New GBTA dying?

[tabitha_reed]

I have had my tank set up since Christmas and my dad bought me a GBTA four weeks ago this weekend. It made its way to the back of the tank the first night. I turned the rock around. It eventually moved to the back left right in front of the filter. It slowly moved up. About a week after putting it in the tank I turned that right upside down. I read that they like their foot hide from the light. This spot seemed to work till this week. It moved again. This time under a rock. Its now hanging upside down. It ended up on its tenacles. So after a few hours when it didn't turn itself over, we picked it up until it attached to the rock above it. Its now only about a forth of its original size when its open. It doesn't open very long and only about 2-3 times a day. The tenacles aren't near as long. We have 1 marron clown and 1 domino damsel. For a few days both played together in the anenome. Now just the clown. The clown is the only one that's tried to feed it. He tends to miss though. The mouth of the anenome's about 1.5 inches long and a little more than .25 inches wide.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

[Dentoid]

First off welcome to the Sanctuary. Unfortunately, anemones are one of the hardest animals to keep alive. They require absolute pristine water conditions and do not tolerate nitrates very well. Most hobbyists say that reef tanks are not stable enough, for at least a year, to keep an anemone. Also, trying to move it to a place you want, just causes stress for the animal. They should be allowed to move about on their own until they find a spot that is to their liking. It sounds like yours is having a hard time acclimating to captivity. For such a simple animal they are difficult to keep.

[CATALYST]

Make sure the water is stable and pristine. They really like intense lighting like from a halide. Feed it every couple days to a week, 1/4" hunks of yummy seafood like shrimp, scallops, squid,...raw frozen stuff thawed out. Mysis shrimp is good too. Don't move it around and leave it be. Here's a good site about them...Karen's Anemones

[CATALYST]

Geeze I'm slow today.

And I forgot to say 'hi'.

[CATALYST]

Geeze I'm slow today.

And I forgot to say 'hi'.

[tabitha_reed]

I could be wrong, but I think he's doing worse. One day I think, well he's looking better. Then the next...not so much. Until this morning his foot was still bright orange, and he was opening up ever once in a while. As of this morning he was half falling off the rock ( he's attached under a rock). You can tell around the edges his foots loosing color. The center of him just looks like white raw chicken fat (that's the best way I know to describe it). Is there anything I can do to help it? I'm going to try and see if I can't get measurements on nitrates, nitrites, amonia, and Ph. Other than when I set up the tank I've never had any though. I'll also try to get a picture and find out what kind of lights I got. Dad just said the guy at the fish store said he sold him the best. My dad's got the same set up and has for a year and a half and has a big anenome that's been doing great for some time now. So I'm guessing my lighting ok.

[Dentoid]

if it looks like chicken fat, I'd recommend getting it out of there. It's dying and will foul your tank. Can you post a picture of the anemone?

[DrHank]

Hate to say it but I do agree with Scott. You don't want it to die in your tank.

[lcstorc]

The smell test never fails. If it is dead or near dead and you smell it, you will know.
Sorry about the loss. We need to find about your lights and system parameters to give you guidance in keeping these beautiful animals.

[tabitha_reed]

working on uploading pictures

[tabitha_reed]

I have two lights. One white, one blue. The bulbs say _R40T12/HVO Not sure what the first letter is without taking it all apart.

I've also got two large filters (like what you would use on a fresh water tank) that just circulates water, no filter medium in them. I was told to put the mediums in them for 2 days twice a month.

We have a protien skimmer. Not sure on its specifics though.

It is a 55 gallon tank.

[tabitha_reed]

Well, I had issues getting the pictures on the computer, but after getting back from super...it was no longer attached to the rock, and there was no doubt about the fact it was either dying or dead.

I wonder if it was healthy when we got it. I had read after my dad bought it that you should look for a tight mouth on anenome's. It didn't have that from the first.

Maybe I'll try again sometime next spring once the tank's been up for longer and see how it goes.

Was my information on the lights enough for someone to know what I have?

[DrHank]

Your tubes are 40 w T12 VHO. They are the same size as a conventional fluorescent but are what they call Very High Output. In reality, they aren't. They were an early attempt to provide a high output tube rather than a regular fluorescent bulb. You will get better output from most PCs, all T5s and of course MH. I really wouldn't recommend anemones with less than T5 lighting.

[tabitha_reed]

So would this work?

48" AQUALIGHT T-5 Double
Strip Fixture
LT-CL-AL-T5-48


Fixture Includes:

* 28 watt 10,000K daylight and 28 watt true actinic 03 blue T-5 fluorescent lamps
* On/off switch and built-in ballasts
* Sleek, designer-black aluminum housing
* Highly-polished reflector
* Acrylic lens cover
* Adjustable width tank mounts

Thanks

[cheeks69]

What size tank do you have and what are the dimensions ? How long has this tank been setup ? What are you using for filtration ?

28 watt 10,000K daylight and 28 watt true actinic 03 blue T-5 fluorescent lamps

This is nowhere near what hosting Anemones need even in a small tank.