anemone Acting strange?

[Tdelwey]

Hey everyone I'm brand new to this forum and recently new to the saltwater life.
I currently have a 60g live rock tank.
I was recently given 2 anemones for free unexpectedly. With a little bit of research I have minimal knowledge on these amazing creatures. I got them yesterday, dropped them in and my tank and they found there happy place. They seemed fine all day yesterday and most of today. A few hours ago I look over at my tank and I noticed one of them is fully expanded and its mouth is open pretty wide. Here is a picture to show you guys what I mean. Any input I greatly appreciate, also any constructive critism/things I can do to better the life of my marine friends.

Thanks

 

[Dizzirn]

@Amoo

 

[Tahoe61]

Condylactis are fairly hardy anemone. Those are probably in acclimation mode. Typically they do not host clowns, but some clowns will bear the sting of this anemone and make it home. They reside high in the rock work, and as with all anemones appreciate good water quality and the occasional feeding.

 

[Tdelwey]

Condylactis are fairly hardy anemone. Those are probably in acclimation mode. Typically they do not host clowns, but some clowns will bear the sting of this anemone and make it home. They reside high in the rock work, and as with all anemones appreciate good water quality and the occasional feeding.

I appreciate the quick response, good to know they are hardy and nothing looks too out of the ordinary. How about this guy, he settled more into a cave area

 

[Tahoe61]

That looks like a Sebae, but I will let @Amoo verify the ID. Sebae is not the easiest Anemone by far, difficult to acclimate. The anemone looks fine thus far. What type of lighting do you have?

Welcome to Reef2Reef.

 

[Tdelwey]

That looks like a Sebae, but I will let @Amoo verify the ID. Sebae is not the easiest Anemone by far, difficult to acclimate. The anemone looks fine thus far. What type of lighting do you have?

Welcome to Reef2Reef.

Nothing special, came with tank sale its just an LED light bar. Now that I have these guys I was looking to invest into higher quality lights. Any suggestions? Want to get everything asap.
Thanks

 

[Tahoe61]

Yeah good move you're definitely going to need to upgrade lighting to keep anemones.

Anemones will inflate and deflate, it typically not reason for concern unless you do not see them expand daily. Anemone house a dinoflagellate called Zooxanthellae that produces carbohydrates via photosynthesis, these carbohydrates are utilized by the anemones as a source of nutrition(hence the lighting up grade). Most anemone will take small feedings of meaty sea foods such as raw fish, shrimp, scallops. I would not feed them until acclimated, basically a week or two.
Anemones will move where they like, no good from come from moving them to where you would like them.
Sebae foot in the sand bed at the base of rock work, Condylactis prefer to foot up high in the rock work.

Basic husbandry focus is excellent water quality and lighting.

 

[Dancingmad]

Nothing special, came with tank sale its just an LED light bar. Now that I have these guys I was looking to invest into higher quality lights. Any suggestions?

There are roughly a bazillion testimonies and experiences on lighting. Lots of data too. Get ready, here comes a very brief opinion!!!

I have used T5, T5+MH (Personal Fav), and some smaller Kessils, which are fantastic too. I would do 4x T5s at a minimum probably...I love the MH shimmer and powa!

If I were in your shoes and want to arrive at a good choice quickly, I would hit youtube to see what kind of light fixture you might find aesthetically pleasing (both physically and light shimmer/temperature on bulbs), rank the styles, then start shopping around on price/feasibility. Hit the lighting sections of the boards for sure - there is an absolute wealth of information if you prefer reading instead of watching/listening to videos.

Just to reiterate - Tons, and tons of opinions on lighting. There are a lot of great options out there - figure out what you like, that will get the job done for good anemone health, and right price. Its easy to get overwhelmed w/ lighting! PAR, PUR, Lens, Lumens, temperature - Oh my!

Oh and hey! Welcome to R2R! People here are so awesome not even the metric system can measure their sheer awesomenacity.

Happy Reefing!

 

[GoPitt88]

How long has your tank been running? How many fish do you have?

 

[Tdelwey]

How long has your tank been running? How many fish do you have?

