My anemone's keep dying!

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7430637#post7430637 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fat Surgeon
Bryceps, I agree with Phender. Your water quality is not up to standards........

Whoa now. We have no way of knowing whether or not this person's water standards are good or not. Bryceps may have great water conditions and there isn't much real evidence that moderately high nitrates or phosphates is deadly to anemones. I have seen reports of anemones being kept long term in tanks with nitrate and phosphate levels above what most reef keepers would deem appropriate.

IMO, for anemones, change is bad. Even changing from great conditions to different great conditions is bad. Our intentions are good, but too often I think we look for conditions in people's tanks that have lead to their failure with an anemone when no such conditions exist. Yes, if Bryceps wants to be able to keep an anemone for more than 6 months, the lighting on the tank should be doubled. Yes, you should probably check your pH, etc when something dies suddenly in your tank. But in the case with anemones, most of ones I see in LFSs are so compromised by constant changes in their conditions, they wouldn't survive if you took them back to a reef in Fiji and let them go.

If Bryceps has little experience with anemones and he/she got a sebae anemone from a LFS, there is an really good chance that he/she bought a dead anemone walkin'.

 

[bryceps]

Thanks Phil, I was starting to feel a bit ganged up on here, lol. My bubble tip lasted for a couple of months, so I am fairly certain that it was the lighting. I'm gonna switch over to 96 watt bulbs before I give it another shot. I just hope it doesn't affect the corals. Oh when I do it, do you think I should go straight 50/50, or stay with the Actinic Blue/10k mix I have now? Thanks!

 

[dantodd]

Nice post Phil.

Our goal here should be to learn more about our hobby and help those out who want to know more. I've been fortunate enough to be (and continue to be) on both sides of that equation.

Bryceps, as you obviously know by now you will want to make some changes if you're going to successfully keep anemones.

There are a lot of folks on here who are more than happy to help you get your system ready.

 

[cweder]

I would like to add that phosphates and nitrates (ideally) should be as low as possible for the health and good of our animals. Many people have had success with a variety of water conditions. Stability can be just as important with gradual improvement in conditions from time to time through water changes my recommendation. I keep my anemone in less than perfect conditions and it seems to be thriving so far.

 

[Fat Surgeon]

Bryceps, My intention was not to bash you at all. While your lighting MIGHT not be enough to sustain an anemone long term, let me first say I have seen anemones adapt to the wattage you have (pretty much 3 watts per gallon) or less and live a long time. And yes, it is VERY true that some anemones are dooomed right from the start. IMO I am still sticking with water quality. Now, before I get bashed again, I am not saying that YOU are doing anything wrong at all. You could be doing everything right.
The RO water you are getting could still have higher than normal TDS readings because of the micron count of the filters a person or place uses. A 1 micron or .5 micron is what should be used, with D-Ionization if possible. If you have or can borrow a TDS meter, check your readings. The outcome should be 5 or less.

Other things to consider; Age of bulbs. (makes a big difference, that's why we are recommended to change them every 9-12 months)

How was the Anemone obtained? Wildcaught, aquacultered, etc

Let me first say that there are others on here who are far more experienced than I, I am sure, in the realm of keeping Anemones. Second, please accept my apology if what I wrote seemed offensive to you in any manner. You seem like a very nice person and my intent was to help get to the root of the problem and find possible solutions. However, as is the case with reefkeeping, EVERY tank is different and trying to nail down a specific cause to a problem in one persons tank is sometimes impossible given our limited knowledge of these beautiful sea creatures.

Best of luck to you in the future and dont give up on anemones!

 

[bryceps]

Thanks pardner, sometimes words can appear cold on a page, lol, no worries!

 

[OrangeKoi]

I believe I read somewhere on one of these threads that adding buffers is really bad for anemone? You mentioned that you were going to adjust phosphates with a buffer?

I'm new at this and maybe it's only ph buffers they meant but I'd check on it.