bubble tip anemone

[j.d.moulder25]

I have a anemone which is causing me some grief. There are times when he has sucked in tons of water and looks good and then there are times when I assume he is deflated, his tentacles are thin and almost black and there is some black stringy stuff coming out of him. I asked a guy at the fish store about it. He told me anemones are very hard to keep alive and they do that when they are stressed. I have the correct lighting for him. its a 69watt full spectrum and I feed him thawed shrimp pieces. He has attached himself to one of my plastic plants I believe to be closer to my light. Now is he really stressed or is this normal for them. I just figured that black stuff is him expelling waste. If he is stressed what can I do to stop this. Thanx in advance

[DJ88©]

[moved]

[IslandCrow]

I'm afraid I'm certainly no anemone expert, but we're definitely going to need some more specifics on your tank, especially your water. What exactly do you mean by full spectrum. Except actinic, I believe all lights are full spectrum. Is it HO, VHO, T-5 (I'm guessing not the latter). 69 watts probably isn't quite enough to keep an anemone happy, even in a 30 gallon. What are your water parameters, especially your nitrite, nitrate and phosphate levels (I'm assuming your ammonia is 0). What is your salinity water temperature and PH? Do you use natural filtration. . .specifically, live sand and/or rock?
Anemones are difficult to keep. I've know been struggling with mine over the couple of months I've had it. Unfortunately, we really know very little about these creatures except it doesn't take much to upset them. Just as a point of reference, you're going to want to your ammonia and nitrite levels absolutely undetectable, and your phosphate and nitrate levels at least very close to undetectable. Most people have told me they like higher salinity levels and temperature, so keep your specific gravity up around 1.025 (can't remember what salinity that equates to off the top of my head) and your temperature in the high 70s to very low 80s. If you haven't had your tank up and running at least 6 months, you'd be doing the anemone and yourself a favor taking it back. Anemones will deflate from time to time to expel wastes, but I've never seen anything actually come out of mine. I've heard some people talk about white stringy stuff coming out of their anemones which is in fact their guts, and it tends to happen right before the anemone starts to die.

I'm sure you'll get much better and more in depth advice from the more experienced people in this forum, so I'll end with that. Good luck.

[j.d.moulder25]

Its a corallife 50/50 69 watt bulb that I was told is used specifically for coral tanks and anemones. My ammonia and nitrates are next to or are nothing already. The salinity is 1.022 so I could up it some. My tank temp is 78. I've had the tank for about 3 months now. I also use a plankton vitamin drop for the anemone about 3 times a week. Sorry I wasnt more specific before. Perhaps this will help.

[r00onmac]

i would have to say 69 watts in a 30 gallon just isnt enough for an anemone... i know BTAs can be kept in some pretty poor lighting but that seems just too low for my tastes... Also they really like established tanks, how long has your tank been up? most experienced aquarists recommend 6 months to a year of being setup before you put an anemone in...

[j.d.moulder25]

3 months. Apparently I am going to kill this poor anemone. Yikes. I wasnt told about any length of time to have the tank established. Then again, these fish stores only care about sales and not actually telling u what u need to know. Thanx

[SEAFLOWERS]

I hope it doesn't die on you ,that would be a shame. Was it aquacultured or straight from the ocean to the dealer to the fish store? I would say don't blame the pet store, blame yourself. With all the free info on the net(Reef Central, wetwebmedia, marine depot/forums) and I could tell you several others, for us not to know when we go into a store where a coral or anemone comes from and the habits, lighting, flow, water parameters, etc is really pretty inexcusable. I wouldn't go and buy a car without finding out everything I could before offering a price to the dealer. Yet many people will go and buy livestock from a pet store and then wonder why it's dying, and then blame the pet store. I realize you are new to this hobby and I don't mean to sound preachy. Please take full advantage of this site in the future.FWIW.

[finding nemo]

J.D, I sent you a pm

[prezioso73]

Mine would deflate for no reason...until I realized that it would deflate when It was getting natural light when the tank lights were off. Now I just make sure the only light it gets is from the tank lights...problem solved. Mine is over a year old.

[IslandCrow]

My LFS tried to sell me an anemone when my tank was only two months old, and he's always struck me as a very honest guy. Truthfully, I think he just didn't realize how hard anemones can be to keep because all of his tanks were well established. Anyway, I guess my point is, even someone who you'd assume would know what they're talking about may not always do their homework. . .or he was just trying to rip me off.
What I'm trying to say is don't beat yourself up over this too bad, despite the rebukes you may get from some. I've made plenty of mistakes in my short time in this hobby, and I guarantee I'll make plenty more. It really is a good idea to ask here before you buy anything just because of the wealth of information you'll get (though not all of it is good), but I've certainly fallen into the trap of assuming the guy at a reputable fish store knows what he's talking about, especially given I'm a repeat customer. No matter how much anyone says they know about this hobby, the one thing I've figured out is that when it comes to marine animals, we all have a lot to learn, from the newbie like me to the salty veteran.