Rose Tip Anemone help

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 04:40 PM

I've had this anemone for about six weeks. It has looked great up until three days ago. All my water parameters are good. I have another GBTA that's doing great still. Please if anyone can make suggestion they would be greatly appreciated.

finding nemo · 06/30/2006, 04:56 PM

Oh my, He is not looking good at all is he.
Have you changed anything lately? Lights. Water top off quality?
What have you been feeding it?
He was starting to bleach in the first picture.
Big question, how old is your tank?

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 05:24 PM

The only change in my tank has been the addition of a flame and nose hawk, flathead anthias, black capped basslet, and a elegance coral. I know this sounds like a lot at once but I recently got rid of a few fish and all these are very small. I had been feeding the anemone krill, along with the plankton and mysid shrimp that it grabs at fish feeding time. The current tank has been set up for 15 months, and has evolved from a 75 to a 140 gallon over the last 4+ years. You can see the equipment I have in my signature. I don't see any of the new fish bothering the anemone and they are all fish we have kept in the past. Hoping this answers all your questions.

Thanks

finding nemo · 06/30/2006, 05:29 PM

Can you post a picture from further away?
Do you have any corals next to or in the vacinity of it?
I am thinking chemical warfare.
If you can, move it with its rock to a corner away from all other corals and put a bit of flow on it, not so that it is being blown all over but just swaying, also what you are feeding is not enough for anemones, they need meaty foods, bulk, silversides is what I recomend for them.
I am going to send you a pm as can't post here what I need to.

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 05:40 PM

There have been no changes in coral positions since I introduced the anemone. Here is another photo.

finding nemo · 06/30/2006, 05:46 PM

Great picture, I see nothing there that would have sweepers to be touching it.
Have you tried feeding it today?
See it if will take a cube of formula one thawed unsquashed if you have it if you don't have silversides, if you do, try a small piece of silverside.
You can also try raw uncooked shrimp, a small piece.
See what it does and let us know.
Do you have any kind of shrimp in your tank? Cleaners, sexys? etc?

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 05:52 PM

I will try to feed, although I somehow dout it will eat. I have scarlet cleaner, blood, and a coral banded shrimp in the tank.

55semireef · 06/30/2006, 06:10 PM

Looks like it was being bleached in the first shot.

It also looks like its not going to make it. The chances of it coming back is extremely slim but Finding Nemo has experience in bringing back RBTAs.

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 06:21 PM

I have tried to feed it. I tried krill first, which it closed up on but after a minute opened and let it go. I then tried feeding it some mysid shrimp. It may have got a couple of these, it has closed up again which lead me to believe it is hungry and has the ability to eat. I will try to find some silversides tommorrow.

Reefit · 06/30/2006, 06:22 PM

Also meant to ask why are krill not considered a meaty food?

finding nemo · 06/30/2006, 06:46 PM

Reef, if you can get good size krill try them. I have had no luck getting any of my anemones to eat them and they just let them drop, so I just don't recomend them. It is my personal thing. But if they work for others there is nothing wrong with feeding it.
You have several shrimp in your aquarium. Have you noticed any of them picking in the anemones mouth? They are notorious for that and can severly irritate the lining of the anemones mouth.
I only have cleaner shrimp in with my roses and feed them a half silverside each before feeding the anemones, and then I still stand and wait until the anemones have closed all of the way up and you can't see the fish.
If the shrimp see it they dive in and yank it out from the anemones mouth.
Make sure that it can eat it in peace, even if you have to stand there with a small net, fork or anything that will scare the shrimp away from the nem.

sarahkucera · 07/01/2006, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reefit
I have tried to feed it. I tried krill first, which it closed up on but after a minute opened and let it go. I then tried feeding it some mysid shrimp. It may have got a couple of these, it has closed up again which lead me to believe it is hungry and has the ability to eat. I will try to find some silversides tommorrow.

I have purchased silversides at places like Petsmart and Petco before. They're all over the place because I think they're also good food for some of the larger freshwater oscars.

finding nemo · 07/01/2006, 04:10 PM

Checking in to see how your anemone is doing?

55semireef · 07/01/2006, 06:26 PM

any updates on pictures?

Reefit · 07/04/2006, 01:44 PM

Sorry I've been busy at work. Sat 17 hrs, Sun 21 hrs. I'll post some pictures tonight. It seems to be doing better.

55semireef · 07/04/2006, 01:48 PM

Wow those are some crazy shifts you got going.

