Help, Ph buffer caused Anenome to suck in

[Icewing726]

I have a beautiful long tentacle anenome that just sucked in after i added seachem marine buffer to the tank. I haven't seen this since I got him and given the timing I assume it was the buffer.

Nitrates are the only water impurity and ph was already at 8.2, was just following the regimen suggested on the bottle.

Suggestions? Am I worried for nothing? Not going to buffer in tank again...

[mav3rick478]

Should be fine, probably just got irritated. Is this the first time using buffer and how long have you had your anemone?

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[Icewing726]

5 days and I'm fairly sure i used it before put it did precipitate this time. Waters clear now.

[ClownNut]

why use pH buffer?
if you chase after pH, that's not the way to keep a reef tank.
keep your main 3 in check, the pH will fall inline.

[Icewing726]

Wasn't chasing a number its been steady. Stupid idea to dose for stability I guess.

Anyway he was out again this morning and then he let go of the rock he was on. Only white non pink area on him is right below the disc/tentacles (underside). Is that normal or is he dieing?

[ClownNut]

Originally Posted by Icewing726

Wasn't chasing a number its been steady. Stupid idea to dose for stability I guess.

Anyway he was out again this morning and then he let go of the rock he was on. Only white non pink area on him is right below the disc/tentacles (underside). Is that normal or is he dieing?

anything within 7.8 to 8.3 with less than .5 up and down, you will be fine.
it's normal for LTA not attach to rock, they like sand.
how long you have the LTA???

[Icewing726]

5 days, Im real cannon shy with these guys after losing a hatian years ago. Are these tougher then hatians btw?

[Icewing726]

Here's a photo, please forgive the dirty glass.

He's been there all day.

[ClownNut]

the rock and sand are snow white....how old is your tank?

[Icewing726]

Not that old, notrates were the only impurity showing up and those are on the decline too (not rapidly but decline is better then the alternative).

[ClownNut]

dude, a new tank go through a lot of changes/fluctuation beside the NO3... there is a reason to wait awhile to get an anemone.stable, mature tank is what nem looking for...

[Icewing726]

With all due respect, thats what you say when your about to say whatever you want right?

No, what I'm about to say may sound like I'm being a jerk but I'm honestly trying to be helpful.

And before I type it let me say in all caps I REALLY REALLY REAAAALLLLLYYYYYY VALUE EVERYONES EXPERIENCES THEY ARE WILLING TO SHARE WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That being said telling me I jumped the gun isn't helpful at this point. I know/knew/kicked myself after doing the impulse buy at that store. This anemone caught my eye and he discounted it on the spot. That store is 2 hours away and it didn't look like it was doing well there anyway (yep red flag read on though).

So am I an expert... nahhh but I have some experiences to build on this time around. I started keeping saltwater fish in college and successfully kept a lion, wrasse, grouper, tang, foxface, 2 bamboo cat sharks, 2 eels, and a lot of serpent stars in a 75 gallon for 2 or 3 years including a move from Florida to Arkansas and Arkansas to Texas. I did EVERYTHING WRONG back then. I did lose 3 fish, should have never tried for the bicolor but my GF wanted one and I tried it knowing it wasnt a good idea... as if any of that was.

Oh, only lost one fish due to ammonia back then too and never did a water change, including the moves I took all the water with me.

My point? There are a ton of purists on here that say what happened above would never be possible and never provide any reasoning why. You say "stabe, mature tank" is what the anemone wants but I only agree with the stable part. Why? Because you haven't explained to me what the benefit of a mature tank is other then stability. That's how you teach, and I want to learn.

One last example in case you haven't blocked me yet. Leveling a tank was listed as an ABSOLUTE MUST OR everything will break yet when you do the math for the tank it may only really result in a 5 or 10 pound side load on it. Point is this hobby is rooted deep in science and people will learn better if you give the scientific backing for it.

Anyway like I said I do value you're comments but I really want to know the whys behind it. To me mature means stability without the added effort. To you it may mean something I'm totally unaware of which is the gap I seek to close.

BTW, I have no clownfish... Are there any predators won't eat?

[pfan151]

Not really much point in giving advice if you think you’ll be able to do everything wrong and somehow have success. My best advice is to worry and Ca, Alk, and mag. Then throw away any other test kit or ph stabilizer product you have.

How deep is your sandbed? LTAs really need around 5” or more to stay happy. But with your tank being brand new, the anemone is unlikely to survive long regardless.

[Icewing726]

Well i did what I could not to offend you. The point was that without specifics all I hear is an opinion.

Regardless these are the specifics I was hoping for. What levels should I be focused on? I have a 3 in sand bed but the nems never tried to hold to it at all... So im not understanding the importance of 5 in.

