Anemone update

[Jim_S]

So this is in regard to my anemone spoke about on page 2 of thisl (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=956253) thread :)

Okay, I bought this anemone about 4 years ago here in Sac. I put it in my reef tank, and there it stayed until last July.

During that time it grew quite well, splitting a number of times. I kept the anemone under 175 watt hamilton SE hamilton 14k lamps in a 50 gallon mixed reef.

Here is a picture of it
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/75364anemone_edit.jpg

I broke down the reef last July, and because I have had the anemone for so long (as well as the clown), I decided to transfer the anemone to my FOWLR. I run 2 sets of TEK T5's on this tank overdriven by a IC 660.

Here is what the anemone looked like in October
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m199/jimdogg187/clowns_anemone.jpg

The anemone has bleached out and I think it was because of the new lights, but I could be wrong.

Since then, the anemone has split again (2 weeks ago) here is a shot of it now
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m199/jimdogg187/DSCF3542.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m199/jimdogg187/DSCF3544.jpg

The larger anemone readily accepts food, while the smaller has trouble, and is only able to eat very small foods like cyclopeze.

The color has not started to come back yet, but I have faith that my husbandry and equipment will slowly bring them both back up to speed. I've even considered swapping out my lighs for MH's to see if the anemone likes it more.

Smaller anemone is exactly what it looked like when it was purchased 4 years ago
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m199/jimdogg187/DSCF3512.jpg

Cheers,

Jim

[Justin74]

Great sign visually just seein it puff back up like that and you can see the green shimmer coming back into it. Awesome sign is that its still eating and definately a sign that it's on the upswing and not the dreaded downward spiral! Cool deal Jim :)
Great update!

-Justin

[Jim_S]

Thanks Justin!

There will more to come in the following weeks :)

Jim

[dots]

Its touchy when they split like that. Already they are weakend by the lack of zooanthalle present and some believe the split occurs due to a stress reaction, further causing the depletion of energy stores left. This is kinda the bad part because they use a ton to heal themselves after the split and one may not get a fully formed mouth and must live on even less of what is left, feeding off itsself and growing smaller and smaller. If they are eating, that is a great sign. I would do it as often as possible, but do believe for long term survival they will need the MH. Feed....feed often to make up for this lack of available energy.


Good Luck!!