Anemone problems

[Auqaman]

Hi,
I just added my first anemone to my tank, and it was stressful to say the least. With my ignorance, I thought that if let him sink into the tank he’ll find a rock to latch onto. Well, he went straight for the fan and almost got suck into the impeller. I got him off pretty quick and placed him on the rocks and now he’s doing great.
I tried feeding him a couple hours later. He took the food but spit it out a couple hours later. Is this normal? I figured maybe he ate a little bit of the pellet then spit the rest out. He’s currently under a rock living his best life. But I’m not sure of how I will feed him pellets while he’s upside down. Do I just place the pellet in his arms and hope he grabs it. This is a flame tipped anemone.

Thanks for all the help,
Jeff

 

[dank reefer]

What did you feed it?
Give it some time as it might still be stressed out from the move and all.

Also from looking at the rock, your tanks looks like its fairly new?

 

[Auqaman]

What did you feed it?
Give it some time as it might still be stressed out from the move and all.

Also from looking at the rock, your tanks looks like its fairly new?

I’m feeding them this stuff (see picture). Yes, they tank is new. I’ve just recently finished cycling the tank and I also have 3 clowns in there

 

[dank reefer]

Try and feed it meaty foods like mysis, or a piece of shrimp and see if it takes it.

Since its a new tank, it might not be very happy for a while but only time will tell.

 

[snowhite]

Your tank looks really really new from looking at the rocks in photo.
How long has it up been up and running?

 

[Auqaman]

Your tank looks really really new from looking at the rocks in photo.
How long has it up been up and running?

It’s been up and running for a little over 2 months now. I haven’t been running the lights until yesterday (when I bought the anemone) because I didn’t want to promote an algae bloom.
All my parameters are within tolerance

 

[Dbichler]

Being such a new tank you need to stay on top of your parameters making sure they don’t swing much anemones hate swings. I wouldn’t feed it for the first couple weeks no need to stress it out any more. Digesting food uses energy this anemone needs. Plus feeding will increase nutrients less is more in this case.

 

[Auqaman]

Thanks for the great advice. I’ll definitely give it time to relax. He seems to be doing really well now and is soaking up the rays

 

[Auqaman]

what types of chemicals should I have on hand for dosing? I’ve never really considered it as all the parameters have been great. But I’m sure it’s a bridge I’ll have to cross soon enough.

 

[snowhite]

It’s been up and running for a little over 2 months now. I haven’t been running the lights until yesterday (when I bought the anemone) because I didn’t want to promote an algae bloom.
All my parameters are within tolerance

Yes, but Anemone's require biodiversity and stability in their tanks. I'd personally be concerned about an anemone in that young of a tank started with Dry Rock and no lights for 2 months.

 

[LesPoissons]

Welcome to the hobby- it sounds like you are pretty new to this and you bought a very difficult critter to keep in a brand new tank. As a heads up, it’s pretty likely that you will lose this anemone, but we can def try to help! The reason why it’s recommended to not get a nem until your tank is about a year old is because new tanks go through a lot of swings as they develop and as the tank owner figures out their tank out along the way- and anemones hate that. Not keeping your lights on for two months because you don’t want algae kind of indicates that you don’t understand how algae and nutrient cycle work, which is okay, everyone is new to this at one point- but research, patience, and time are going to your friends right now.
So now you’ve got your lights on and you have your nem- you’re going to want to keep things as stable as possible.
What are your tank parameters right now and we can help you determine the best way to keep your tank stable. Are you using rodi water? What lights do you have? What filtration do you have?

 

[Auqaman]

Welcome to the hobby- it sounds like you are pretty new to this and you bought a very difficult critter to keep in a brand new tank. As a heads up, it’s pretty likely that you will lose this anemone, but we can def try to help! The reason why it’s recommended to not get a nem until your tank is about a year old is because new tanks go through a lot of swings as they develop and as the tank owner figures out their tank out along the way- and anemones hate that. Not keeping your lights on for two months because you don’t want algae kind of indicates that you don’t understand how algae and nutrient cycle work, which is okay, everyone is new to this at one point- but research, patience, and time are going to your friends right now.
So now you’ve got your lights on and you have your nem- you’re going to want to keep things as stable as possible.
What are your tank parameters right now and we can help you determine the best way to keep your tank stable. Are you using rodi water? What lights do you have? What filtration do you have?

I have a 5 stage ro system and mixing Red Sea salts. Red Sea 600 protein skimmer with 2 prim HD16 lights I’m running with the apex fusion.
I went through the ammonia nitrate cycle and parameters have been pretty steady for a couple weeks. Still doing 7% water changes every 10 days or so.
Calcium is 450
Nitrate 2
Salinity 32
Ammonia 0 (I’m expecting this to change)
Running the temp between 77-78F but I was thinking about raising it to 78-79F.
Any advice or expectations would be appreciated

Thanks for your help
Jeff

 

[LesPoissons]

Awesome! It really sounds like you have everything off to a great start and all good equipment and water change processes and everything. Since you don’t have large corals or hard algae or anything consuming your nutrients, you don’t need to be dosing anything at this point. With your lights on now you may start to see algae growth with your phos and your nitrates And things may get a little ugly- it’s normal. Test kits for phosphate are not very good, the Hanna checker is the most reliable but even that isnt exact. So even with a zero rating you probably still have phosphates in your tank. I’m telling you all this because if you start to see some algae growth, you don’t want to try to bottom out your phosphates with additives or screw around a lot with your lighting schedule to try to fix things. Keep things stable, and be patient

 

[chizerbunoi]

I use the vitalis pellets regularly and they are very good. Just feed one pellet every 2-3 days until it is recovered. As it grows, mash multiple together to form larger pieces like shrimp.

After recovery, you don’t really need to feed them at all. Just know that over feeding BTA is a way to get them to split. That’s when your addiction will take over.

 

[Texas Rick]

I really hope your anemone survives. Like a few have said. Your tank is way too new for a anemone. I would have waited a year for one.

 

[Auqaman]

I really hope your anemone survives. Like a few have said. Your tank is way too new for a anemone. I would have waited a year for one.

Thanks, he seems to be pretty happy now. Fully stretched out and feeding easily. He did detach himself from the rock and kinda floated around for a bit. Is this normal behaviour? I don’t want him getting sucked into the impellers

 

[Kris 2020]

It just means he wasn’t happy in that spot, could be flow or lighting or maybe he just grabbed on there initially because it was convenient. Hopefully he settles in soon.

Thanks, he seems to be pretty happy now. Fully stretched out and feeding easily. He did detach himself from the rock and kinda floated around for a bit. Is this normal behaviour? I don’t want him getting sucked into the impellers

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Maybe try some frozen food and broadcast feed, then it can grab the food in its tenticals

 

[Auqaman]

I now understand why everyone is saying the tank is too new for an anemone. He found a spot and hasn’t moved for 4-5 days and seems happy. I’m confident I can keep him happy with proper maintenance. My nitrate levels have risen to about 5, so I’m doing water changes until it goes to 2. Orange algae has also started to appear and I assume this is all part of the process.