Signs of a dying Anemone... Help please.

[Pac2003]

How long does an Anemone usually take to settle after a house move? I have had my set up since Saturday night and the Anemone seemed fine through Sunday but started to move right to the back of the tank from Monday onwards. This is probably normal as Anemones move around but since Monday its started to get slight brown tinges round the tips and around its body. The tips almost seem to be wilting slightly aswell.

I'm very new to anything Marine and tried feeding it a small dead fish yesterday. After a long attempt I finally managed to hold it until it was slightly in the Anemones mouth. I took my arm from the tank and stood back but my b*stard clown fish decided he liked the look of the dead fish and stole in from the Anemones mouth. Since then I havent been able to get near it to try and feed as its hiding right behind the back rocks at the bottom.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hunterd_67]

What kind of Ane. is it? how old is ur tank, whats ur water parementers, what kind of lighting? what kind of dead fish? 3 is to much at once,i feed my lta 2 times a week with silverslides or peices of shrimp and my clarkii will feed it between.

 

[marinelover]

anenome reply

Yeah i only feed every wednesday. I rotate feeding shrimp pellets to using squid cube. But my anenomes love the pellets. Do mess with him if your tanks parameters are ok he will find a place he likes. Member they love light but soft light dont make it so intense it shocks it to death!! Also make sure you dont have to much circulation or a pump pounding it. Just enough to keep them waving and detritus off them. Besides that good tank maintenace and lighting should be fine!
Good luck!
Shawn

P.S. If it dies and turns to mush make sure you get it out nothing is worse than an anenome that has died and melted and polluted a nice tank!

 

[Gina]

How long has your tank been set up? I've been told that you should not acquire one until the tank has matured, probably at least a year. We added one (BTA) just a couple of months after our tank had cycled and within 2-3 weeks the thing started shrivling up more and more. It finally closed up all the way and at that point I should have removed it but, I wasn't sure if it was really dead or not. It had also turned upside down and on it's mouth. I waited a day....too long! When I removed it from the tank all kinds of crap came floating out and spewed throughout the tank. What a disaster that was!! Our first mistake and lesson learned. If you are convinced it's dying get it out.

 

[gaubow]

Am I reading this right... that you bought the setup Saturday night? And you bought the anemone that night too? I am confused, you bought the setup Saturday night and you are worried that the anemone is not doing well on Sunday?

 

[gussy]

I think he means a house move...hence new setup of old tank...I think.

 

[Pac2003]

Thanks alot for all the replies. I'll try and answer as many as I can.

The Anemone is just like this one (found the pic on the net)
http://www.exotictropicals.com/encyclo/reef/anemones/images/bubble_clown1.jpg

Its looking abit better today with brighter colours and just looks abit more healthy. Fingers crossed hes gonna be fine.

I would normally feed it once a week but because the clown fish stole his food I was going to try and feed him again but he moved to the back on the tank where I can't reach to feed. Thats the only problem I can see at the moment, trying to feed him in an awkward position.

I don't actually know what type of fish i'm feeding, the person who I bought the set up from just said feed him once a week. They look like little silvery fish, only small about 2 inches in length. How do you actually go about feeding Ane's? Do you have to hold the piece of food near its mouth and when can you tell hes taken it. When I kept trying he kept closing up because on my fingers touching his tips. Any help appreciated with that.

I have an Aqua Medic Halide 2 x 150w.

Yes I bought the set up Saturday and finally had everything running Saturday night. Looking longer than I wanted it too. The set up came with a bubble Anemone and we managed to save about 50% of the water. I've slowly added more water and last night was the fianl top up to the correct water lvl.

Hope that answers all the questions and once again thanks for the help.

 

[hunterd_67]

it might been in shock, it took u that long to add water to it?, when u feed the bta, u might want to feed the clowns and others 2, u can use pair of plastic tongs, i just put the food on its tentacles, and it does the rest, if its hungry, it will do the rest, and alot of times, my clarkii will feed it, if it doesnt take the food, dont try to force or give it more, u can do more damage then good, when its ready it will take it, watch ur fingers they do sting and u can hurt it.

 

[Pac2003]

No I been adding water throughout the week.

Thanks for the advice, i'll have to get myself a pair of tongs and feed it that way.