Is my anemone dying??

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

This is sadly my first post on here but I’ve had this Haitian Anemone for around a month now, it’s my first anemone and it has been looking great and has been eating but it’s never really moved around which sounds like a blessing but it worries me, today it has shrunk drastically and shoved himself under the rock he sits on the side of, nothing has changed in the tank what should I do??

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Age of tank, lighting used and parameters?

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Jekyl said:
Age of tank, lighting used and parameters?

AQUEON Optibright led 30-36 inch, the guys at my local store said it would be plenty enough, temp 78, salinity 1.024 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate around 4ppm. Tank has been running for around 4 months (40 gallon breeder)

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Tank is a little young, nitrate being zero is a problem and that light will not be enough for long term I don't think.

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
AQUEON Optibright led 30-36 inch, the guys at my local store said it would be plenty enough, temp 78, salinity 1.024 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate around 4ppm. Tank has been running for around 4 months (40 gallon breeder)

Jekyl said:
Tank is a little young, nitrate being zero is a problem and that light will not be enough for long term I don't think.

My nitrate is not zero? Any suggestion on what I should do if anything, will be doing more research for lighting.

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
My nitrate is not zero? Any suggestion on what I should do if anything, will be doing more research for lighting.

Oops misread that. Are you using RoDi? Nem doesn't seem extremely unhappy.

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Jekyl said:
Oops misread that. Are you using RoDi? Nem doesn't seem extremely unhappy.

Yes I do use RoDi. It doesn’t seem unhappy to you? He’s shrank up a little bit before and will return regular within a hour or 2 but I’ve read that’s normal but never this much.

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
Yes I do use RoDi. It doesn’t seem unhappy to you? He’s shrank up a little bit before and will return regular within a hour or 2 but I’ve read that’s normal but never this much.

Can't judge a nem by things they do day to day. Sometimes mine are the size of a dinner plate and others look like chewed up gum. Take note of long term trends. Growth, less inflation, constant moving. Those are better indicators. When a nem is outright dying, there's no mistaking it. More often than not, in an unhappy environment, there's no growth and they seem to inflate less and wander.

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Jekyl said:
Can't judge a nem by things they do day to day. Sometimes mine are the size of a dinner plate and others look like chewed up gum. Take note of long term trends. Growth, less inflation, constant moving. Those are better indicators. When a nem is outright dying, there's no mistaking it. More often that not in an unhappy environment there's no growth and seem to inflate less and wander.

Okay thanks for your help I will keep a eye on it.

iamacat · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
AQUEON Optibright led 30-36 inch, the guys at my local store said it would be plenty enough, temp 78, salinity 1.024 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate around 4ppm. Tank has been running for around 4 months (40 gallon breeder)

Unfortunately your light is not going to be capable of keeping anything alive. Those lights are more for viewing. If it is only rated for low light plants, it’s not going to work for coral and especially a Nem

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

iamacat said:
Unfortunately your light is not going to be capable of keeping anything alive. Those lights are more for viewing. If it is only rated for low light plants, it’s not going to work for coral and especially a N

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Okay I’m looking into it, I wonder why the nem hasn’t moved to the top of the rocks to try to get more light then?

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
Okay I’m looking into it, I wonder why the nem hasn’t moved to the top of the rocks to try to get more light then?

I may be mistaken but aren't they sand dwellers?
@Lost in the Sauce have some better tips?

Lost in the Sauce · May 1, 2023

Jekyl said:
I may be mistaken but aren't they sand dwellers?
@Lost in the Sauce have some better tips?

Not necessarily. I've had some that like to be up in the light and flow with the H. Mags.

Nem doesn't look too bad considering the following observations.

The light is not at all strong enough for anenome or coral. I'm not sure it'll grow algae.. Mostly joking.
Tank is newer and runs low end on nutrients, and salinity.

OP Can we see an FTS? What's your flow like?

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Lost in the Sauce said:
Not necessarily. I've had some that like to be up in the light and flow with the H. Mags.

Nem doesn't look too bad considering the following observations.

The light is not at all strong enough for anenome or coral. I'm not sure it'll grow algae.. Mostly joking.
Tank is newer and runs low end on nutrients, and salinity.

OP Can we see an FTS? What's your flow like?

Definitely going to get a new light for the tank tomorrow, I have Sicce voyager stream pump 2 on one end of the tank but didn’t think it was enough so I found a marine land maxi-jet 400 laying around the house that I had used for a freshwater years ago that’s on the other end of the tank (40 gallon breeder) “OP Can we see an FTS?” Not sure what this means still new to this stuff but the nem has came out more since posting this earlier

Josiah_445 · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
Definitely going to get a new light for the tank tomorrow, I have Sicce voyager stream pump 2 on one end of the tank but didn’t think it was enough so I found a marine land maxi-jet 400 laying around the house that I had used for a freshwater years ago that’s on the other end of the tank (40 gallon breeder) “OP Can we see an FTS?” Not sure what this means still new to this stuff but the nem has came out more since posting this earlier

Lost in the Sauce · May 1, 2023

It looks like it's just being dumb. So a normal nem weirdness.

FTS = Full Tank Shot

Jekyl · May 1, 2023

Josiah_445 said:
Definitely going to get a new light for the tank tomorrow, I have Sicce voyager stream pump 2 on one end of the tank but didn’t think it was enough so I found a marine land maxi-jet 400 laying around the house that I had used for a freshwater years ago that’s on the other end of the tank (40 gallon breeder) “OP Can we see an FTS?” Not sure what this means still new to this stuff but the nem has came out more since posting this earlier

Baseline for flow should be no dead spots anywhere in the tank while not strong enough to blow sand around. Also while providing surface agitation.