Percula's and Malu Anenome

[Crazirob]

Hello i have had my tank set for a good 4 months, i have had hermits for 1 month the clowns for about 2 weeks and today got a malu anenome, it has lovley looking purple tips which is nice, upon puttin it in today i fed it some baby brine shrimp, i melted the cube and got rid of all the nasty water then fed it,

now since my anenome has been in there i have noticed the clowns look like there struggling to breath....... could this be an effect from the anenome ? if not what could this be ? also the tank has gone a little cloudy so im thinking that may be a reason why the are "panting".

hopefully it will clear by morning and they are back to normality

Thanks

Robbie

 

[t4zalews]

I've had clowns just lay in anemones and "pant before", thats normal clown behavior. As for the cloudiness, I don't know what that is. You're anemone would show signs of stress before your clownfish would.

 

[Crazirob]

well the anenome has opened alot since it has been here,

however disappointinly the clowns have not homed the Malu anenome, one was captive bread the other i got off a freind who had it for about 3 years

Thanks for quick reply, btw are the harlequin shrimps in your display picture yours ?

 

[elegance coral]

You may have a bacteria bloom. If so, this can cause your clowns to "pant", the water to get cloudy, and the anemone seem fine. Can you post a pic?

 

[Crazirob]

well here is a few pictures of the anenome and the tank, fed the anenome today and its mouth looks like it has swolen up, im presuming this is because it is feeding, the water is clearing today which is good i cleaned out the filter, to help clear the tank. fish are really not interested in the anenome. also i noticed that some of the tenticles went very thin and dark and clumped together, any idea why it would do this ?

i am also using 14k lighting a fmw-25 and a fmb-25 is this suitable for the anenome ?

 

[garygb]

Not sure what light you have there, MH? What is the wattage? How far from the light source?

That looks like H. crispa to me. malu has what looks like lines around the tentacles.

 

[slojmn]

I have had a clown pair take a year to find their anemone. One day the male was getting close, the next day he dove in, it took the female a week or so to work her way into
the anemone. Just be patient . I would address the cloudy water though.

 

[Crazirob]

Not sure what light you have there, MH? What is the wattage? How far from the light source?

That looks like H. crispa to me. malu has what looks like lines around the tentacles.

Sorry I am unfamiliar with all the terms u guys use so far the bulbs are a t5 marine White tube 30w and a moonlight blue t5 30/35 watts about 18 inches from the bottom of the tank, does something look wrong with anenome ? What do u mean by the Malu has lines around it ?

Robbie

 

[BonsaiNut]

That anemone is H. crispa, not H. malu. It is a good looking H. crispa as well; most don't look so healthy when they are first introduced to a tank. Cloudiness MAY have been due to the anemone spawning - they will sometimes spawn when introduced to a new tank.

 

[t4zalews]

+2 on Cripa not Malu. It's a different species of sebae. While the anemone has nice dark color right now, the lighting you have may not be enough to support it. Do you is the 14k bulb a metal halide (MH)? If you do have a halide, the anemone will do just fine. If you only have 1 T5, Id suggest getting at least a 4 bulb unit. What size is the tank?

 

[Crazirob]

Hey guys noticed after a couple of days my cleaner shrimp are almost poking te anenome, it keeps flaring up as if it doesn't like it,

what can I do?

Also one of my hermits is very interested and tries to climb it/ get under it

Also after feeding I have noticed the body and around the mouth goes very dark is this normal ?

Also the anenome vanished the other morning, I found it tucked away and now it has moved once more, phew ! Lol

Can't tell if the bulbs are metal halide, but they are arcadia bulbs,

With regard the anenome, how difficult is the H. Crispa to maintain ? also what does the H. Mean ???

 

[garygb]

The H. stands for Heteractis, the genus that anemone belongs to. I wouldn't worry about the shrimp or the hermits bothering the anemone. If it vanished, that means it's moving, which means something isn't just right for it. That species will wander around and usually find a place on the sand bed, but sometimes in the rocks to attach. as far as the "dark around the mouth" after eating, I wouldn't worry about that, but I'm not sure what you're seeing there. I'm not familiar with arcadia bulbs, but there aren't that many categories of aquarium lighting: metal halide, florescent (normal output, compact, or T-5), and LED pretty much is it for reef compatible. You could do a search online and likely get the specs on your lighting. You asked if H. crispa are hard to maintain, they aren't the easiest anemone and they aren't the hardest. You just need strong lights and very good water quality (full strength seawater specific gravity (1.026)), temp in the 78-82F range, preferably undetectable nitrates, do regular water changes, use a protein skimmer and use activated carbon regularly and you should be fine.

 

[gcsoupman]

Awesome nem! Looks very happy with your tank.

 

[Crazirob]

Hello guys and girls, bit of an update I got 2 cleaner shrimp about, 2 weeks ago, I came home today to see one clown fish by it'sself, I thought this is very odd normally tree always together, then I noticed that all the crabs 1 shrimp were hiding too, looked and they were munching on my newer clown it's odd, he had shown no sign of stress, was feeding well, I did forget to turn the lights on this morning but that can't be a reason for a clown to die !!!! My nitrates are non existent, Is bang on, I just can't think why he died, he was very pale when I got him out but all of his fins were eaton, going to go to my LFS Tommorow an get water tested, and then do a 20% water change, how can I check if my older percale is safe ? What do I need to look out for ???

My shrimp also are not cleaning the sand bed very well ! And the hermits are attacking each other, I feed twice a day very small portions to each type inhabitant of the tank! Kinda scared for rest of my tank now,

I have a green algae growing on the back glass too, it's very thought get off, may need a scraper,

Need advice guys please

 

[rssjsb]

Wow, you've got a lot going on. I don't know why your clown died, but based on your last post (dead fish, algae blooms, unfamiliarity with lights, etc.), I'm guessing this is a new tank, so getting an anemone may not have been the best choice at this point. In fact, you may want to return it. It's a very pretty anemone and looks healthy, but will go downhill rapidly if you don't have the right setup for it. As others have said, I don't think you've got enough light to keep this guy right now.

(A small point - shrimp don't clean your sand bed. They call them cleaners because they like to pick dead skin off of fish, who seem to enjoy it (like having your back scratched)).