Reefit · 07/05/2006, 07:47 PM

I went out the first night and bought some silversides. I've cut about 1/3 on one two times now and it seems to take it in. You can see there's not much improvement if any. It does look better at times. Sould I just continue this twice a week feeding or is there anything else that might help?

55semireef · 07/05/2006, 07:50 PM

Wow, thats not looking good at all to brake it to you. From that picture it has a slim chance of making it but it has done before. Just feed it every other day. GIVE IT MINIMUM stress.

Try doing another 20% water change. If you havn't done one yet do a 30 percenter.

55semireef · 07/05/2006, 07:52 PM

BTW, you said six weeks? Well in that first picture, it looks bleached to begin with slightly. This is around the time period when some says why is my BTA not doing good. It usually takes that long for a BTA to whither away. Sorry.

Reefit · 07/05/2006, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 55semireef
BTW, you said six weeks? Well in that first picture, it looks bleached to begin with slightly. This is around the time period when some says why is my BTA not doing good. It usually takes that long for a BTA to whither away. Sorry.

Whither away from what, starvation?

55semireef · 07/05/2006, 08:13 PM

It could be a plethora of factors.

1. Inaquedate lighting
2. Insufficient light
3. Starved
4. Poor water quality
5. Too much stress

By looking at those possibliities, what would you say caused it?

Reefit · 07/05/2006, 08:54 PM

When I first got it I stressed it once moving it from the back of the tank to the front, but it seemed to adjust well, as the first photo is after its move. It's not likely due to lack of lighting since I have 7 watts per gallon. I may not have been feeding it enough. I would give it a small piece of krill once or twice a week. Water quality is excellent, possibly could do more water changes, but this seems to be somewhat controversial on the benefits, quantity, and frequency.

55semireef · 07/05/2006, 09:07 PM

Krill is not very nutritional especially if its only being fed 1-2 times a week.

Anemones require more meaty foods.

vaporize · 07/06/2006, 01:59 PM

I don't think the RBTA is gonna make it, i never see one that has the mouth open that big and still come back (unless it's splitting and torn apart which is not in this case).

did you add any chemicals that cause alk/calc change? This is most likely a stress/water parameter related issue.

Ciarán · 07/06/2006, 05:04 PM

My BTA was very poorly for about two months. It wasnt gaping as yours is but it was as shrivelled if not more so. It is perfect now and has tripled in size since i bought it. Solution? Addition of a huge protein skimmer and new lighting. You say you have another anemone in the tank. It could easily be allelopathy, (chemical warfare via "terpene" chemicals) is the GBTA larger and healthy? If they are engaged in an elimination struggle the addition of direct in tank skimming (hang on) and plenty of phosphate free activated carbon would help remove/adsorb the toxic chemicals. Though the volume of your tank is considerable, it may also be due to soft coral irritation. In my experience Sarcophyton and Palythoa are nasties for the production of terpenes and could easily overwhelm a small/medium sized anemone.

I think you are putting too much emphasis on feeding IMHO. An anemone simply will not accept food directly in the mouth in my experience, they won't allow themselves to be force-fed. My BTA can attain its full nutritional requirements from the light alone and has grown rapidly for extended periods where i havent fed it anything. I give it brine or mysis shrimp a few times weekly but thats it. Uour lighting is extremely powerful, 3x 400W is huge power even for that size system. BTA do fine on 150W. I can show you pics of mine as an example. Depending on how high in the water column the BTA is positioned perhaps it is overilluminated. There could be excess U.V. permeating through your glass covers of the halides. In general the darker an anemone, the greater the depth its natural habitat. The rose tips would indicate U.V. absorbing pigment but its overall colouration appears to be relatively dark. Perhaps a lower position may help things.

A good indicator as to its health would be the "stickiness" of its basal disk. Others have commented with impending doom as to its health but i wouldnt be so sure. It is responding to the stimulus of food and appears to be well adhered to its substratum, therefore i think its is still relatively coordinated and responsive. Check to see there are no excess metal ions (Copper, Iron etc.) in your water.

If all this fails to satisfy any crtieria, perhaps search for a tear in the basal disk. From what i have read, many anemones are so injured during forced separation from its substratum during hasty collection and die subsequently due to this injury.

Edit: I just noted your colour temperature. I have no experience with 20,000k lighting but i know for certain that my symbiotic invertebrates prefer 10,000k lighting to the 14,000k bulbs i had previously. From what i understand, the higher the colour temperature the more blue the spectrum and this is most beneficial to deeper water organisms which have evolved/accepted more blue spectrum absorbing zooxanthellae to optimize photosynthetic output. Anemones' natural habitat is in shallow rockpools and mainly surface areas, exposed to the more direct colouration of the sun's rays, closer to 6500k than 20,000k. It is a trivial thing but well its a suggestion if nothing else!

