Rose Anenome

[reefnic]

My rose has been in my tank for approx one week, and it moves toward the power head. it has a plastic cover on it. My question is that it is turning orange instead of pink. is this normal. I just added a chiller to the tank, can this be causing the change in color? I have 55 gal tank with compact 96 atinac and white. Also how often do I feed it?:eek2:

[tooshay]

I just got my new Rose, but I did alot of research before I bought it. I heard they will turn darker pink with more intense lighting. I feed mine 3-4 times a week, alternating with silversides, scallops, and shrimp. Some people think that feeding heavily spurs them to clone. I have heard horror stories about anemones and power heads. Even with a cover, they can get injured. Maybe move the power head to a different area. Are you giving the anemone gentle water flow?

[Torghn]

If you only have 96W on a 55G tank that may be part of the problem. Be sure to feed the anemone and if possible build a rock tower so the anemone can get close to the lights if it wants too. You may want to consider getting some stronger lights too.

[reefnic]

Yes it is getting moderate flow. I fed it last night. I was only feeding my anenome's once a week, I'll starting feeding twice a week. So the dark orange/pink is ok? good. I guess I should put the foam cover back on the power head? When I had it on the air flow slowed and I had to keep rinsing it out.

[brianlena2000]

I agree with Torghn.

If you only have one 96 watt light on a 55 then you are going to most likely have problems keeping an anemone.

Watts per gallon isn't the best measurement (since it doesn't consider tank dimensions or the intensity of the lights...mh is more intense then other lighting) but that is less then 2 watts per gallon and really isn't enough for most corals let alone an anemone. I would strongly recommend getting more lighting.

[reefnic]

Okay I need to clarify something about the lights, I have four tubes of lights 2 are atinic and 2 are white - 96 each. So I guess its 388 total watts? or is 96 per each set? Never no the correct wattage? - Shouldn't that be enough for my rose? I also have a green tipped bubble and a plain sand anenome. I spent almost 200.00 on lights thats still not enough? they are 36 inches in length.

[kris4647]

I think there are many on this board who have good luck with Bubbles under PC lighting. 388 over a 3' or 4' ft tank should be sufficient.

BTW my rose is under 175 watt MH/PC lighting and its color has lightened up, I'm not sure I take that to mean that it isnt getting enough light. IMO

Good Luck.... as long as its mouth is tight and doesnt start shrinking I dont think I would read much into a slight color shift.

[Mudshark]

Originally posted by tooshay
I feed mine 3-4 times a week, alternating with silversides, scallops, and shrimp. Some people think that feeding heavily spurs them to clone.

Wow You guys feed yours a lot!!! I have some LTA's and BTA's
that I have had for 5 years now.... but I only feed them
"solid food" 2 to 3 times a month. The rest of the time they just
get what the clowns "drop" and the occasional live brine shrimp
"dusting"
Massive feeding will cause them to grow fast and clone faster....
but lighter feeding (more natural) will provide
a steady growth and seems to stop them from "wandering"
around the tank. Plus less feeding causes less pollution.... well
thats just my opinion, but it seems to work fine for me. :)

and yes... lighting is very critical. Good quality light is a must.
Bad light over time, will kill them. A major food supply for them is
the algae that grows in their flesh (their colour) if it starts fading
things are not good.

[kris4647]

"lighter feeding (more natural) will provide
a steady growth and seems to stop them from "wandering"
around the tank"

I have never heard that before. Do find feeding your anens more make them move more? Just curious.

[Mudshark]

Mostly they move till they find a cozy spot with just the right
light and current. In the past I have had some that have "up-
rooted" and moved when fed a lot. ...... but then again some
of them just never seem to find the "right" spot and just keep
cruising about the place (even while hosting) these usually
end up in a power head intake :( I have buried my Skilter
intakes in the gravel bed along the back of the tank to protect
them.
I keep a close eye on their color mostly. If they start becoming
more transparent they are loosing algae and need better light.
Bad light can also cause them to become more tan colored this
usually means you have the lumens but not the right wave-length
light (brightness and not quality) They will survive this quite
happily but will look drab.
I have never successfully managed to get one to re-gain it's
former color once they have become completely tan.... some
species do change color as they mature and end up a lighter
fleshy color anyway though.
Stick to Purple base anemones or any of the Heteractis family
LTAs or BTAs there are a few Anthopsis that have really cool
Pink and white coloring as well.
An anemone will not settle in a tank with poor water quality also.
So if you get a wanderer, check the water. They also hate heat.
Heat will kill an anemone as easily as bad PH.
I am no expert, but have been pretty lucky with mine ;)

[reefnic]

Thank you all for the help, I just recently changed the lights, because they were over 1 year old ( to the 96's) but I have a concern with the last comment made about the quality of light. Is that the reason why the general anenome brown white tip is mostly brown? Is he getting to much light? or what? I don't want the same thing to happen to my rose and green bubble tip. Should I upgrade lights again? and to what in a power compact?

[dantodd]

It still isn't exactly clear how many watts you are running. If you have 96Watt power compacts the 96 watts is per connector. It sounds like you have either 1 connector with a 4 tube 96 watt PC lamp or 2 connectors with 2 2 tube 96 watt lamps.

dan

Originally posted by reefnic
Thank you all for the help, I just recently changed the lights, because they were over 1 year old ( to the 96's) but I have a concern with the last comment made about the quality of light. Is that the reason why the general anenome brown white tip is mostly brown? Is he getting to much light? or what? I don't want the same thing to happen to my rose and green bubble tip. Should I upgrade lights again? and to what in a power compact?

[reefnic]

I have two connectors 96 each. Is lis enough light?

[Mudshark]

That’s about 3.5 watts per gallon..... I managed to keep mine
looking good on just over 4 Watts per Gallon. You should be okay.
It is important to have the right wavelength. See These threads:

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_technical_data.htm

and this one:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=177&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10

Both a bit wordy, contain some great lighting info.
I hope this will help you.
:)

[dantodd]

Originally posted by reefnic
I have two connectors 96 each. Is lis enough light?


Great, now we're honing in on it. you have 96 watts of 10KK light and 96 watts of Actinic. I suspect that you are on the low/ok side for a 55.

If it was all daylight you'd be better off WRT the critters but it wouldn't look quite so pretty.

I have a 96 watt PC over my 10gal. nano. with 48watts daylight and 48watts actinic.

What your anemone cares about is the amount of photosynthetic light which is not always the blue actinic though I don't know exactly how good or bad PC actinic is for photosynthesis.

If it were me I'd want a little more light.

I am getting ready to start lighting my 72 bowfront and am choosing between 660 watts VHO (550 daylight and 110 actinic) and 720 watts (500 daylight MH and 220 actinic VHO)
I haven't decided yet....

All that being said many people do keep inverts in less light with varying degrees of success. They also keep them with this much or more with varying degrees of success. :rollface:

Best,
Dan