My tank has been running for 5 months now, I had a Mimic tang and a hippo tang (babies) back in June. Unfortunately my tank was taken over by a bacteria infection which took out both of them, I was unable to hospitalize them as I had a lot going on at the time. I drained half the tank, did some heavy maintenance and just got it back up and running last week (using the same live rock and sand bed). Water continued to test @ 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 40 Nitrate. My LFS continued telling me 40 is high but if I am only running live rock not to worry it won't be a problem. I am still working on lowering it as I want the best water parameters possible. I took out a few of the bioballs in my canister and replaced it with this bio cube things my LFS sold me. They said the continuously high nitrate was possibly due to the bioballs.
In regards to the fish, I am definitely over populated but it is temporary as I took in a lot of fish from my buddy who is moving and once he is all settled he will be taking majority back.
All fish are pretty small so for now they are ok.
2 Clowns | 1 Hippo Tang | 1 Yellow Tang | 1 Pink Tail Trigger | 1 Humma Humma | 3 Damsels

I know the Hippo/Tang/ and triggers will require a bigger tank, in no way do I plan on keeping this fish much longer, as I said its just temporary housing lol .

ALSO, can anyone suggest any specific lights worth buying? Hoping to keep the price range anywhere $75-120. No corals in tank, just the fish/liverock/anemones. 60 Gal.
P.s, is it worth installing a power head into my tank?
Currently running a canister filter pumping out a pretty nice flow, and a HOB skimmer.

 

[Amoo]

First one pictured is a Condy, definitely looks a little mad, but could just be acclimation to tank. Could be getting used to the higher Nitrates your system has, could be really really really mad about your lighting.

Second picture is a lot harder to tell. It looks to be either a Crispa or Malu. I would venture to guess it is a Malu based on the shorter tentacles and I THINK I can see a red foot attached to that rock? Very hard to tell considering it is stressed, but we'll say Malu for now.

Did you just add 9 fish to a tank that has had no bioload? It's going to cycle again if that's the case.

Your nitrates are high because you have no nutrient export method that I can see, bio balls and bio media do provide extra surface area for bacteria to convert Ammonia to Nitrates, but what's removing your nitrates? Your current only method is water change.

Yes you'll want a powerhead as Nems like varied flow. Check Jaebo they're cheap, work decent but are considered disposable so keep that in mind.

A standard 60 Gal Aquarium is 48x12x24, so if your tank is indeed 24 inches deep you're going to need some serious light to penetrate that deep. The Condy you can get by with a much less powerful light, but the bottom of the reef Malu just won't have it.

The cheapest light you're going to find in that price range would be the Chinese black boxes all over Amazon and Ebay, which seem to have a lifespan of about 2ish years according to most on this site who have used them. They're not usually something I recommend, but since you're not trying to kedep corals and just want to keep the Nem, they may be a good option for your tank, sadly you would probably need two. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...ons&keywords=full+spectrum+marine+light&psc=1 Again that's not a product endorsement, it's just an idea of what you're looking for.

You can probably get that Condy to work, though it will probably never host anything. The Malu is going to be quite a bit more difficult. If your tank is about to hit the roller coaster ride I think it's about to go on, you might be wise to just see if you can get some store credit at your LFS to put towards something like an Algae or Biopellet reactor or something that will actually reduce nitrates.

 

[Tdelwey]

First one pictured is a Condy, definitely looks a little mad, but could just be acclimation to tank. Could be getting used to the higher Nitrates your system has, could be really really really mad about your lighting.

Second picture is a lot harder to tell. It looks to be either a Crispa or Malu. I would venture to guess it is a Malu based on the shorter tentacles and I THINK I can see a red foot attached to that rock? Very hard to tell considering it is stressed, but we'll say Malu for now.

Did you just add 9 fish to a tank that has had no bioload? It's going to cycle again if that's the case.

Your nitrates are high because you have no nutrient export method that I can see, bio balls and bio media do provide extra surface area for bacteria to convert Ammonia to Nitrates, but what's removing your nitrates? Your current only method is water change.

Yes you'll want a powerhead as Nems like varied flow. Check Jaebo they're cheap, work decent but are considered disposable so keep that in mind.

A standard 60 Gal Aquarium is 48x12x24, so if your tank is indeed 24 inches deep you're going to need some serious light to penetrate that deep. The Condy you can get by with a much less powerful light, but the bottom of the reef Malu just won't have it.

The cheapest light you're going to find in that price range would be the Chinese black boxes all over Amazon and Ebay, which seem to have a lifespan of about 2ish years according to most on this site who have used them. They're not usually something I recommend, but since you're not trying to kedep corals and just want to keep the Nem, they may be a good option for your tank, sadly you would probably need two. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...ons&keywords=full+spectrum+marine+light&psc=1 Again that's not a product endorsement, it's just an idea of what you're looking for.

