Are Anemones as annoying as i think?

[SunWyrm]

Sorry for derailing your thread with my disaster - to those wondering I think I found my culprit as my nems are increasingly unhappy and the other corals are seemingly unaffected (fingers crossed that I don't lose the others).

 

Aiptasia X

 

I got tired of my zoas never opening and the infestation taking over my tank and couldn't wait for a miracle fish to chew them all up so I nuked all of them. Every last one. At the same time. I was careful to leave the flow off for 30 mins afterwards but only now do I see what happened. I not only nuked the pests in place, I inadvertently killed my gorgeous rbta as well. The cloudyness appeared after I readjusted my koralia to hit the montis better, I should have noticed the aiptasia x hadn't disintegrated yet.

 

Reefoholics post made me laugh, though I feel horrible. Please learn from my experience and kill your aiptasia in small amounts.

[LanglandJoshua]

Wow...sorry to hear that heppened Yaitz! Unfortunately any "nuke" I've heard of was never truely selective on WHAT it killed!

 

As for the T5 lighting, I dont feel it penetrates the water anywhere near how MH do. I had T5 on a 18" 75 gallon tank way back when....I didnt have much rock and could not get the anemone any closer than within 10" of the surface. It slowly died. Yet later on when I could get a anemone pair closer to the top, they thrived. These same anemones have been with me through from my 75 and now in my 160. One has even allowed me to split it several times and still looks evry bit as amazing as the other. But in the 75 I had the light siting on the tank, about 4-5' up. The anemone was in the TOP 5". So its hard for me to say without knowing exactly what you have in there. The point I was making before with the 250W VS 175W is that both are very powerful. Much more so than my 4 bulb T5HO, yet there is a 5-6" depth difference between where my anemone's preffer to stay. Ive seen great looking tanks with T5 epleeds old 75 is a great example. But Ive never had luck with them. This may have been my choice in fixtures. Which is why anything I do now is modular. The freedom to try new things, and find what I like is far more valuable than saving $50 on that miracle fixture of your dreams.

 

In the end I still suggest MH, the success I have had is every bit worth the investment. Which is why now I just cant wait until I'm ready for LED's. Though more over, the LED's need to be ready for our reefs! I think that day is here, they will become more affordable and effecient. At this point power is not a worry. Its just so freaking expensive, but do the math and they are cheaper in the long run...odd!

 

As far as suggested specs: I can only tell you that mine preffer: variable indirect flow, high light, stable chemical levels, and a place to get shade.

 

Suggested Placement: I preffer to get them to put their foot into a crevasse of a rock. Then place that rock under the edge of another. So that when they retract they are in shade. But can extend for better light. Not only does this look impressive and show off their real size, but it mimics their natural behavior to hide their foot way down in a rock pile and poke the tentacles and oral disk out into the light. This way THEY control the light they get. Imagine you couldnt tell someone when you were hungry, and they knew to survive you only had to eat every other day. That would not make you happy would it? Or if they put you outside for too long with no shade...I preffer to let mine chose. Though two of them just stay out all day. But they are under an old 175W. So it could just be low light and they may need to. My anemones HAVE survived some nasty chemical swings. But understand that they will not survive that long term. It is only through carefuly bringing everything back to acceptable levels quickly enough to limit the damage done. But also not so fast you shock them. EX. Salinity, I didnt check it for a while and it droped to 1.011ppm. I raised it about 1ppm an hour or less. This took a day or two. My suggestion is to just add a LITTLE salt to your ATO. By little I mean .5ppm in the ATO or less. Its a fine line we walk sometimes. If you made the ATO water too "salty" you could go way above 1.025ppm very fast. For the most part when they are placed properly its just like that nice hammer or torch coral. Except it does not BURN YOU! Though I've handled some too long(splitting without gloves) and felt a bit odd in my hands. They do sting, it attacks nerves instead of direct damage to flesh. So that the prey(fish, shrimp, plankton) cant get away, and is easily pulled into the anemones mouth. Yes, they can eat fish and shrimp. Though personally I've only lost one fish to an anemone. But that was a sickly mandarin goby I rescued from a Petco store that had no idea how to care for it. The poor thing just floated down and a pump blew it into the anemone...it jumped and swam away. Only to be found dead the next morning...

 

I hope this info helps! Its great your asking questions and trying this out at 15! If we dont do the research first, then were assuming. Which never ends well...Dont stop asking questions. Even if it sounds silly, it could save your tank. As a Home Depot employee told me the other day when he tried to help me with some PVC questions,"Why dont you just put them into a bowl and _ it?". After I showed him a picture of my "bowl"...he told me, "OK, your way past a fish bowl! ". My tank has a WAYS to go before its anywhere near many of the other members here. But I wouldnt be this far if I hadnt first asked an Oceanography teacher if I could feed the fish, before I could even take the class.

 

 

*Edit* I agree Coral Hind, the "bubble" effect is probably a defense mechanism. Switching from long swaying tentacles for catching prey, to bubbles that cover more of the body. This way there is much less of a chance for a predator to harm the anemone without first being stung. Especially since the "Bubble" reaction also seems to be followed up by retracting backwards. Potentially into a hole or cave where they ONLY way in would be through the tentacles. There are not many things that are done in a reef or in the wild that arent absolutely necessary...though some animals do make me wonder...those crazy humans...

Edited January 27, 2012 by LanglandJoshua

[skipperawe]

I think my t5s are good, but I've got no coral in my tank except a small Acan frag right now. I'd tell you the wattage power, but I'm going to bed soon so I'm not inclined to run downstairs and scour my lighting for a small number I think your method of letting the anemone choose it's light is ingenious, and whether or not the anemone realizes it, it's a great idea. thanks for the advice to keep asking questions, although I do feel bad that I demand so much attention from people who I assume have lives outside of answering my reef discussion.

 

Yiatz-I'm just as happy to read about not aptasia xing everything at once. you haven't derailed my thread. my condolences for your loss

Edited January 27, 2012 by skipperawe

[LanglandJoshua]

I'm not saying you cant use T5, or that they wont work. Only that I have had better results with other lighting. I'm glad it helped. As for lives, many of us have smart phones. So we can update/post/reply on the fly! It is very useful in double checking stuff at LFS too!

 

night

Edited January 27, 2012 by LanglandJoshua

[Jan]

All of my anemones, I have 3, are on the same rock I put them on when I set this tank up. They like moderate flow, lots of light andI've found that they like to be high up on their own rock. I've never had issues with BTA's moving. I have this other nem that always moved but since it's between my two RBTA's it hasn't moved. I've also found that when I place high flow on one side of them they will not go into the flow. It's like an imaginary line they wont cross that keeps them at bay.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Jan

[SunWyrm]

Thanks everyone. I feel a little better thinking that anyone could get overzealous zapping an overgrown population of pest anemones once they were on a roll. My red/green rbta was droopy this morning but not melting at least, and the maximini looks better as well. Hopefully they make it through my mistake.