The family begins!

[pjos11]

Today My LFS sold me two Common Clowns and an anemone (Malu) Sea brae.

It has really got me full of joy:) I think they are great.

I have a question for you guys.

The Anemone was hard to get to stay in the tank in one place. It just kind of floated around the tank, in the end I put it in the corner. This is were he is at the moment but he is against the glass and I would rather he was out in the open.

How do you get it too stay on the rock?

Thanks
Paul

[jpitts101]

you pretty much dont. you can try but he is going to go where he wants to go. i have one of the best looking bta's and it hides behind all my live rock , wont ever come out. some will migrate to the top of the tank where there is more light and others will stay at the bottom , but usually when they find a spot they like they will stay for long periods of time

[pjos11]

My worry is how would he ever get to the top of the tank? When I placed him out in the open he just kind of floated about by the force of water movement which is just the return from the sump.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m269/pjos11/Tankfinished016.jpg

You can see that he isn`t attacted to the pieces of rock which I put here just for him.

[jpitts101]

he will move on his own, give him a little time to get used to your tank. then he will move to where ever he wants, and they can hang on to rocks so he wont get blasted off by a powerhead. make sure your powerheads are coverd up though you dont want him to get sucked in . just sit back and watch he should start moving around on his own.

[pjos11]

Thankyou for your help. Without you guys I couldn`t have taken up this hobby.

[kass03]

Sebae anemones usually like the bottom in the sand.

You should read this article which is at the top of these forums about anemones.
If your tank is only a month old? not a good idea to get an anemone yet.

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

kass

[pjos11]

I read the article above before I bought the amemone. I am being advised constantly by the LFS but I want to get your advise as well so as I know I not getting lead up the garden path..

To update on the Anemone:

I woke up this morning to find him behind the rock pile at the left hand side and upside down!!! He is puffed up. :confused:

How will he eat? Should I just leave him there?

I really want to make this work now that I have him and I would be grateful for your help.:)

[Trigeek]

I would leave him. it's probably not the last time he'll move. Mine moved each night for about five nights before finally settling into the "right" spot. Just let him be, have patience and see where he seems to settle. If it's in an unfavorable place, try rearranging (gently) the rock work around him to make him visible. For now, just let him play hide and seek with you. You could try piling a few pieces of rock to make a few donut type shapes on the sand bed. These anems like to anchor in the substrate and maybe that would help to convince him to settle somewhere favorable. Enjoy!!

[kau_cinta_ku]

what kind of lighting on the tank do you have? and from the looks of it the anemone lookes bleached. and what are your water parameters?

[akrimmel]

i want to know why you have two clowns and a anenome after one month of the tank being up??

[RobNJ]

Take your anemone back to the store before you kill it. Wait six months for your tank to age some and then go pick him up.

Anemones are very hard creatures to care for to begin with, a newly cycled tank does not have the proper biological filtering strengh yet. Your nitrates are going to go up a bit and kill the anemone. Anemones need good water conditions.

Do the right thing, return him.

Rob

[akrimmel]

AGREED!!

[pjos11]

The tank has now been up for about six weeks. It has about 45Kg of (cured) live rock. There never was a rise in ammonia and all other levels are as they should be. It was explained to me that the rock had all ready went through a cycle and that it would do no harm to add a couple of fish.

If the tank wasn`t going to rise in ammonia what is wrong with adding two small fish?:confused:

The water volume is now around 110gallons.

Why did you say I might kill it? I would not do this !!!!!

Actually the tank he is now in is a lot better than were he came from. I have been on the phoned the LFS several times today about this and they have told me to just let him be.

[akrimmel]

right because once it dies they know you will come in and buy another$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[akrimmel]

no rule but you sould have a esablished tank before you even think adding a anenome, they dont handle change well, established is not weeks by any means, i am not trying to bust your balls here just trying to save you some heartache. nothing good comes easy or fast in this hobby.

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8261351#post8261351 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobNJ
Take your anemone back to the store before you kill it. Wait six months for your tank to age some and then go pick him up.

Anemones are very hard creatures to care for to begin with, a newly cycled tank does not have the proper biological filtering strengh yet. Your nitrates are going to go up a bit and kill the anemone. Anemones need good water conditions.

Do the right thing, return him.

Rob
I too agree - Plus you have added quite a bit of bioload all at once. An anemone ideally should be fed the equivalent of a small fish every 2-3 days.

I think it's odd that you've been in so much communication with your LFS, but you were still under the impression that it should attach to a rock.

Anyway whatever you do - don't leave it upside down - if it hasn't turned over on it's own flip it over gently. While doing so, it might not hurt to relocate it to a bright unshaded area of your sand. I assume you have some very bright light like metal halides?

Once it's recovered from that event , you should see if it will take food - not knowledgeable on dinner for Sabaes, but for a BTA, you would chop up one small silverside into 10 or so pieces and feed directly. His tentacles should "grab' the food - if he ignores it don't just leave it sitting on him...blow it off gently with a turkey baster and siphon out. He may prefer frozen mysis....

Your clowns look nice though! They can take a little longer to accept a BTA (bubble tip anemone) but the bubble tip can climb up high in your tank to adjust it's own light conditions and is generally more of a beginner's anemone.

One reason people get upset about wasted anemone lives, BTW is that in the wild they don't multiply like crazy and if you take the home of a clownfish, it will die in the ocean. So if the collectors didn't grab the fish also, these clowns probably got eaten for no good reason other than for your LFS to sell this anemone to an unsuspecting newbie who will likely have a negative experience & learn several lessons the hard way.

[akrimmel]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
AGREED AGAIN !!

[Angel*Fish]

It has really got me full of joy I think they are great.
Sorry our responses have all been "buzz killers' -
Don't feel bad - all of us have made these kinds of mistakes before ourselves. And - with a little luck and very special care to keep your parameters s-t-a-b-l-e there is hope. Or you could trade it in for something else.

Anyway - we on RC are just trying to help however harsh we may sound sometimes

[pjos11]

I had posted a thread called " fish ready "

I was under the impression that it was ok, too add fish.

The anemone was added because the LFS said it would be fine :rolleyes:

I really cant see that the two clowns I have are going too cause a spike of any kind they are too small in a large system. I have been keeping fresh water fish and never had any problems. The system is around 110gallons.

[akrimmel]

FW AND SW there is no comparison in the levels of difficulity on keeping them. sw is more complex of course.

[DSMpunk]

Maybe I missed it, but I didnt see you post your water parameters (i.e. nitrates ph alk etc)

Also what are you running for lights?

[pjos11]

Water parameters are as follows: -

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
PH - 8.0 - 8.3

I have not tested yet for alkalinity and calcuim, but will later.

The lights that i am using are an Acadia Series 3 lightening unit which is two 150 watt MH and two 30 watt actinic Linear fluorscents.

http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?psub=0&pid=5&mid=10&lan=en&id=4

Can I ask you advice on how to stock this tank? I know to take things slowly and I will not be progressing any further for a number of weeks.

[pjos11]

Further test results

Calcuim 410

ALk 8.6


These are fine?