Why is this anemone dying?

[reefer1970]

Ive had this white anemone for 2 months and eats regularly. I believe it is a condi but have been told it may be bleached and losts its zooan... plankton? it has been looking shriveled up for a couple of days and now its on its side on the sandbed with its mouth open. I read on another post that a dying anemone can realease a poison?? Do they mean the obvious ammonia issues related to a rotting anemone? Whats up with this? his maroon clown has been trying to feed it and bites me if I try to move it.

 

[reefer1970]

I did add a phosphate reactor with a small amount of gfo mixed with carbon the other day for the first time. I don't see a connection but...

 

[garygb]

That doesn't look like a condy. It looks more like a very sick M. doreensis (long tentacle anemone). As far as poisoning the tank, aside from the ammonia issues of a dead anemone they can release nematocyst into the water. That's more of an issue when an anemone gets sucked into a power head.

Providing it with excellent water conditions and possible treating with antibiotics are the only suggestions I can make. I've never treated with antibiotics, so if you decide to go that route you can read the sticky at the top of this forum.

 

[shifty51008]

You still never gave what your water parameters, tank size, what lights you have ect. Without knowing these things we cant help you no matter how many threads you make.

 

[reefer1970]

Shifty,
That sounds like you read my other thread asking what kind of anemone this is. I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to write another thread asking why it could be sick. I read enough posts that I believe my parameters and lighting are correct. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Unless, I bought a sick anemone 2 months ago, something must be wrong. I actually found it completely imploded this morning and took it out. I'm hoping to find a possible reason to prevent this from happening again. I'm leaning towards the theory that it was bleached when I bought it and it had no zooan.. (that bacteria it lives on) but I have been feeding it krill and its clown has been feeding it daily.
125g mixed reef
Salinity 1.024
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphates .2
Calcium 500
Kh 9
Temp 79
Lighting (3) Kessil 360we LED
Flow (2) 1500gph powerheads + Mag 12 return
Apex controller
Refugium w/ macro, pods- (1) kessil 360we Amazon Sun
DIY algae scrubber- 50 watt LED
Phosphate/ carbon reactor

 

[shifty51008]

Sorry i wasnt trying to sound rude, never mean to come off that way.
Everything looks good but your phosphates are very high. I would deff work on lowering those. With levels that high you will have to change your gfo daily till you get them down to .01-.03.

Next is that looks to be a lta, sand dwelling anemone and you should have a good 3-5" deep sandbed.

And yes it is very bleached, if that was the way you received it then yes it could have been sick then. You never want to buy a completly white anemone as there is no anemone that is white and fully healthy. Condy's are the closest to being white but a healthy one should be a brownish tan type color.

With an anemone that bleached you wouldnt want to place it under strong lights as it wouldnt be able to handle it until it gets it algae back.

Sorry for your loss though, but those are just a few ideas on what to look for during your next purchace.

 

[shadowy]

What happenned to my anemone, i just saw it with mouth half opened

 

[A1t2o]

Running LED's can be spotty on what works. What levels are you running the lights at? You also might want to consider adding T5s for supplementation, I tend to see better results with some T5s on the tank.

Anemones can take a long time to die, so it could have been on a downward spiral before you bought it. I would not risk buying a bleached anemone, unless the risk was reflected in the price and you knew exactly what you were getting into. Also, your salinity seems a little low. 1.024 is around the minimum for me in a reef tank. I run mine at 1.027, but 1.026 would be good too.

Sorry for your loss, but I'm not sure there war a whole lot you could do without perfect tank conditions, and just getting lucky.

 

[reefer1970]

Thanks guys for your input. I have been toying with the idea of adding a couple of T5's but I'm worried I will lose some shimmer from the kessils and the Kessils at their lowest intensity with the T5's seems like it might be too much. I'll plug some T5's in and see how it does.

 

[BrickFishHouse]

Keeping your tank as stable as possible will give the guy the best chance at survival.

It's possible that you've got one that's on its way out, and if someone at an LFS sold it to you like that, they need a swift kick in the ding-ding!

 

[cali9dub]

Thanks guys for your input. I have been toying with the idea of adding a couple of T5's but I'm worried I will lose some shimmer from the kessils and the Kessils at their lowest intensity with the T5's seems like it might be too much. I'll plug some T5's in and see how it does.

I use all LED's (Kessil 360's) and am keeping an s. Gigantea (2 years now) and an h. Magnifica ( 13 months) and have had no problems with them using only Kessils. I wouldn't get too hung up on your lights and concentrate on your water parameters and parameter stability !

Keeping salinity stable as well as pH. Don't let your pH swing anything over about 0.8 or that will really stress you anemone.

 

[ejawitz]

I bought a bubble anemone at the LFS and it was pure white. I have had it for over a week, and it appears to be totally healthy. I moved to a sensible spot and is staying there. Does anyone know if a buble anemone can be white and healthy?

 

[jah hoeva]

If a bubble tip is white, it is bleached.

 

[ejawitz]

Yup, it finally died. I guess it was bleached. The LFS store refused to take any responsibility. They said they always stock and sell white bubble anemones.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

ejawitz, you need to find another LFS to deal with as that one has no idea what they're doing. As stated there are no white healthy anemones, they're bleached and if not taken care of properly will die. Not all white anemones will die, as long as their fed and kept in steady good water conditions and good lighting.