Need some help! Please.

ry428

New member
This is my first anemone. Recently bought a bulb tip anemone from my lfs. The anemone looked great in the store. I brought it home and transfered into my DT on the same rock that it was on in the store. It was doing great in the tank for a few days. Recently (last 2-3 days) it has been shrinking into its hole in the rock so you barely see it at night and being very small during the day with lights on. Yesterday I tried to spot feed to see if that was an issue. It grabbed a hold of a couple pieces of mysis shrimp, but did not eat right away. A minute later my cleaner shrimp jumped on it took all its shrimp (is this normal). Please help with any comments or suggestions. My tank is a 65 gallon reef 36"x18x24. I have 5 chromis and a pair of clowns and a clean up crew . I feed the tank once a day with mysis or cyclopeze. I have had the tank running for 7 months.
 
Feed the shrimp first... Keeps them occupied while you spot feed others. Yes my shrimp steal from my anemones if I don't keep them occupied first.

Feeding:
Shrimp
Fish
Anemones

This not only keeps the shrimp busy but gets the clowns out so I don't get tapped/brushed by my cinamon getting too close... (:) no nipping at me yet)

How was aclimation?
What are levels?
What are light times/% in YOUR dt compared to LFS? (rough guess)
Any worms or other items 'picking' on it?
If you cut the lights back, does it come out?
 
What is your lighting? And how does it compare in intensity to the lighting in the LFS? Are the clowns bothering the anemone?

Shrimp will steal food from an anemone (or coral). What has worked for me in the past is to give the shrimp a chunk of something (cut up shrimp or something more substantial than mysis) to keep it occupied while you feed the nem.
 
Still new at posting so please forgive me.

Aclimation went well, he came home in a bucket with lfs store water in it. I drip aclimated for an hour every fifteen minutes removing a cup or two of water since there was a bit in there from lfs. Haven't got into to many corals yet so I only test PH (7.9) Ammonia (0) Nitrite(0) and Nitrate (10ppm). Those are my levels.

Lighting I run 4 t5's 2 10k and 2 blue. I run the blue for a hour of warm up and a hour of cool down. Blue's are on for 10hrs total and 10k for 8. Lfs runs t5's aslo for about the same time periods.

Only thing that has bugged it at all is the shrimp and I see a hermit up there when he is sucked in to his hole (don't know what the hermit is doing doesn't seem to be picking at it, little red leg hermits). The anemone is positioned in the middle of the tank.

What kind of shrimp or food should i feed the cleaner? Is regular grocery store bought raw shrimp chunked up work? Or is there something else? Thanks for the help.

Also what are the chances of my clowns hosting in it? They are just tank breed ocellaris (small ones).
 
What kind of shrimp or food should i feed the cleaner? Is regular grocery store bought raw shrimp chunked up work? Or is there something else? Thanks for the help.

I go by the seafood dept and get the shrimp too. Usually Jumbo raw shrimp. I get three a week (or every other week), Last time I paid $0.90 for my three shrimp. I cut them up in to chunks place it in a ziplock, spread out, and lay it in my freezer. Once frozen I can let them fall back together as frozen bits.

This way I can take out a few small and larger pieces and put it in a juice glass with a baster full of tank water and let it thaw.

I usually take some of the really small pieces and suck it up the turkey baster and put it in the tank near the shrimp. Squeeze slightly so it is just on the edge of the nozzle, and the shrimp smell the water and come running. They usually pull the piece out of the turkey baster. I then find the next shrimp (I have 4) and do the same until they are all busy eating away. Keep in mind I dont do this daily... only when I spot feed the anemones. Otherwise I let them snag the cylopeeze or what ever is on the menu for the day, floating in the water.

This works good with any raw food that I am feeding them. I always thaw in a squirt of tank water so to not introduce outside variables.

Feed the fish.

Then suck up (or using suction with the tip) one of the larger pieces of shrimp and let the anemone tag it with the tentacles and then squeeze slightly to only release the suction. I have accidently blown the water into the anemone when feeding and it shrinks up real quick, no harm just don't want to force feed it into the mouth. Just let it sit on the tentacles and it pulls it in, I play a small tug of war sometimes just to let it think it is something real not just something floating by. It usually gets the other tentacles involved and pulls it straight in.
 
Thanks for the help. Picked up some shrimp yesterday and worked great. I will keep an eye on him. Thanks again.
 
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