Help New Carpet Anemone

[smith22295]

I have a new 20g saltwater tank with a pair of clowns some coral and some live rock, a small amount of GSPs, and i added an anemone 2 days ago. at first it was looking rough, mouth open, shriveling, no color. now it seems to be doing fine, foot planted good color and size, there was some stringy clear/white stuff coming from the nem, but its cleared up. His mouth is closed up but seems to still open sometimes but not for very long. I have read a lot about how hard it is keeping an anemone, especially in a new tank. It seems to be doing well now but i really have no exp with these. the fist pic is day one, the second one is today. Any feedback would be appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80598022@N02/7388928756/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80598022@N02/7388925004/in/photostream/

it is sticky, the tank has only been up for 5 days, however my fish guy gave me a scoop of his sand he called it "pre-cycled", he said it would get the tank on the right path. I'm not sure what type it is but he has another one identical to mine they were in the shop for only a few days. his other one is looking good, much like mine is right now. i don't know all my parameters all i know it that my salinity is right between 1.025 and 26. i switched lights to an iradescent , it added a lot of color, the nem maybe happier with. temp is right about 78-79, i haven't fed him because my dealer told me it wasn't necessary. there is a good flow i have a 30 gallon and 20 gallon filter.

[TheGodParticle]

Is this post a joke? I'm not trying to be a jerk and I'm not here to flame you, I'm just honestly wondering if this post is a joke? You put a Nem in a 5 day old tank and you don't know any of your parameters either?

[OKCchief]

Sad.....

[EricSIny]

You need to read the stickies at the top of this forum, it will help answer alot of your questions.

In the future it is wise to do your research prior to making a purchase as nothing in this hobby should be done quick. It is in the best interest of both livestock and your pocket to slow down and learn before making anymore purchases. Spend ALOT of time reading here on the forum and you'll learn tons of great info on keeping a saltwater tank.

[smith22295]

the anemone is doing fine. looks great. eating and all. and no THIS IS NOT A JOKE. and no its not sad that i have a perfectly happy anemone. its SAD that some of you guys are so ignorant to think its nearly impossible to keep one in a tank under 1 year old.

[cfredallen]

Well when everything living in your tank dies in about 2 weeks from the ammonia spike caused by the aquarium cycling don't come crying back here.

There is a big difference between a tank less than a year old and 1 that has not even cycled. A 5 day old tank should not have anthing in it.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You should at least get an ammonia kit since you did not cycle the tank, and if you detect any (very likely), I'd suggest treating the tank with Amquel or Prime for quite a while.

The ammonia will be toxic to both the fish and the anemone. :(

[emdr888]

A sad sight to see :(

[thor109]

Throw in a tang or two. Make it an experiment tank.

[smith22295]

This isn't my first time dealing with fish tanks, i understand that the tank goes through biological changes. like i said, i got some of my fish guys sand and some of his water to get the process going. if it does die, whatever my loss, but i have done PLENTY of tanks and not cycled them for the "suggested" amount of time. i haven't yet had everything die in any of my tanks. right now I'm juggling between 125g, 55g, 45g, and this smaller 20g. all with healthy fish that I've raised for years. thanks for your help, to those of you that are actually helpful. the anemone is doing fine for now, hopefully it'll stay that way. but who knows, they are weird creatures.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is the anemone now attached to the bottom? It is hard to tell in today's picture.

[cfredallen]

This isn't my first time dealing with fish tanks, i understand that the tank goes through biological changes. like i said, i got some of my fish guys sand and some of his water to get the process going. if it does die, whatever my loss, but i have done PLENTY of tanks and not cycled them for the "suggested" amount of time. i haven't yet had everything die in any of my tanks. right now I'm juggling between 125g, 55g, 45g, and this smaller 20g. all with healthy fish that I've raised for years. thanks for your help, to those of you that are actually helpful. the anemone is doing fine for now, hopefully it'll stay that way. but who knows, they are weird creatures.

it is not just "your loss" those are living breathing animals. and getting some sand from a cycled tank just gives you a starter culture. there no where near enough bacteria in that little bit of sand for any type of bioload in the tank. If all you see is the loss of mony it may cost you if those animals die then you have NO business in this hobby anyway.

[smith22295]

who are you to say i have no business in this hobby? Did i say i don't care if it dies? no. sure id be upset and that sucks if an animal dies, but life goes on, and i really do think it'll be ok. also, with the bioload of my tank being too much, i have been feeding very little to try and balance that better.

the anemone is attached to a piece of coral i have in there. it moved to one side of it but then came back to the front. it seems to like it where its at now.

does anyone know if the anemone will benefit at all from the clowns living in it?

[sjwitt]

Usually anemones DO benefit from a clown associating with it. The only time I've heard of problems is if/when the clown is much larger and too aggresive and the anemone is sick.