You can probably get that Condy to work, though it will probably never host anything. The Malu is going to be quite a bit more difficult. If your tank is about to hit the roller coaster ride I think it's about to go on, you might be wise to just see if you can get some store credit at your LFS to put towards something like an Algae or Biopellet reactor or something that will actually reduce nitrates.

I appreciate the abundance of information, I think I may just bring these two to my LFS and have them take them in. They are very cool, and great to look at but I am not ready to make an investment in lighting yet. Soon, but waiting is irresponsible and cruel to the creatures. I am aware my tank is about to recieve a huge bioload, I am prepared to do many water changes in the next few weeks. Right now I am focusing my finances on setting up a 30 Gal hospital tank for worst case scenarios. Do you still suggest the biopellet reactor?
Can someone link me to a thread that has some info on what exactly the algae/biopellet reactors do? And maybe some reccomendations
On a good one to purchase.
Thanks again for all of the info.

 

[Amoo]

I think you're making the right call with the Nems.

In regards to nutrient export, that is something you're going to have to research and try on your own. It CAN be accomplished with just water changes, it can be accomplished with bio-pellets, it can be accomplished with an algae turf scrubber, it can be accomplished with a refugium....etc. There are multiple ways to control Nitrates AND Phosphates (nutrients) in your tank. Which method you feel you will keep up with and works best for you is honestly for you to decide, but they all can and do work.

Unfortunately, changing out the bioballs for a different something in your canister filter probably isn't going to be one of them. Fortunately for you though, I'm not a store and have nothing to profit by telling you any of this and don't stand to lose or make money based on which decision you make. Take everything you see and hear in this hobby with a grain of salt and be diligent about doing your own research, don't just take the advice from a guy or girl at your local fish place, or some random guy on the internet with a bunch of banners below his name.

(Short little anecdote here, feel free to skip story time: I was fixing an outside electrical outlet at my in-laws house that had recently been installed by electrical contractors. It was supposed to be watertight, but the way they set it up wasn't. My father in law who isn't so handy, asks me, "Are you sure we should modify it, they did install it to be watertight?" I opened up the box and showed him the rust on the inside and a small little puddle of water and explained to him that a shirt with my name and a company on it doesn't make me an expert in anything. Just because he hired an electrical contractor to do something, doesn't mean it was done properly.)

I'll leave you with this. On this forum there is a wealth of knowledge. There is also some not so great information, but none the less people are still trying to help other people. Read what others experience, verify information you can be it scientific or anecdotal in a way that makes sense to you and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Good luck with your tank man.

 

[Tdelwey]

I think you're making the right call with the Nems.

In regards to nutrient export, that is something you're going to have to research and try on your own. It CAN be accomplished with just water changes, it can be accomplished with bio-pellets, it can be accomplished with an algae turf scrubber, it can be accomplished with a refugium....etc. There are multiple ways to control Nitrates AND Phosphates (nutrients) in your tank. Which method you feel you will keep up with and works best for you is honestly for you to decide, but they all can and do work.

Unfortunately, changing out the bioballs for a different something in your canister filter probably isn't going to be one of them. Fortunately for you though, I'm not a store and have nothing to profit by telling you any of this and don't stand to lose or make money based on which decision you make. Take everything you see and hear in this hobby with a grain of salt and be diligent about doing your own research, don't just take the advice from a guy or girl at your local fish place, or some random guy on the internet with a bunch of banners below his name.

(Short little anecdote here, feel free to skip story time: I was fixing an outside electrical outlet at my in-laws house that had recently been installed by electrical contractors. It was supposed to be watertight, but the way they set it up wasn't. My father in law who isn't so handy, asks me, "Are you sure we should modify it, they did install it to be watertight?" I opened up the box and showed him the rust on the inside and a small little puddle of water and explained to him that a shirt with my name and a company on it doesn't make me an expert in anything. Just because he hired an electrical contractor to do something, doesn't mean it was done properly.)

I'll leave you with this. On this forum there is a wealth of knowledge. There is also some not so great information, but none the less people are still trying to help other people. Read what others experience, verify information you can be it scientific or anecdotal in a way that makes sense to you and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Good luck with your tank man.

Thanks man, appreciate that. I am going to begin researching now as I have a slow day at work. Great post by the way .