Anemone/ PH

[Brian L]

Well, it happened. My worst fear when buying my anemone was killing it. It's a purple tip LT. While setting up my Moms new puter this PM, my wife called to tell me he was sucked into the powerhead. He doesn't look too good.

I'm wondering what made him suddenly feel the need to roam. He had been planted for several months in the same rock hole. The only change I made was to install my PC bulb, and replace the three NO lamp hood with the PC hood. I'm thinking I either scared him, overwhelmed him with lights, or simply changed his environment.

This is the second time he got sucked up; the first time, I was lucky enough to catch him and turned the PH off.

Any thoughts?

[reefnut]

Hi Brian,

That's not good news, sorry to hear about your purple LT

Is there a chance he will make it?

Have you considered using loc line fittings and sea swirls instead, I have had trouble with critters and power heads before even with a cover sometimes this can happen.

Hope he makes it
Reefnut

[Brian L]

Yes, I have lots of plans. But what I am most curious about is why he wanted to move in the first place. It had to be the light. I've read nothing but debate about lighting and feeding requirements for anemones and it seems this guy did not adapt well to the blast of PC's. As of 1 AM, the anemone has moved yet again. Gone well within the rock.

[reefnut]

"I'm thinking I either scared him, overwhelmed him with lights, or simply changed his environment. "

It may have been all of these things,he probably feels threatened and that is why he went deep into your rock formation.

keep us posted
Reefnut

[ajx22]

Originally posted by Brian L
Well, it happened. My worst fear when buying my anemone was killing it. It's a purple tip LT. While setting up my Moms new puter this PM, my wife called to tell me he was sucked into the powerhead. He doesn't look too good.

I'm wondering what made him suddenly feel the need to roam. He had been planted for several months in the same rock hole. The only change I made was to install my PC bulb, and replace the three NO lamp hood with the PC hood. I'm thinking I either scared him, overwhelmed him with lights, or simply changed his environment.

This is the second time he got sucked up; the first time, I was lucky enough to catch him and turned the PH off.

Any thoughts?

Sorry to hear about your LT's venture :(

I had a simular situation about 3-months ago. I have 2 Hagen 802's and one 402 in my tank, and the only one that didn't have a strainer was the 402. My LTA was planted and happy for the longest time, and then I changed the x2 175W 6,500K MH's to 10,000K bulbs. I came home to hear a horrible sound from my tank and finally saw about 1" of the anemone sticking out the bottom funnel of the 402 powerhead. :angry: - Stupid me for not putting a strainer on the d@mn thing!

I unplugged the powerhead and let it sit on the tank floor overnight, and by morning, he had removed himself from the PH. ALL of his tenticles were chopped off and his oral disk had been damaged too. I figured that he wouldn't make it. :(

Well...to my surprize and pleasure, 3-months later he is fine and has regenerated his tenticles and oral disk!

I have not directly fed him in this time!! Only the addition of Iodine daily, and his filter feeding from the tank.

So...it just goes to show that these guys can be tougher then they look! :D

I hope that your little guy is as lucky as mine!

Good luck!!!!!

[Flatlander]

Brian, sorry about the anemone. PH,s are their worst nightmare. Its an unfortunate, but definate problem with anemone,s. If for any reason they are unhappy or get upset, they will move themselves. Sometimes its hard to know why.

LTA,s usually stay put, once they have their foot anchored in a deepsand bed, usually wedged under a rock.

[stephane]

same than aj have happen to me and the anmone recover just fine

but i finaly decide to get rid of it because they are a realy pain in a reef IMO when they decide to move

even worst after put food in the tank a blue tang who was exited
have drop im self in the anemone that immediatly recover them
seen that I have get them out of the anome by hand but he die
one houre later of the sting that anemone have gave to him
his skin where bleach in area where the anemone have sting im

so no anemone anymore for me in a reef

[canadawest]

I dont want to come off sounding like a preacher, but really people, when you decide to take on something as fragile and difficult as an anemone it is our responsibility to ensure that we have the best environment possible to raise these beautiful creatures.

This includes [b]properly protecting all powerheads and overflows!!

I don't think your quest should be why did it move in the first place?, but rather, why didn't I create an environment safe for it to move in.

