Strange Sebae

[Mynx]

Alright, I haven't been able to do water change or testing on the tank, but I know Nitrates are high.... High enough to be doing damage.
So no helpful info there.

My Sebae has been acting weird since before all my numbers were out of whack, like a few months ago when everything was where it should be (Nitrates, Nitrites and Ammonia 0) So don't know what's going on.

Anyways, as in my Avatar he used to sit infront/beside a very specific rock with his foot under the crushed coral and was happy for an exceedingly long time, then some ich happened and I moved all fish to a hospital tank, about 2 days after his clown disappeared he started moving, and taking his favorite rock with him. Then, he let go of the rock a few days later and moved behind the rock to another rock and shoved his foot under the crushed coral.
I figured he was just unhappy with how everything felt. He was still getting food once a week, and I took that oppertunity to not feed my CuC as much and got them to start doing their jobs (Like the hair-algae eating hermits to eat hair algae... shocking.)

Since putting the fish back in the tank a few months ago, he's started climbing rocks then dropping back down in the same spot, right now he's got his foot stuck to the rock behind his first one and is stretching up and looks like a toadstool. He's getting fed a lot, I figured maybe he needs more food, and it doesn't help for more than a few hours, he'll settle back down and be happy then stretch back up. It's not flow, I've given him enough flow to push him around, and no flow at all, neither have an effect. I looked for pests night after night after night and nothing. I have pictures attatched, he's not damaged in anyway, not even missing a tentacle.

We have Dual T5, Plus LED Support Strip and across from that is Dual T5HO. I do not think he's looking for more light...

PS. Sorry one of the pics is sideways, don't know why it is.

 

[Mynx]

Just bumping this up... Hopefully someone can help me out... :spin1:

 

[taylor t]

Alright, I haven't been able to do water change or testing on the tank, but I know Nitrates are high.... High enough to be doing damage.
So no helpful info there.
.

If nitrates are "high enough to be doing damage", maybe try a few water changes or a test? Am I missing something?

 

[Mynx]

The water changes are coming, but this started BEFORE the Nitrates went high. ((The Nitrates went high because I went for surgery then landed in the hospital and almost lost my life to infection, and Hubs works and was visiting me, so couldn't care for the tank for over a month.)) Either way, the only thing currently being damaged is very soft corals (Mushrooms, GSP, Xenia's) even my Toadstool is doing fine right now, so that's telling me barely over 20.

The main reason why I mentioned the nitrate problem is because I cannot test right now. So, everyones going to have to bear with me and understand that this started BEFORE all my water param issues.

 

[taylor t]

I'm sorry to hear of your health issues, I can relate...

I too have a leather toadstool. You can't go by those, you could run them over with your car, and put it back in your tank, and it will recover. They're called leather for a reason...

My guess, is, water changes would be the easiest way to fix what ever is going on in your system... we all go through periods where our tank's chemistry gets "off", and water changes are the easiest way to correct issues. It's only a 29 gallon, water changes should be really easy. Reality is, anyone can guess what's wrong with your tank, but it's all just a guess without tests, and more info. The best person to judge your tank is you, and if it looks off, a water change will be the single easiest thing you can do.

I could be wrong, again, too much info missing. To me, just based on your pictures you've posted, with the lack of info and knowledge of your tank, your tank looks to have algae that comes with excessive nutrients-not the end of the world though. I have no idea what kind of filtration or lights you have, but again, from your picture, your anemone looks like it's not fully colored all the way, IMO, not enough light. LED or T5 means nothing, both can be lacking. Not all LED or T5 are the same. Most likely, it sounds like you purchased your LED lights for color, not really for growth-just a guess on my part. Typically, anemone's move when they're not happy, or will stretch if it's low light.

Sometimes, they just move. We can't control them, but we can try to give them what they need to stay happy, and with that, hopefully they will stay put. Best of luck to you. That's a nice anemone you have, it can look better if it acclimates better, it doesn't look fully acclimated/colored. I've seen anemone's people have had for a year, and sometimes they don't look as good as they could, if they were given "a little bit more". Please don't take any of this as a slam, (just trying to help) but that anemone you have has some real potential to be a looker. Best of luck to you.

