Spider webs

dcdicello

dcdicello

New member
I've had to recently move 2 Nems into a 20 gallon QT since they haven't been doing too well. Now there seems to be a lot of mucus / spider webs all over the tank.

What on earth is going on?

DSC05351.jpg

DSC05350.jpg


Some background info, they used to be the size of a dinner plate or larger and beautiful red color. The tank they were in was 55 display and a 20 gallon sump. Since moving them into QT (3 days ago), I've been trying to feed them squid cut into small pieces, but haven't had much success.
 
Well it seems that something is ****ing them off. Badly. I have seen them do this when being moved from one tank to another or when the conditions in the tank suddenly and dramatically shift. So its a sign of extreme stress I would say.

Before anyone can really help, why don't you post the following for both display and quarantine tanks:

Temp
Salinity
Ammonia
Nitrates
Alkalinity
How long has the tank been set up?
What kind of lighting over what size tank?

All of these can affect anemones significantly. If you don't know some of them, that's ok, but you'll probably want to know in order to keep anemones long term. I look forward to your reply.
 
Temp - 80 degrees
Salinity - 1.024
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrates - <10 (I used 20 gallons of the water out of the 55 for the QT tank, I figured it would be less stressful.)
Alkalinity - "Normal" according to the good ol Red Sea tests :mad2:.

How long has the tank been set up? - The 55 has been setup for 4 years now. I've had the Nems for about 2.5 years they just recently went south a month ago after a split one Nem went through.

What kind of lighting over what size tank? - QT has a 250w MH - 55 has 4 x 54W T5s.
 
Off subject a little but every time i move my new tiny Ricordea Mushroom cause he is so small and kept getting knocked over by hermits (finally rubber banded him to a rock) he would do the same thing. So my guess is this is one ****ed off anemone and that stuff he is shooting out may, or may not be poisonous to everything in the tank, i would suggest some massive water changes.
 
Ok, I'm not a carpet expert but here's my 2 cents.

1. They might like a salinity closer to 1.027.
2. The ammonia should ALWAYS be at zero. My guess is the anemone is causing the spike because its sick, but either way, it will get worse without a good amount of cycled live rock so you will want to start doing water changes soon.
3. If the water was causing the problem, reusing it would just take the problem over to the new tank. So again, a lot of water changes would be a good idea.
 
bradleym said:
Ok, I'm not a carpet expert but here's my 2 cents.

1. They might like a salinity closer to 1.027.
2. The ammonia should ALWAYS be at zero. My guess is the anemone is causing the spike because its sick, but either way, it will get worse without a good amount of cycled live rock so you will want to start doing water changes soon.
3. If the water was causing the problem, reusing it would just take the problem over to the new tank. So again, a lot of water changes would be a good idea.
Click to expand...

They are not carpets. 1.026-1.027 is a good range for salinity. I agree with water changes.
 
Thank you for all the feedback, but no one really answered the question of the webs/mucus.

I imagine the ammonia was from starting with 100% old 55 tank water in the QT. I plan on doing 5 gallon water changes every day or at least every other day, depending on how much time I have.
 
Sorry, the answer was in the mix. When anemones are really upset, they exude a lot of mucous, trying to rub off the irritant, or insulate themself from their surroundings. Its a defense mechanism, and it's causing the mess.
 
Vacuum it out. It will not likely do them any good in the QT. If it's on them leave it be so you don't accidentally rough them up, but anything else around the tank should probably go with each water change. Best of luck, they are gonna need a little love but they don't look lost yet. :)
 
For a little update, the Anemones are doing 100 times better.
There has to be something screwing with the water in the 55 gallon I took them from.

Here is an updated pic:
IMAG0028.jpg


I measured everything I had a test for and the only thing that wasn't almost perfect was the salinity at 1.203.
 
Ouch! That's pretty far out of whack. For anemones anyway. But that's great to see them doing so well! Congratulations!
 
That salinity will sure tick them off. Get it raised up slowly so you don't shock anything and I would say it should be good
 
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