Let me clarify btw, I dont think you can do everything wrong. My point is that to teach you have to share the why, and I truly value the why.

There are people claiming you have to be fishless for 72 days to kill ich but the research this is pulled from said this life span was at 50ish degree temps.... I want to understand, and I know i screwed up.

However, I want to put in the extra effort with the help of those who know like you. Please dont2 take offense, i have drank a little but i do respect your experience. I just ask that you provide the why.

[Dsekula]

Here's my LTA, the reason for the deep sand is because they burry themselves deep down in it, mine is planted on the bottom of the tank. "Mature" means different things to different people but to me in this context your looking for good bacteria cultures in your tank to keep NH, no2, converting to no3 and potentially to remove no3 and po4 keeping them stable. Or what ever form of nutrients control to be stable. You want the things that are going to grow and die on the rocks to have gone through a decent first cycle of growth and development(sponges worms etc) because as this happens different things will spike or drop before stabeling out. After this first growth and death others shouldn't be as dramatic ime. Once coraline starts growing you may notice a drop in ca for example and sponges dieing release no3 & po4. Also untill I hit one year of tank age my rocks leached po4 and it was insane to keep it under a 0.10 the first few months I was lucky with a 0.50 the, bubble tip nem I had when it dropped naturally below 0.10 and stayed level at 0.02 died btw po4 messes with how they handle light
It may be possible to keep a healthy nem through these minor changes as they occur naturally but it will probably be more labor intensive to keep everything in check.
This is also my third LTA, the first two (from the same poor supplyer) were unhappy from the beginning and never setteled (I no longer shop there due to issues with poor health in other speciments as well so idk if the deaths had anything to do with me and really doubt it) this one (better source) attached as soon as I placed it with the power head off for 5min. Once it setteled it's been a model nem and doesn't flinch with normal parameter shifts (like minor with wc) like my bta do. I highly recommend looking for a good healthy animal from the start as it really makes all the difference ime. I wish you the best of luck with this and hope the explanation gives a little more info on what to look for than the last poster. KUWI0505~2.jpgKIMG0422.jpg

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[laverda]

A mature tank is going to be more stable. If your dosing buffer for no apparent reason and without testing your tank is not stable! How would you know if it is stable if you are not testing? If you were testing you would not be dosing and getting precipitation. Buffer is ALK in one form or another. ALK levels are the most important single parameter in your tank and clearly, it is not stable. Alkalinity is the main controlling factor when it comes to the PH of your tank. Mature tanks are stable in many other ways, many of which we do not even know specifically. Microfauna, bacteria, sponges, algae, pods, Nitrate, Phosphate, Calcium, Magnesium, salinity are just some of the things that are part of a stable tank.
Patience is one of the hardest things to have in this hobby and one of the most important. I would sugest you do a water change and then buy a Alkalinity test kit.

[Icewing726]

Desekula, thank you. That is a huge help and I'll be looking into a number of things this evening. I was just starting to look at phosphates (test kit arrived yesterday evening) but it was more for managing the refugium. Guess itll help with the nem too. Thanks again.

Laverda, I am testing daily right now for the big 4 and adding in phosphates. I added it despite being at the target ph because the bottle said too do so initially and then do it weekly. A store tested my alkalinity and said I was good as well. Anyway thank you for the reply as well, and I agree with the patience issue.

[jimmyj7090]

Pay attention to the test results, not the instructions (marketing) on the additive you dont need��

[Dsekula]

While i know how I run my system and it works for me but it may be the worst possible situation for your setup. My best advice is to not add anything yet as far as additives, just test the tank daily for now and record the numbers. After a week maybe two or three you will see a trend of normal tank parameters and you can adjust testing to meet your needs. As long as these are within a normal range for a reef tank you really don't need to add anything, just stay with what ever wc schedule your doing (again the schedule is subject for debate ) when you start noticing that your wc arnt keeping you within the normal parameters anymore this is usually when you consider dosing (or more frequent changes). The salt mixes on the market already come with ca mg kh etc so unless the reef is depleting the additives you auto add when mixing new saltwater the dosing will be an od of the element, some of which are deadly. If you were just mixing salt and water to make saltwater you would have to hand pick and add every little element but thankfully the salt mix manufactures today have taken care of this for us making keeping a reef 100x easier. There are tons of products on the market that tell u to add xyz product by their schedule, they are out to sell their product. The only way to really know what your specific reef needs is to test for it and dose it only if it's out of acceptable range but again research the specific element and don't just assume that because the manufacturer says 5 is good your tank needs it.

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