Anemones in the wild move about, because they can! They don't spend their entire lives fixed in one location. They move based on lighting, food, environmental and perhaps even "just because" reasons in the wild. What makes anyone who keeps an Anemone think that because it's now in our tanks it's just gonna settle in and never leave?

Perhaps all of us with anemones, and especially those who are consering keeping one in future will carefully consider the environment we are providing for these complicated and delicate creatures BEFORE preventible accidents like this happen?

[End of Rant]

[stephane]

Originally posted by canadawest


I dont want to come off sounding like a preacher, but really people, when you decide to take on something as fragile and difficult as an anemone it is our responsibility to ensure that we have the best environment possible to raise these beautiful creatures.

This includes [b]properly protecting all powerheads and overflows!!

I don't think your quest should be why did it move in the first place?, but rather, why didn't I create an environment safe for it to move in.

Anemones in the wild move about, because they can! They don't spend their entire lives fixed in one location. They move based on lighting, food, environmental and perhaps even "just because" reasons in the wild. What makes anyone who keeps an Anemone think that because it's now in our tanks it's just gonna settle in and never leave?

Perhaps all of us with anemones, and especially those who are consering keeping one in future will carefully consider the environment we are providing for these complicated and delicate creatures BEFORE preventible accidents like this happen?

[End of Rant]



IMO Wath you said suppose to apply to any creature that you could put in a tank but im pretty shure no one in this hobby
could tell me that he never lost any creature by mistake or because have not the knowlege to keep it before he buy it ?

we should stay humble and only learn about our error and IMO
we make a lot in our life !

[Brian L]

(end rant)

C-West,

You're absolutely right. But you're coming off kind of half- cocked, here.

First of all, the critters are not doing well in our local stores as of late. To try and pull this off is a mission I've not taken lightly.

Secondly, you offer no real advice as to the care and cure of the animal.

Thirdly, you've probably killed more fish than I've given away.

(end)

The anemone is doing fine. He's adjusting to lower doses of PC lighting and seems stationary at this time. He found a niche below the rock to protect himself from the blast.

Anemones don't adjust well to the light change, I know. But this was an eye opener for me. Because Zoox are photosynthetic, the light adjustment was uncomfortable to him at the normal dosage. I had to ease it on, and am still doing so.

Thanks for the advice.

[ajx22]

Bryan L

Glad to hear that your LTA is doing better and adjusting well!!

Anemones can be a tricky subject to keep...unfortunately, it's Trial and Error for most of us.

Again...good to hear that your patient is doing better - Keep up the good work!!

Cheers,

[canadawest]

Originally posted by Brian L
(end rant)

C-West,

You're absolutely right. But you're coming off kind of half- cocked, here.

First of all, the critters are not doing well in our local stores as of late. To try and pull this off is a mission I've not taken lightly.

Secondly, you offer no real advice as to the care and cure of the animal.

Thirdly, you've probably killed more fish than I've given away.

(end)


Brian, I don't see where your first point has any bearing on the fact that your anemone was sucked into a powerhead? The fact that LFS are even bringing in Anemones for the general reefkeeping public is bad enough considering a good 90% of the Anemones sold are likely going to inexperienced reefkeepers with unsatisfactory conditions (lighting, water parameters, unsafe powerheads, etc) to keep these creatures.

Secondly, my post was not intended as an article on "how to care for an Anemone". Anyone who has an Anemone (or any reef creature for that matter) and has to ask how to care for it, likely shouldn't have it yet in the first place. Research first, buy later should be the rule, not the exception. If you are looking for care and cure tips for Anemones, perhaps a book on Anemones, or posts to forums such as the "Anemones and Clownfish" forum on Reefcentral where experts in the field can offer advice would be beneficial, rather than directing your anger at YOUR error at others?

And lastly, you don't know anything about me or my reefkeeping sucess (or failures) so your last point is just a feeble attempt at making yourself feel better for this tragedy that you contributed to. But if it makes you feel better, I've lost 2 fish since I started my current tank 14 months ago. I've also contributed over 40 new aquacultured fish so far to the hobby with my Bangaii Cardinal breeding, as well as 2 aquacultured Bubble Tip Anemones, and many corals.

