Impulse Purchase - Now we need advice

[HumanIMDB]

We made an uninformed/impulsive purchase and have ended up with what we think is a Pink/White Bubble Tip Anemone. (We thought we were getting a Bubble Coral.) It is about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter. It looks more like this variety, Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), but has the coloring of this variety, Haitian Reef Anemone (Condylactis sp.).

So, now we are stuck with it as it seems to have attached itself to one of the few rocks we can't really move. This is also why we cannot get a picture of it for ID.

The question now is, do we leave it alone and enjoy the accidental purchase or try to remove it and take it back to the LFS for some more LPS, softies, or mushrooms?

Here is our stock list:
Waving Xenia
Tube Anemone
Green Ricordia
Several Blue and Green Mushrooms
Green Blastomosa
Green Frogspawn
Green Clown Goby
Emerald Mithrax Crab
Blue Hermit Crab
Peppermint Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
And several varieties of snails.

My setup details are, 10 Gal with Coralife Aqualight Deluxe 96W Quad Tube 50/50 PC, Fluval 104 with Carbon and LR rubble, AquaClear Power Filter 70 with Chaeto lit by 6500K "DayLight" Bulb, AquaClear Power Head 20, 50w Tronic Heater.

We like the looks of it, so if our system will support it, we will keep it, but we don't want to end up with something that will wither and die and then wipe out our tank.

Please help.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[GSMguy]

hey chris
if you have the bubble tip anemone the best thing to do is let it find a spot it likes and leave it there
they need to be fed about 3 times a week i use frozen silversides i thaw them RoDi water and selcon which is an additive for vitamins and minerals

if you can in the center of the anemone there should be a mouth look to see if it is closed tighty or gaping open

 

[Sk8r]

As long as it doesn't get up and move, it should be ok, granted you have enough light for it---and if it's attached, it's happy where it is.

 

[GSMguy]

he has enough light 96w pc over a 10gall

leave lots of room for the anemone they will grow very fast

 

[rssjsb]

At that size, I would try smaller foods first, like frozen mysis, chopped krill (like the stuff you can buy in cubes) or even cyclopeeze. If you do feed silversides, you'll have to chop them up really small.

 

[GSMguy]

yes chop the silversides sorry

 

[HumanIMDB]

Okay, if we can barely see it where it is, I doubt I will be able to get in there to hand feed it anything.

I do feed the tank Hikari Frozen Mysis Shrimp, Spiralina Flakes, Nutrafin Max Marine Complete Food, and Coral Frenzy every other day on a rotation.

Do you think for the time being it will just grab whatever floats by? Perhaps that will encourage it to move as well.

Also, what do we do if it starts getting 'too big'?

 

[GSMguy]

if its healthy is should be fine
it will take months for it to get too big
another reason to get the 92 going hehe

 

[raoul]

You're describing it as pink/white, it sounds bleached to me. Lighting and food will be helpful. It will need supplemental food until it regains its natural color.

Nems are meat eaters, so when you feed mysis to the tank use a turkey baster (Or something like that) to direct mysis in the nem's direction, this will be helpful. Meaty seafoods are helpful too, clams, scallops, shrimp, krill are more options, just small, maybe shredded at this point. I usually turn of my pumps and things during feeding time to make sure the mysis goes where I want it to.
Good luck and a pic would be great when you can get one

 

[Slakker]

Does anyone else feel a little uneasy about that stock list in a 10 gallon tank?

 

[cschweitzer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9399347#post9399347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Slakker
Does anyone else feel a little uneasy about that stock list in a 10 gallon tank?

I just saw this post and was thinking the exact same thing. Unless you really don't care if your corals stay alive, I would take it out. A 10G tank is barely enough to house just one single anem as it will lock in and continue to grow, well above the size of ten gallons. Your best bet would be to get it out now if you can, or take all the corals out, or get a bigger tank and start getting it set up now. I have a BTA that grew 6+" in about 3 months. To get a partially/fully bleached anem back to health, it will take consistent feedings with plenty of usable proteins and fatty acids. This will regain your anems health, but will afford it the opportunity to grow and outcompete the other life. Be careful of the tube anemone and pretty much all of your corals as they will be in a constant battle. Of course, this is my personal opinion; take it for what it's worth.

 

[cschweitzer]

Just to give you fair warning, bubble corals are very competitive, also.

 

[GSMguy]

i agree it will be hard to pull this tank off in the long run i would get that 92 going or take some stuff back it is a very small tank

 

[zoomfish1]

I would bet it's full. But, if you consider what constitutes a bio-load, he really dosen't have one. Just a trace mineral load, so to speak.

 

[HumanIMDB]

I do perform a 35-40% water change on a weekly basis.

The 92 is going to be dry for a while...can't even set it up until June at the earliest, then it will be at least 6 months before we'll be able to start filling it with water/sand/rock...then a few months to mature, then FOWLR for a while until we can get new lights, etc.

If anything in the tank starts getting too big, we can relocate it to our friends 235 gallon for some medium to long term housing.

 

[Slakker]

I guess that's true, Zoom, the Goby and crabs probably don't put out that much waste, and i guess corals don't create much at all either.

Another thing to be mindful of, is if the anemone doesn't make it, it could potentially kill everything if your tank if it decomposes at all before you get it out. This would be true even in your 92, but so much more risky in the 10.