Unhealthy Haddoni HELP!

RandysReef

Member
Please HELP!
I bought a green carpet anemone about 2 months ago (16 inches in diameter). When i bought it it was super green( In my avatar) It was sticky, the mouth was nice and tight. It opened nice and big. A couple months later its starting to bleach and the mouth is not tight it is gaping open with white skin coming out a little. I thought it was the mp40 i recently put on because the next day it didnt open like it used to, so i turned it off and put the koralia that was up before. It is kind of expelling little brown clumps that i researched called zooanthexxelle. The tank is fairly new (my first mistake) and is doing fine my corals are opening and my fish are doing fine, the rocks are turning purple. What can be the problem. As you can see i am freaking out, i love this thing. Can it be the lights. i run 4 25w t5s most of the day a reefbright LED and a 150w mh for about 2 hours every day. Is this enough light or too little. Please help! i will post before and after pictures up in a couple hours.
 
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The distance from the lights to the haddoni. If it is at the bottom of the tank, then it is probably 20+ inches away.
Either way, I would say that is definitely not enough light for a haddoni in a tank that size.
 
The distance from the lights to the haddoni. If it is at the bottom of the tank, then it is probably 20+ inches away.
Either way, I would say that is definitely not enough light for a haddoni in a tank that size.

Do you think that is the reason why it isnt doing well. Should i run the 150w metal halide longer. What do you think i can do to give it more light? Thank you for helping me.
 
If lighting is your problem(not enough)...then you should either run it more or somehow get deeper light penetration in your tank. Are there any local reefers who have more experience that can help you?
 
If lighting is your problem(not enough)...then you should either run it more or somehow get deeper light penetration in your tank. Are there any local reefers who have more experience that can help you?
Thanks for the help, im going to run the mh longer and see how that helps.
 
What kind of light was it under when you got it? If I was to guess, that's not enough light. If it was mine, I would ramp up the light an hour a day for a week. 8 hours of MH. I have had those under 250 watt MH in a 75 gallon tank before. The ones I've had like high light, low flow. High enough flow to move water, but just hardly moving the disk. Yours may be a combination of things, a pic is worth a thousand words.
 
Also, a tank only a couple months old, and adding an anemone, unless you are an experienced reefer, you will most likely struggle to make it happy. Sorry to say.
 
Also, a tank only a couple months old, and adding an anemone, unless you are an experienced reefer, you will most likely struggle to make it happy. Sorry to say.
I am 14. my dad and i are in his hobby. he has been in the hobby for 25+ years. we have a 400 reef. He helps me with everything i need.
 
No offense meant. I'm glad you have some experience in the house, sounds like you guys just have a little tweeking to do. :)
 
no offense made, i was just saying that we have some experience. I am trying to post a few pictures so i can get to the bottom of this and save my carpet.
 
Here are pictures

Here are pictures

It usually opens a little more but still has a gaping mouth


DSCF1162.jpg
DSCF1158.jpg
DSCF1156.jpg
 
Sorry for wasting your time, i found out the problem. My salinity was super low. and the carpet wasnt liking it. the salinity was less than 1.020
 
Sorry for wasting your time, i found out the problem. My salinity was super low. and the carpet wasnt liking it. the salinity was less than 1.020

DONT be sorry... it wasnt a waste of time.. in fact its information for other up and coming reefers, or newbies... just be glad the issue was found, and can be resolved :) Best of luck with it
 
I'm sure the salinity is the primary problem at the moment. Just remember to slowly correct it over time by topping off with saltwater rather than freshwater. You don't want any big fast changes in salinity.
Also, your lighting is still an issue. The haddoni didn't lose color because of the low salinity. You definitely need to increase the amount of time on the halide. Even then it might not be enough light in the long run, but it will certainly be better than what it is currently getting.
 
Agreed with other posters :)

I have a 10 year old son that knows more about this hobby than I did 10 years into it :)

A couple thoughts... yes, salinity needs to be fixed :) But, having loved a beautiful haddoni, I can tell you that they do like light. But, the rest of your reef would benefit from a bit more halide love as well. You may want to seriously consider at least 6 hours or so of halide time. Unless your t-5 fixture has individual reflectors and you are religious about changing bulbs, you are likely going to starve it.

Also, while it does take some time for some anemones to settle in, your haddoni should be firmly footed in the sand. I noticed you said that picture was two weeks after getting your anemone, but, has it footed down deep in the sand?
 
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