So while I do feel bad about losing two fish under my care, I can feel better knowing that I am contributing to the hobby and the reduction of natural reef exploitation.

Best of luck with your Anemone.

[Brian L]

CW

Well, congratulations on your recent tank, but what about your previous?

You also don't know of my successes and failures. You assume that I am part of the "general" reefkeeping community that would select an animal because it was cool and available. Not so. I have spent over 500 hours on anemones, but in a different perspective. I honestly never owned a clown/ anemone pair and thought this would be a good match. Both were sold out of mediocure tanks with poor lighting. They were resiliant to even survive the transport to Atlantic Canada, and my thinking was that I can certainly offer them better conditions. As it turned out; new is not always better.

So, while I agree that many anemone die from poor keeping habits, it seems as though they are more available than ever. Assuming not everyone has reached your prestigious level of expertise, we are certainly doomed.

I feel that it is important to the community to post things that our relevant in our tanks. Sometimes we may be blatently mistaken, or we may make an honest mistake. If you want to criticize every problem someone is having, what value are you adding to the site? It you want to, go kick some ass in RC. You could probably kick about a hundred per night- go ahead then.

And eff yourself on the how to care for...I don't need your help. Sure, I'm angry, just like I was when my Firefish carpet surfed, and just like I was when I scooped my dead cleaner out ( my two lossed in 16 months); but as you and I have learned, nature will always prove us wrong.

Glad your propagating

B

[Dman]

Gentlemen,
I think we've learned a couple of things from this thread:
Firstly,
Buying any animal to keep in our tanks is a decision that should not be made lightly. No more so than buying a dog, cat, horse or any other pet. Research is the key to realizing an animals full potential, especially within the captive realms of the glass boxes in our front rooms.
Secondly,
Sharing ones' losses with fellow hobbiest accomplishes three things; sharing the loss helps acknowledge that you've made a mistake, helps bring closure to a sometimes traumatic experience and serves as a warning to others who follow in anothers' path the pitfalls that abound.

Remember, it's harder to stand up among your peers and admit a mistake than to have never ventured from your couch in the first place.

[reefnut]

Hey Brian,

That's good news,I am glad to hear he is OK and on a road to recovery, and I gotta say D man you are absolutly Right
:thumbsup:

"Remember, it's harder to stand up among your peers and admit a mistake"

Not an easy thing to do, when posting a message on the web!

"than to have never ventured from your couch in the first place."

Not unless there is a game on:D

I think I'm going to go grab a cold one otta da fridge:D

:cheers:
Reefnut

[Brian L]

The anemone is alive and well; but is moving way too much. The discomfort is obviously a result of the PC's. I'd be willing to return the NO's, but I'm worried I'll throw yet another change at it. I don't have enough room to "blend" the lighting change; but I may go back to NO for him.

[canadawest]

Just how much PC light are you talking about?

Anemones are photosynthetic animals that require a moderate level of lighting to survive, especially if not being supplementally fed occasionally. The fact that it is moving is not likely due to the lighting change, but is more likely related to water currents or discomfort due to water parameters or toxins.

What size is the tank, how much rock is in it and are there caves and holes in the rockwork for the Anemone to attach it's "foot" that would be shaded from the light?

While I'm pleased that you decided to upgrade the lighting for this animal from NO lamps to a PC lamp, it is still barely enough to properly keep an Anemone.

I keep my BTA's under 4x48" VHO lighting (440watts) of an equal mix of daylight and actinic lamps. For the 8 months I've had Anemones, they've only moved immediately after splitting, and only a few inches on the same rock. Currently the two I have have found spots they are comfortable, and haven't moved in over 6 months.

While I do agree the change in lighting is an environmental trigger for the Anemone, it certainly should settle in a spot within a few days of adjusting. Have you considered shortening your photoperiod with the new lighting for a week then gradually increasing it back to your usual photoperiod over several weeks following?

[Dman]

Canadawest brings up a good point and not just about anemones. Anytime you upgrade lighting shortening the photoperiod is sound advice. Another option is to raise the lights, keep the same photoperiod and gradually lower the lights over a period of two to three weeks. Although not always possible it is the better of the two options when feasible.
Dman
:spin: