ID this please

[manissen10]

So I picked this up from the LFS yesterday and he said it was a bubble tip, wasnt really sure. the color seems sort of faded and my camera doesn't show the color well but theres some very light green on it. And whats the best way to let it color back up?

 

[ocellaris123]

Yes it is a bubble tip anemone (E. quadricolor), and they like to be up on the rockwork fwiw. What kind of lighting do you currently have? The anemone looks like its starving (short stubby tentacles).

 

[manissen10]

T5's 216 watts 4 bulb. the guy said it would be fine. should I move the nem to a better spot you think too? once I put it in, a short while after it found this spot

 

[Nebthet]

If the height of your tank is under 18 inches you should be ok for the lights. If it wants more it will move.
This is a seriously unhealthy anemone. You will need to feed it tiny bits of shrimp or mysis every other day to give it a chance at living. Because it is so bleached out it has lost almost all of it's zooanxethellae and it will take time to get that back.
I hope it survives for you.

 

[manissen10]

Thanks Nebthet,
Alright so now we have identified the problem. I don't want this thing to die. So now I really need help to get this thing to survive. So your saying mysis every other day?
Anything else I can do to help get him back?
I appreciate all the help I can get right now since this is my first nem and it looks like I've already started in the hole. Time to learn

 

[BonsaiNut]

Part of your challenge will be to get it to acclimate to your lighting with dying. It needs bright light to get its zooxanthellae back, but while it is bleached it will try to hide from light that is too bright. Hence all the stories you hear about people with bleached anemones that crawl back into the rockwork and die.

Try feeding it SMALL bits of food and see how it responds. If it takes food, wait at least 48 hours before feeding it again. Many people overfeed and stress their anemones even further - give it plenty of time to eat and digest. An anemone is mostly water and doesn't need a lot of food to survive for LONG periods of time.

Otherwise, the anemone looks healthy. Your challenge will be getting it accustomed to your lighting (which is plenty bright, btw). I have seen people keep BTA's under normal output actinic bulbs in the past (though they were up at the top of the tank).

 

[jeffreylesser]

Typically when I acclimate anemones or coral I put window screen material on top of eggrate between the lights and the new addition to the tank. the number of layes I use usually depends on how high in the tank I put the addition. If it is near the top I do 5 layers of screen removing 1 layer every 5 days. If I am putting something in the bottom of the tank I usually use 2-3 layers.

This will lower the light for the anemeone to keep it from hiding, and if it moves up the rockwork, you know it wants more light and can indicate you could remove a layer of screen material.

 

[manissen10]

like what type of screening are we talking about here? because I made my own top to my tank with window screen and wood trim to go around the outside it looks great. Are you saying I should cut more pieces and lay it over the screen that is already there?