 

[Mynx]

Oh I know he can be a looker, only had him a few months, when we first got him (Again, feel free to see my Avatar or ask for older pics.) He was so bleached you could see through him. He's not finished coming into his color and I've been trying to help him get to it lol.

Hubby has been doing water changes for me, (I'm not allowed to, doctors orders... sigh.) And that should fix most of the issues I see in the tank, but the 'Nem was doing this for a while now, and it's just now starting to make me concerned... I'm thinking I may have to change the lighting somehow, since I've read tons of stuff since posting this up and a lot of people say that when they're stretching they're looking for more light...

Wish he'd just go on a rock though, it would be cheaper lol. I'll keep this post updated as I go, and maybe once all my numbers are back in order we can trial and error some fixes to try and get him back to happy.

As for the Leather; Don't say that until you've met mine... He's grumpy as hell. He'll grump and shrivel up just because you looked at the house wrong, and it'll take weeks for him to reopen. I'm so not kidding. I've accidently brushed him with my arm while I was in the tank once... 2 weeks for him to reopen. lol he's such a sourpuss.

Thank you Taylor, you've reminded me that sometimes there's problems long in waiting that can't be seen on tests but a good reefer knows his or her own tank.

 

[Amphiprion]

If you have 2 T5 HO and one LED strip, the lighting is a little on the low side. Should not be enough to be too much of an issue for now, especially if the animal is well fed and healthy otherwise. It is something to consider in the long run, however, as that kind of trumpeting behavior is often in response to lower light. The anemone seems to have become much healthier since the pics in your avatar, so it may be getting to the point where it will appreciate the extra light, at least gradually.

On a side note, what are you feeding and how often?

Edit: looks like you have H. crispa. It will prefer sand or sand-rock interface more than anything. They prefer to have their foot as inaccessible as possible. Your substrate is a bit more on the coarse side for its preference, but they are a bit more adaptable than some other species that are almost only found in sand.

 

[Rippinfrags]

+1, your anemone needs more light..

 

[Mynx]

Dual T5 (Non HO) and Dual T5 HO, with LED Support. But I'm debating swapping the Non-HO for a higher output LED setup we have sitting just to try out.

He used to have his foot stuck to the bottom of the tank under the crushed coral for the longest time, then he moved over to the rocks, shoved his foot on the rock and started trumpeting.

 

[Mynx]

Alright made a decision will be switching tomorrow to the LED setup we have sitting and waiting. (It's for our 80Gallon, which is being delayed a few months..) If it works, I'll be looking into a full and better lighting setup later on down the road.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Good luck with the new lights!

 

[Amphiprion]

Okay, that was at least a bit more light and probably okay. More, as long as the anemone is acclimated carefully, will certainly help, though.

 

[Mynx]

I'll let you guys know how the lights work out. I'm waiting for some extra free time to sit and fight with the timer on the lights. I was hoping to get it all done this morning and see results maybe but life happens. lol

 

[Mynx]

Well, right now he's gone into a a very strong acclimation ball it looks like. All shrivelled up (Not deflated) with some of his stomach showing, but when the blue lights came on, he started sucking his stomach back in and was showing more tentacle but still not opening up... Will check on him in a while before lights go out...

Is there a chance I shocked him? I didn't think It would shock him if corals closer to the lights didn't get shocked.

 

[Mynx]

Well, it's been a week and no change, still trumpeting. Still doing water changes to get everything back in order, just taking time. Hmmm

 

[Mynx]

Alright, nitrates are lower now, not yet at 0 (.5) but not bad! Been doing gravel cleaning with water changes and got the skimmer powering through. Only lost 1 coral from it.

Lights were changed a while ago, and he still hasn't dropped back down to the bottom instead he's moved up, between three rocks now, under the AC50, not sure if he's looking for more direct flow or the lights still arn't enough.:headwally:

 

[Mynx]

On a side note since this recent move, our Ocellaris has been resting on and around the Sebae. Happy to see him using the Sebae instead of the Toadstool haha, glad the Saddleback hasn't chased him out.