problem with anemone

[iansnakebite]

i brought an anemone last sunday can't remember what it was called so if someone can identify it for me would be great it looks ok but resterday and today i found it at the bottom of the tank upside down like it had fallen off the live rock i've had my 50 gallon tank set up about 2 months and have never had a problem got 5 turbo snails, 2 red leged hemits, 1 regal tang, 2 clowns, 1 goby, and 1 algie blemie.
My levals are:
PH. 8.5 Temp 80.5F Salinity 1.023 Ammonia 0.0 Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate 0.0 Alkalinity 9kh Phosphate 0.5
thanks Ian

[Pandora]

We're gonna need a pic to ID it.... or at least a description???

If it's fallen over and upside down, it's in trouble. Most times anemones tightly adhere to surfaces and would not easily detach like that if healthy.

[z_rivers]

well its kind of hard to ID something without a picture or atleast a description. also your salinity is a bit low. raise it up to around 1.026. if you can get a pic that would be the best way for a positive ID.

[iansnakebite]

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f59/iansnakebite/ClownsandAnemone3.jpg

[iansnakebite]

i forgot that bit lol

[z_rivers]

that is H. magnifica aka ritteri anemone. they are one of the hardest anemones to keep alive in home aquaria. they require strong halide light (250w) and strong turbulent flow. water has to be perfect for these things to live. what kind of lighting, flow, and tank size do you have? .5 photphate for this anemone will mean death.

[iansnakebite]

its a 50 gal tank i have 2 marine glo and two marine blue bulbs what anemone do you sugest and what should i do

[iansnakebite]

about 1200L an hour but will go up to obout 800g an hour in a few weeks as adding sump/ fuge

[dugg]

First of all Your tank is much too young for an anemone. Second your lighting will not support an anemone. Your tank needs to be atleast 1 year old to allow everything to be very stable. As stated above, the anemone you have is one of the hardest ones to keep, and will require very intense lighting and almost 100% stability in your water conditions to be healthy.

[bertoni]

A 250 W metal halide bulb would be a good choice for lighting, IMO, if that's Heteractis magnifica. I am not capable of id'ing anemones, personally.

This anemone grows to a meter in diameter or so in nature.

This article is worth reading, IMO:

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

[dugg]

I second third and forth the advise of reading the above article. :)

[iansnakebite]

read that and some usefull info. that anemone was sugested to me by the shop what do you guys sugest i do?
those metal halide are too expensive was wondering how good 2 of thease would be 36" ?
http://www.swelluk.com/marine/11-146-180

[bertoni]

I'd say take the anemone back to the shop, if you're sure it's H. magnifica. A bubble-tip anemone might work in your tank once it's stable, if you got some of the T5s.

[z_rivers]

i agree with bertoni, take it back to the shop. MH is really the only light that will keep this anemone alive and healthy. you can use t-'s but by the time you purchase enough bulbs to sustain the anemone it wouldve been cheaper to go with the MH fixture. next time you purchase from that pet store research your investment before you impulse buy. they dont really sound like they know what theyre doing if they recommended this anemone to you for your setup.

[dchao]

hmmm - I don't think T5's are bright enough.

Have a look at what others have done (large tank, MH, water flow), you picked up one of the most difficult anemones to keep in captivity:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6465219#post6465219

[iansnakebite]

the is not realy a problem to be honest cause i'm taking it back tomorrow if they like it or not lol but would 4 t5s be suitable for the easyer anemones?

[dchao]

"Taking it back"

That's great, your clowns won't be very happy, but they usually find a new home very quickly.

I only have 2 T5's (AquaBlue/Blue+) for BTA. No problem.

Don't forget to get the parabolic reflectors as well, that's what make the T5's so special.

[dugg]

Some people are keeping anemones just fine under T-5, but personally i think they all need MH. Even without the lighting issue though, your tank is way to young for an anemone. Wait until it has been up and running for atleat 1 year before you get another one. By that time your tank will be stable, and you will have a lot more experience with keeping your water stable and clean. An anemone is ranked right up there with SPS corals for difficulty.

Your clowns don't need an anemone to be happy, they will host anything. My clowns actually preffer to host a clump of mushrooms. When things go bad for an anemone, they usually go bad very fast, and can poison your tank faster then you realize they are in trouble. They just sort of disentigrate in your water.

[bertoni]

I agree that anemones are hard to keep, and a stable tank is a good prerequisite. After the tank's been up for 6-12 months, a BTA might do quite well under T5 lighting. Some of them actually can't tolerate MH. The invertebrate forum has more information on this. Also, this booklet would be a good investment, IMO:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966454952/reeflink/102-3323252-4476960

[BLANKENSHIP76]

I have 250W double ended haildes and my magnifica is up at the tiop of tank almost sticking out now if that tells you how much they need and love light.

