Is my anemone dying?

[Sydney]

I don't understand!!! My water parameters are nitrates: less than 5mg/l nitrites: less than 0.1mg/l ammonia 0mg/l temp 79 degrees celcius salinity 1.022 and Ph 8.1 (I've added liquid calcium this morning to try and bring up Ph) Yet this morning I found my carpet anemone upside down in the tank. When I moved him up high on a rock closer to the light I took a picture of him. This is how he looked when I first turned him over. After about 10 minutes he closed up his mouth and started to look okay, he even puffed up at the base, but since then he has opened his mouth again a few times and almost looks like he's turning inside out, then he closes his mouth again? Also, he seems to be sliding down from the the spot where I put him on the live rock I'm desperate for any advice!
[IMG]

[aquanut40]

Hello

A couple of quick things I notice your temp 79 is a little low 82 would be better also your salinity is way to low for long term success with Anemones. Therre is no reason what so ever to have a salinity that is less then natural seawater none. These animals have evolved of millions of year to function is a salinity of 1.026 and this is wear they should be kept. Also what type of carpet is it? May species prefer to have there columms buried in deep sand not on rock. Also your light is suspect most 90 gallons are a fairly deep tank and It looks to me like you would need more light to reach to the bottom of the tank where if it is a sand dwelling animal it would prefer to live. One othe thing how old is your tank?

Stan

[Aquadude]

A gree with Stan that you should increase your salinity to approximately 33ppt. You can do this by not adding any freshwater top-off for a period of time until the desired salinity is reached. You may need to top-off to keep your skimmer or pumps etc. working correctly, so add the required amount of water as saltwater and match the present tank salinity and temperature. On temperature I would aim for 80 deg F. But not any higher than that. At 82 if your tank suddenly starts to get warmer due to a summertime heatwave or your heater sticks, you will not have a chance to "fix" things before the ill effects of high water temperature take their toll. But more importantly than what your actual temperature is set to, is temperature stability. Try and keep your tank at the same temperature with minimal swings. Aim for less than a 2 degrees F swing.

Edit: How long have you had the anemone? What have you been feeding it?

[aquanut40]

Hello

I see no need to have a salinity at any other level then that of natural seawater. A salinity below or above will cause some degree of stress in any animal that has evolved to function at ther natural salinity level.

Stan

[Sydney]

I lost my anemone this weekend! He looked like he was literally disintigrating. Thankfully I got him out before he created any significant nitrite/ammonia spike. Did a water change to be safe anyway. It'll be a very long time before I get another anemone! Maybe my tank just isn't mature enough? However, I've had stable water conditions ever since cycling completed which was about a month ago. Thanks for the input re: salinity and temp. I have read that ideal temp is between 78 and 83 degrees (most fluctuation I've seen has been 1 degree from night to day) and salinity is 1.023 for anemones. But from what you have told me I should increase both slightly. I'll work towards that. What about PH? What is ideal for anemones to be happy? Any other tips on keeping happy anemones for future reference is appreciated. I'll be taking it extra slow this time as I'm quite upset about causing the death of any creature :sad:

[create_a_reef]

Sad to hear about your anemone. I have read that most people lose anemone's withing 6 months of getting them. But then again that was just a statistic and we all know 4 in 5 statistics are crap =p

The biggest problem people have is that the anemone seems to be doing fine for a long time then deteriorates and dies quite quickly. I would have to say that its from 2 main reasons. The most important is food. When I had about 60 tanks of guppies (breeding them for show) I use to feed my culls to my 3 different types of anemones. You would not believe what they can eat. Most are under the imresssion that a bit of food can last them but when your anemone goes quick its generally too late to help it anyways as it has starved to death. Feed it some of Sunday nights raw Salmon dinner or a shrimp or two. They eat lots and split willingly under the right conditions. Just make sure you dont pollute your tank with uneaten food.


The second reason is light. Although Anemones eat live food they like good light. With light and food they should thrive. I have found that when my tank has crashed over the years my anemones faired the best. Dont give up on them, they are amazing creatures! Try again!

Brent

[jtremblay]

I'd hate to disagree with Brent ...

But few people should keep wild-caught anenomes. In the wild, unless they get eaten, they're pretty much immortal. They, like many inverts, do not age the way we do. They are typically handled poorly at collection with many dying before they reach the LFS, bleached from improper lighting at the LFS, and most of the others slowly starve in aquariums.

One of the only exceptions is the bubble tipped anenomes. These guys are natural hosts for several species of clowns and often clone in aquariums. If you can get a clone, so much the better; its parent has shown it can tolerate being in an aquarium, and chances are good that the clone's been well looked after.

Just a thought.

But, like Stan said, your lighting's going to be marginal at best for most of the showy anenomes.

[Sydney]

Thanks for your words of advice and encouragement. You mentioned my lighting. Do I have to have MH in order to keep happy anemones, or should I upgrade my PC bulbs to higher wattage?