Hope it helps,
Ciaran.

06/30/2006, 04:40 PM	#1
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	Rose Tip Anemone help I've had this anemone for about six weeks. It has looked great up until three days ago. All my water parameters are good. I have another GBTA that's doing great still. Please if anyone can make suggestion they would be greatly appreciated.

06/30/2006, 04:56 PM	#2
finding nemo Moved On Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canton Texas Posts: 4,679	Oh my, He is not looking good at all is he. Have you changed anything lately? Lights. Water top off quality? What have you been feeding it? He was starting to bleach in the first picture. Big question, how old is your tank?

06/30/2006, 05:24 PM	#3
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	The only change in my tank has been the addition of a flame and nose hawk, flathead anthias, black capped basslet, and a elegance coral. I know this sounds like a lot at once but I recently got rid of a few fish and all these are very small. I had been feeding the anemone krill, along with the plankton and mysid shrimp that it grabs at fish feeding time. The current tank has been set up for 15 months, and has evolved from a 75 to a 140 gallon over the last 4+ years. You can see the equipment I have in my signature. I don't see any of the new fish bothering the anemone and they are all fish we have kept in the past. Hoping this answers all your questions. Thanks

06/30/2006, 05:29 PM	#4
finding nemo Moved On Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canton Texas Posts: 4,679	Can you post a picture from further away? Do you have any corals next to or in the vacinity of it? I am thinking chemical warfare. If you can, move it with its rock to a corner away from all other corals and put a bit of flow on it, not so that it is being blown all over but just swaying, also what you are feeding is not enough for anemones, they need meaty foods, bulk, silversides is what I recomend for them. I am going to send you a pm as can't post here what I need to.

06/30/2006, 05:40 PM	#5
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	There have been no changes in coral positions since I introduced the anemone. Here is another photo.

06/30/2006, 05:46 PM	#6
finding nemo Moved On Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canton Texas Posts: 4,679	Great picture, I see nothing there that would have sweepers to be touching it. Have you tried feeding it today? See it if will take a cube of formula one thawed unsquashed if you have it if you don't have silversides, if you do, try a small piece of silverside. You can also try raw uncooked shrimp, a small piece. See what it does and let us know. Do you have any kind of shrimp in your tank? Cleaners, sexys? etc?

06/30/2006, 05:52 PM	#7
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	I will try to feed, although I somehow dout it will eat. I have scarlet cleaner, blood, and a coral banded shrimp in the tank.

06/30/2006, 06:10 PM	#8
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	Looks like it was being bleached in the first shot. It also looks like its not going to make it. The chances of it coming back is extremely slim but Finding Nemo has experience in bringing back RBTAs.

06/30/2006, 06:21 PM	#9
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	I have tried to feed it. I tried krill first, which it closed up on but after a minute opened and let it go. I then tried feeding it some mysid shrimp. It may have got a couple of these, it has closed up again which lead me to believe it is hungry and has the ability to eat. I will try to find some silversides tommorrow.

06/30/2006, 06:22 PM	#10
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	Also meant to ask why are krill not considered a meaty food?

06/30/2006, 06:46 PM	#11
finding nemo Moved On Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canton Texas Posts: 4,679	Reef, if you can get good size krill try them. I have had no luck getting any of my anemones to eat them and they just let them drop, so I just don't recomend them. It is my personal thing. But if they work for others there is nothing wrong with feeding it. You have several shrimp in your aquarium. Have you noticed any of them picking in the anemones mouth? They are notorious for that and can severly irritate the lining of the anemones mouth. I only have cleaner shrimp in with my roses and feed them a half silverside each before feeding the anemones, and then I still stand and wait until the anemones have closed all of the way up and you can't see the fish. If the shrimp see it they dive in and yank it out from the anemones mouth. Make sure that it can eat it in peace, even if you have to stand there with a small net, fork or anything that will scare the shrimp away from the nem.

07/01/2006, 04:10 PM	#13
finding nemo Moved On Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canton Texas Posts: 4,679	Checking in to see how your anemone is doing?

07/01/2006, 06:26 PM	#14
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	any updates on pictures?

07/04/2006, 01:44 PM	#15
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	Sorry I've been busy at work. Sat 17 hrs, Sun 21 hrs. I'll post some pictures tonight. It seems to be doing better.

07/04/2006, 01:48 PM	#16
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	Wow those are some crazy shifts you got going.