[iansnakebite]

so 4 t5 would be suitable for most coral invert and the easyer anemones thease metal halide lights do you have to buy a hood or can you get starter and bulb oly as might make my own hood?

[iansnakebite]

http://www.1st4aquatics.com/index.asp?function=DISPLAYPRODUCT&productid=991
would this be suitabe for most applications?

[dchao]

I don't know about Arcadia lights. But, when you are shopping for T5 light hood, ask what type of reflector it has. You need good reflectors to forcus all the light energy down into the tank.

Here in the US, reefgeek has both the SLS and SLR reflectors:

http://www.reefgeek.com/categories/lighting.html

See what a difference the reflectors can do:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=3392284#post3392284

[keefsama2003]

if you can grow sps and clams under T5's and they are just as light intensive as anemones then i think it would work you would need a good amount tho

i have 8 T5's on my 300 and will probably add 3 more but not sure yet.
once my tank goes online and i can monitor how the 8 bulbs work but from what i have seen and a few months back there was a TOTM that had all hard to keep sps and clams and anemones i believe in a tank with just T5 and you couldnt tell from growth and pictures it was rather incredible which is why i decided to go T5 on my tank. you will have to work to keep water quality beyond pristine but thats with any tank but it should be alright.

[iansnakebite]

well i've emailed arcadia so will let you guy know what they say about them

[z_rivers]

there is no other light that be acceptble for H magnifica other than MH. even the most light demanding SPS and clams dont need as much as this creature. it will move to the highest point in the tank and nearly stick out of the water to get maximum light absorbtion. 250w MH would be good for it but IMO 400w would be even better. t-5s will work for other anemones but not for the Mag.

[bginop]

iansnakebite, you might want to consider also taking your questions to Dr.Ron, because he has very contridictory statements to lighting issues and feeding issues. By contradictory, i mean they are quite counter-intuitive. So, its just food for thought.

[iansnakebite]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6559178#post6559178 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bginop
iansnakebite, you might want to consider also taking your questions to Dr.Ron, because he has very contridictory statements to lighting issues and feeding issues. By contradictory, i mean they are quite counter-intuitive. So, its just food for thought. going to have to show my ignorance as a newbe now who is dr ron and how do i contact him?

[iansnakebite]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6558223#post6558223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by z_rivers
there is no other light that be acceptble for H magnifica other than MH. even the most light demanding SPS and clams dont need as much as this creature. it will move to the highest point in the tank and nearly stick out of the water to get maximum light absorbtion. 250w MH would be good for it but IMO 400w would be even better. t-5s will work for other anemones but not for the Mag. i've taken H magnifica back to the store so that is no longer an issue plus it wouldn't be suitable to me due to the size it can grow to

[Jim Z.]

i AM KEEPING bta'S WITH 4 39 WATT t5'S (30 GALLON LONG). One reason for me being able to pull this off is that this tank is quite shallow and the difference in light intensity from the surface to the sand bed is less than for a deeper tank. I am getting good growth on acroporas with the T5's as well.

Also read up on the environmental conditions necessary for keeping anemones alive and healthy. Water conditions as mentioned previosly are of extreme importance as well. Some pet shops are better than others regarding information, but nothing is better than hitting the books or web pages for good info.

Jim Z.

[iansnakebite]

some great advice i'm getting here how deep is your tank exactly?

[iansnakebite]

its just a flat type reflector do you think this will be no good then?

[dchao]

If it's a flat reflector, your might just well buy the cheaper Power Compact (PC) light, you are lossing same amount of light due to the flat reflector.

[iansnakebite]

how easy is it to build your own hood?

[bertoni]

If you have basic woodworking skills and can wire up a fixture, I suspect it's pretty easy. I'm tempted to try, myself, since the commercial canopies are expensive and not that well designed, often, IMO.

[Amphiprion]

Not difficult at all. If you have a friend with a router, you can make some nice, neat edges as well.

[iansnakebite]

i will only be able to use contiboard (laminated chip board) would this be a problem if it got wet

[iansnakebite]

anyone?

[bertoni]

You could try asking or searching in the DIY forum. I'm not very familiar with lumber products.

[iansnakebite]

will do mate
i'm going to put either 5 or 6 T5 36" tubes with parabolic reflecters what colours tubes or type of tubes do i need
cheers ian

[bertoni]

A lot of that is personal taste, but I would probably go with 4 10,000 K (or so) bulbs and 2 actinics, and see how it looks. If you can view some setups in person, that might help a lot.

[maww]

laminated chipboard works just fine. just make sure to seal the cut edges with laminate tape- should be right there in the same aisle as the board. As for the lighting- buy a few more bulbs than you need of different Kelvin ratings and mix/match til you get what you like. You can keep the extras as spares, or just return them for a refund.