Problems with Anemones.

[brick fish house]

Just based on what I am seeing and reading, you may want to consider letting your tank stabilize for a bit before adding more animals.

I agree about wanting to see more rock in there, although that comes with its own set of risks... and I'll try to explain what I mean...

(many of us have been there before - I raise my hand and admit that I'm guilty - don't sweat it, you're getting a good start)

Buying rock CAN be a tricky process. In your case, if you are buying live rock, think about getting "cured" rock, which means that it has been in water in a system for a few months (opinions vary on the time - I try to err on the side of caution) and has a better chance of not causing ammonia spikes.

With the size of your tank, your livestock, and the age of the aquarium, consider getting the rock from a fellow hobbyist, rather than from a store. Some stores have a lot of "in-and-out," which is great for a lot of things, but not necessarily the best scenario for cured rock.

You have a better chance of knowing what you are getting from an established hobbyist, and that the rock is, indeed, cured. It has already had all the die-off that comes with newer rock, and it is probably teeming with all kinds of goodness, bacteria, and little critters.

Another way to go could be rock which has been dried out for several months. As long as it has been dry for months, it doesn't really make a difference if you get it from a hobbyist or from a store.

It may cloud the water a bit for a little while as the dust comes off, and it doesn't have the bacteria already cultured. The upside to it is that it's usually cheaper and doesn't normally have stuff to die-off of it in your tank. You might be able to seed it with SeaChem Stability, but I'm kinda iffy on shortcut-type methods.

Hope this helps!

 

[outdrsyguy1]

I personally would recommend dry rock from places like Marco rocks or reef rocks.net. Having no worries about ammonia spikes from decay from dead material inside the rock is definitely peace of mind. Even more important though he's making sure you have no pests on the rocks which will really kill your fun in the hobby.

 

[camellia]

civics14;1056011 wrote: How long has the tank been up and running? What kind of lighting & flow?

When you say tested the water - what are you testing for?

Did you not read his post? He satiated 6 weeks?

 

[camellia]

Russ-IV;1056235 wrote: id be skeptical of a 6 week cycle. and if you see ammonia, it is not complete. nitrites arent really an issue with saltwater like they are with fresh, ideally you want them 0

Bingo

 

[camellia]

Russ-IV;1056235 wrote: id be skeptical of a 6 week cycle. and if you see ammonia, it is not complete. nitrites arent really an issue with saltwater like they are with fresh, ideally you want them 0

+1
Bingo

Sorry for your loss, I'm very happy to see you posting for help here. Lots of knowledgable reefers willing to help out!

Saltwater reef,
It's an extremely delicate, slow, and enormous leaning experience.
When Russ says your ready, I'll give you a beautiful rainbow RBTA to admire daily.
Deb

 

[23cnhit]

I really appreciate all the advice and kind words. I hate asking questions, but I know this is an expensive hobby and on a limited budget I will need all the help I can get. I am going to wait for a while before I get another one and maybe get a higher PAR light.

Do you recommend feeding them though when I get one? I think that would be cool for my daughter to see and help with supervision.

 

[russ-iv]

23cnhit;1056703 wrote: I really appreciate all the advice and kind words. I hate asking questions, but I know this is an expensive hobby and on a limited budget I will need all the help I can get. I am going to wait for a while before I get another one and maybe get a higher PAR light.

Do you recommend feeding them though when I get one? I think that would be cool for my daughter to see and help with supervision.

i think someone corrected me about the feeding part. i assumed you had the animal for over a month. and in such a new tank the fun stuff we can/cant see hasnt really formed yet. maybe you will see pods if you are experienced and introduced them, but with questions like these i jump to conclusions far too readily.

i believe you should look in to water quality first. while your tank is new, you will have the diatom phase, gha phase, cyano phase, and anywhere between those a random something. (i had dinoflagellates and some invasive bacterial bloom after 5 months)

just a long road when you start the tank, the first 3 months followed by the year will be the difficult one.

other people asked the same questions i had.

were the nems moving around a lot?

hiding under rocks?

beat the heck out of each other?

did they slowly melt away? retract more and more?

i think some reading might also help before you grab another.
might i suggest googling "anemone disaster".

these are not for the faint of heart. and while they are exotic and can be hardy, can be a royal pain sometimes too. no 2 nems are alike.

tbh. i dont see a nem perishing in 2 weeks due to lack of light. not a healthy one anyway. they can go without any light for a week before any sign of decline occurs. (much like our corals).

it just seems too accelerated of a death short of water quality, lack of flow, etc.

feeding every 3rd day usually nurses a nem back to health in a hurry if params are fine.

like anything else i post. just an opinion/experience so take it upon yourself to research and come to your own conclusions based on your observations.

 

[23cnhit]

BTW Russ, my real name is Russ. LOL

They were not in there at the same time. I had the pink one then the white one. They both seemed to move around alot but then sat in one pace and withered down. The pink one a few times almost looked dead, but I read up and it seemed to just be pooping, after a while though he didn't come back and disintegrated as I finally pulled him out. Never hiding under rocks.
My flow as you can see goes from left to right and then back across the tank and seems strong so I am guessing my flow is great.

I will read the anemone disaster. Thanks

I also right now am not running a protein skimmer. I am getting one next week though going with the reef octopus that hangs on the back as I don't have a sump or stand to hide sumps and skimmers.

 

[jennm]

I am late to revisit this thread but I see others have covered most of the bases.

What are your tank parameters? I skimmed the thread again and don't see them mentioned.

Condys are nearly indestructible, so for it to just wither up like that, something is very amiss - or at least it was at the time that happened.

Do you know what the other one was? As I mentioned, 'white' is not usually a healthy colour for an anemone so it may have been on its way out when you got it.

Skimmer is recommended but it's not a deal-breaker in a small tank that is well maintained.

You may have mentioned what kind of lighting you have - I missed it. That and what your current parameters are, might shed some light on the situation.

You mentioned 'no fresh water, just water from the LFS' - are you topping off with fresh (RO) water? Or are you topping off for evaporation, with saltwater? Water evaporates, salt doesn't ... evaporation should be replenished with fresh RO/DI water. Water changes should be done with saltwater.

Jenn

Jenn