07/05/2006, 07:47 PM	#17
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	I went out the first night and bought some silversides. I've cut about 1/3 on one two times now and it seems to take it in. You can see there's not much improvement if any. It does look better at times. Sould I just continue this twice a week feeding or is there anything else that might help?

07/05/2006, 07:50 PM	#18
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	Wow, thats not looking good at all to brake it to you. From that picture it has a slim chance of making it but it has done before. Just feed it every other day. GIVE IT MINIMUM stress. Try doing another 20% water change. If you havn't done one yet do a 30 percenter.

07/05/2006, 07:52 PM	#19
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	BTW, you said six weeks? Well in that first picture, it looks bleached to begin with slightly. This is around the time period when some says why is my BTA not doing good. It usually takes that long for a BTA to whither away. Sorry.

07/05/2006, 08:13 PM	#21
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	It could be a plethora of factors. 1. Inaquedate lighting 2. Insufficient light 3. Starved 4. Poor water quality 5. Too much stress By looking at those possibliities, what would you say caused it?

07/05/2006, 08:54 PM	#22
Reefit Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 83	When I first got it I stressed it once moving it from the back of the tank to the front, but it seemed to adjust well, as the first photo is after its move. It's not likely due to lack of lighting since I have 7 watts per gallon. I may not have been feeding it enough. I would give it a small piece of krill once or twice a week. Water quality is excellent, possibly could do more water changes, but this seems to be somewhat controversial on the benefits, quantity, and frequency.

07/05/2006, 09:07 PM	#23
55semireef Moved On Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 5,322	Krill is not very nutritional especially if its only being fed 1-2 times a week. Anemones require more meaty foods.

07/06/2006, 01:59 PM	#24
vaporize Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Toronto, ON Canada Posts: 750	I don't think the RBTA is gonna make it, i never see one that has the mouth open that big and still come back (unless it's splitting and torn apart which is not in this case). did you add any chemicals that cause alk/calc change? This is most likely a stress/water parameter related issue.

07/06/2006, 05:04 PM	#25
Ciarán Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 268	My BTA was very poorly for about two months. It wasnt gaping as yours is but it was as shrivelled if not more so. It is perfect now and has tripled in size since i bought it. Solution? Addition of a huge protein skimmer and new lighting. You say you have another anemone in the tank. It could easily be allelopathy, (chemical warfare via "terpene" chemicals) is the GBTA larger and healthy? If they are engaged in an elimination struggle the addition of direct in tank skimming (hang on) and plenty of phosphate free activated carbon would help remove/adsorb the toxic chemicals. Though the volume of your tank is considerable, it may also be due to soft coral irritation. In my experience Sarcophyton and Palythoa are nasties for the production of terpenes and could easily overwhelm a small/medium sized anemone. I think you are putting too much emphasis on feeding IMHO. An anemone simply will not accept food directly in the mouth in my experience, they won't allow themselves to be force-fed. My BTA can attain its full nutritional requirements from the light alone and has grown rapidly for extended periods where i havent fed it anything. I give it brine or mysis shrimp a few times weekly but thats it. Uour lighting is extremely powerful, 3x 400W is huge power even for that size system. BTA do fine on 150W. I can show you pics of mine as an example. Depending on how high in the water column the BTA is positioned perhaps it is overilluminated. There could be excess U.V. permeating through your glass covers of the halides. In general the darker an anemone, the greater the depth its natural habitat. The rose tips would indicate U.V. absorbing pigment but its overall colouration appears to be relatively dark. Perhaps a lower position may help things. A good indicator as to its health would be the "stickiness" of its basal disk. Others have commented with impending doom as to its health but i wouldnt be so sure. It is responding to the stimulus of food and appears to be well adhered to its substratum, therefore i think its is still relatively coordinated and responsive. Check to see there are no excess metal ions (Copper, Iron etc.) in your water. If all this fails to satisfy any crtieria, perhaps search for a tear in the basal disk. From what i have read, many anemones are so injured during forced separation from its substratum during hasty collection and die subsequently due to this injury. Edit: I just noted your colour temperature. I have no experience with 20,000k lighting but i know for certain that my symbiotic invertebrates prefer 10,000k lighting to the 14,000k bulbs i had previously. From what i understand, the higher the colour temperature the more blue the spectrum and this is most beneficial to deeper water organisms which have evolved/accepted more blue spectrum absorbing zooxanthellae to optimize photosynthetic output. Anemones' natural habitat is in shallow rockpools and mainly surface areas, exposed to the more direct colouration of the sun's rays, closer to 6500k than 20,000k. It is a trivial thing but well its a suggestion if nothing else! Hope it helps, Ciaran.