Do a search on Carpet Anemones and read some of the experiences of others. This will give you an idea of 'warning signs' to look for. Many of the threads that I've read say the animal looked great for a week or two but then went into cycles of opening/gaping mouths. Usually it's down hill from there.

You'll also see the lighting and flow requirements in many of these posts, advice from people who have kept carpet anemones ... I have not so I can't provide any additional help.

[smith22295]

Is the anemone now attached to the bottom? It is hard to tell in today's picture.

this is the nem today

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80598022@N02/7404296290/in/photostream/

it looks bigger, the mouth is tightly closed no insides showing.

[smith22295]

Thanks, hopefully that won't be the case with this guy. ill do some more research.

[sjwitt]

Here's a couple of links to carpet anemones... I can't really tell which type you have by the picture (plus I'm no expert)...

http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Saddle-Anemone

http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Giant-Carpet-Anemone

[smith22295]

i think mine might be the Stichodactyla gigantic. but i really can't tell, I've been trying to fine out what type it is exactly but haven't found any that look the same.

[phender]

Your anemone appears to be an Atlantic Sun Carpet anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus). The identifying characteristic would be brownish/orange spots on the under surface of the anemone. If this is the case, then the good news is, it is relatively hardy as far as anemones go. The bad news is that they do not host clownfish in the wild and in fact have been known to eat clowns that attempt to use them as hosts.

I am not sure what you meant by, "i switched lights to an iradescent", but anemones need a lot more light than fish. If you have a standard 20 gal tank, you should have the equivalent of 4 - 24watt HO T5 bulbs over the tank to give any clownfish hosting anemone enough light for its zooxanthellae to do enough photosynthesis to survive.

[ClownNut]

do us a favor cover the intake of the hang in the back filters.

[kissman]

can we see pics of the other tanks? why not put the anemone in one of the other tanks till your 20g cycles?

[Reef1589]

your anemone appears to be an atlantic sun carpet anemone (stichodactyla helianthus). The identifying characteristic would be brownish/orange spots on the under surface of the anemone..

+1....

[smith22295]

Thanks for letting me know what kind it is. I'll find a better light.

[Postal]

Thanks for letting me know what kind it is. I'll find a better light.

Moving the clowns should be the priority.

[kduen]

Your anemone appears to be an Atlantic Sun Carpet anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus). The identifying characteristic would be brownish/orange spots on the under surface of the anemone. If this is the case, then the good news is, it is relatively hardy as far as anemones go. The bad news is that they do not host clownfish in the wild and in fact have been known to eat clowns that attempt to use them as hosts.

I am not sure what you meant by, "i switched lights to an iradescent", but anemones need a lot more light than fish. If you have a standard 20 gal tank, you should have the equivalent of 4 - 24watt HO T5 bulbs over the tank to give any clownfish hosting anemone enough light for its zooxanthellae to do enough photosynthesis to survive.

I'm not so sure that this is a S. Helianthus. In the seccond pic the anemone seems fairly large or those are just two very small clowns. I first thought the same as you but now I have doubts. When I got my S. Helianthus it's verrucae weren't in perfect rows like this one either.

[kduen]

Here is a PIcture of the S Helianthus that was mis-shipped to me. I was wrong about mine not being in perfect rows but it still seems awfully big to be a S. Helianthus.
(Pay no attention to the date stamp it's off by two years.)
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l579/Kris_Duensing/anemone005.jpg

[phender]

The articles I see online say the max size of S. helianthus is 8-12" depending on which source you look at.
Based on the arrangement and color of the spots, I don't see anything else it could possibly be.

[kduen]

I actually didn't know that they could get that big. Most of the ones that I have seen have been around the size of a bagel. Maybe im just trying to identify it with the one that I had because it really doesnt look anything like the one that I had at all.

After revisiting his most current photo and making it as large as possible I agree it is S. Helianthus.

[smith22295]

looking better

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80598022@N02/7455930410/

[m758b033]

Coloring up some. Filter intake makes me nervous though

[D-Nak]

Okay, am I missing something here? Don't those anemones EAT clown fish? Looks like I see two occs in the photo.

[m758b033]

Clownfish can host whatever they want. For example, Clownfish will host condy anemones, however, condys are more than capable eating a clownfish.

[dbleyepatches]

If you get this to work and keep this anemone alive, I think I am going to quit researching, buy a tank and an anemone the same day and give it a whirl!:D

[D-Nak]

Clownfish can host whatever they want. For example, Clownfish will host condy anemones, however, condys are more than capable eating a clownfish.

Well, to clarify, the anemone is the host, not the clownfish, so clownfish don't host anything.

While some people do have tanks with condys and clowns, obviously it's not recommended since 1) condys aren't hosting anemones, and 2) condys do eat fish, including clowns. The same applies to S Helianthus. I thought the OP would've removed the clowns, that's all.

[emeraude1484]

update?

[fishuntbike]

Tank pic?