light. More than my SPS can take for the most part, my Red Planet is doing well which I believe likes high light too, but I lost some monti cap etc

 

[flakey]

having read your replies and other forums etc i think i have come to the conclusion that I may not have acclimatised it to my lights. The reason being in the LFS, they had pretty dim T5's and it was looking fine. This translates well that when my tank is dimming down for the night, it was inflating to absorb more light. When my LED's are on full blast, it was not used to it hence shrivelling up and looking ill. The nem must have gotten used to the dimmer lighting during transportation and LFS and when i put it in my tank, the lighting must have been too strong for it.
I think this sounds right, what are your thoughts?

 

[nikon187]

Light shock can def nuke an anemone and corals, so it def is possible. As already mentioned, they dont ship well at all and many never acclimate to aquarium life. Collection of the individual could also be to blame but too many factors to say for sure.