I think my anemone is dying HELP!

[bassking511]

We have had our anemone in the tank for a few weeks now and he has been healthy until recently. There is a tomato clown which is hosted with him and that happened fairly quickly. However, the past week the anem has being shrinking and expanding more often than normal. He was digesting, as i could see "evidence of digestion", but the strange thing is that i dont THINK he had been eating too much as the anem isn't too fond of food we give it (krill or fully thawed silversides). and in the past 2 or 3 days he has shrunk and did not regain size. When we originally had him, he was as large and a big pancake, now he has shrunk down to about the thinkness of a large cucumber and last night he turned upside down. Also in past two days, there has been some discoleration and seems like his foot has been 'tearing' also it appears that the tissue is different and seems 'squiggly'. His tentacles are deflated and retracted yet the remaining part of the foot still has the orange coloration. Tank details: 90 gallon, lighting is2 x 65W 10000K white and 2x 65W actinic blue. chiller and protein skimmer
PH 8.1 Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 20ppm, ammonia .125ppm salinity high, so added distilled H2O and combo ammonia/nitrate reducer added

Any immediate help would be greatly appreciated. I want to save this guy

 

[bhuddafunk]

Wow, I'm not an expert but that does not look good at all. Nitrates seem a bit high. I try to keep Nitrates to <10 preferably <5 to 0. I would do a 50% water change. Your lighting seems a bit low also. I like to maintain a minimum of 4watts/gallon ratio on my lighting. Thats about all I can offer

Good luck

 

[celamb89]

Dont know what is going on really but have heard that you can kill nems when feeding them bad food like bad old silvesides.

Was the food that you fed good, I mean not rotten?

Was the nem digesting or was showing his insides, like the mouth really too opened up? Usually deflating and inflating too much is not a good sign.

Maybe someone with more knowledge drops by...

LTA's seems to have problems with holes in the foot and some do recover but the rate isnt to positive.

 

[celamb89]

i try to keep nitrates to <10 preferably <5 to 0. I would do a 50% water change. Your lighting seems a bit low also. I like to maintain a minimum of 4watts/gallon ratio on my lighting.

+1

 

[celamb89]

P04 = ?

 

[bassking511]

Dont know what is going on really but have heard that you can kill nems when feeding them bad food like bad old silvesides.

Was the food that you fed good, I mean not rotten?

Was the nem digesting or was showing his insides, like the mouth really too opened up? Usually deflating and inflating too much is not a good sign.

Maybe someone with more knowledge drops by...

LTA's seems to have problems with holes in the foot and some do recover but the rate isnt to positive.

The mouth maybe have been a little enlarged, didnt really notice. But feces? definately did come out and the clown even helped to dispose of it away from the anem. Also, the silversides were frozen then thawed in water as per LFS recommendation. They werent fresh as in just collected but they were not rotten.

Wow, I'm not an expert but that does not look good at all. Nitrates seem a bit high. I try to keep Nitrates to <10 preferably <5 to 0. I would do a 50% water change. Your lighting seems a bit low also. I like to maintain a minimum of 4watts/gallon ratio on my lighting. Thats about all I can offer

Good luck

we have a fresh nitrate reducer pouch in and might try the water change. You sure the lighting is too low? W have had this light setup since the start and seems to have been working.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Get it out of your tank NOW. I would use a net, since it most likely will fall apart. It is already dead (( if not, it is dying, and not going to recover ))

How high is your salinity? The ammonia reading could either be because it is denigrating, or the ammonia reading was the cause.

Also, the lights you have aren't enough for an LTA (( M. doreensis ))

 

[REEFROOKEE]

get its out asap!! prob already dead. get you water parameters under control.

 

[yababy19890]

Your getting about 2.88 watts per gallon?
65x4 = 260/90 = 2.88
I think they need at least 4 watts per gallon.

Tho i am new to the hobby and may be wrong.

 

[1fishkeeper]

Watts per gallon is not really a good rule to go by anymore. To me PC lights are not strong enough to fill a 90 gallon tank with enough light for a anemone. One of the things that I would do is first is get it out of your tank before it nukes all of your tank. Then do a large water change. And last get some stronger lights if you want to keep a anemone.

 

[jdizzle707]

What's your alk? Ph swings can stress them out. Also make other tank mates didn't stress it.

 

[bues0022]

+1 on not enough lights. Furthermore, everybody, please do not use watts-per-gallon. Though some still attempt to use it as a "rule of thumb" it is extremely misleading as to the amount of light in your tank.

Silversides have been known by some to kill anemones. They won't necessarily seem rotten, but since they are not human-grade food quality, they may have gone in several freeze-thaw cycles and may be contaminated with bacteria.

Get it out of your tank asap, get your water under control, get better lights, read more, then try again in a few months once you are going to be able to keep it alive.