Reef nutrition

What's wrong?

For the last few days a few of my anemone haven't been opening. They aren't expelling waste while closed. The lights are on and everything else in the tank is fine. I've been doing a good job keeping the water parameters very stable for the last month or so and my RBTA is opening up big and seems really happy. 2 of the anemone have very small tares in a few of their tentacles. I'm not sure why, but those 2 don't host the clowns so the clowns aren't biting it. I noticed my phosphate is slightly high but ammonia and nitrite are 0. Nitrate is 2.5 PPM and phosphate is .10-.15 ppm. I'm constantly running the skimmer to get all of that out. The other thing I noticed is that some beautiful electric green zoas that I bought at Aquarium Concepts with about 150-200 polyps are acting strange. The half of the colony that is 4" or less from the surface is opening up well and are very healthy. The lower part which is 4" or more from the surface hasn't opened except the day after I added them and they are starting to become thinner and turn lighter. Everything else is great. Please give me any ideas on what might be wrong and some things I can do to help and get everything back to usual. Thanks! :)
 
Did the zoa rock have any bad smell?

Like sulfury/anaerobic?

Sometimes wild collected zoas can have decay under the mat or inside the rock.

I check underneath the zoas for crumbly black looking stuff.

Could be pests on the darker side of the zoas too. Zoanthid nudibranchs or zoa spiders.

Wear gloves and glasses, and wash your hands with soap and water after you do stuff with zoas.

You do know there are some bad chemicals and bacteria that you can get from them, right?
 
Mr. Ugly said:
Did you do anything with the zoas first, or did you just stick them into the tank?

I asked about lighting a flow and that kind of stuff. I didn't ask if they were wild or not. I forgot to mention the pH is 8.1 in the morning and 8.3 at lighting turn-off time. My salinity is 1.025. The zoas weren't very expensive, so I thought I got a great deal, but I'm more worried about the anemones. The largest anemone I have came loose from the rock a few minutes ago. I'm guessing because it needs more light since it has attached in a cave, so I moved it to a more lighted part of the tank with a shady spot for its foot. The zoas are weird, because when I turn the flow off, the top ones that are open close, and the ones that are closed start to open. Maybe the zoas are acting like this because the flow? Should I try moving the colony to a place with different flow?
 
Matthew, you may have crossed the magic line where your tank, flow, lights. water quality can no longer healthly support the animals you keep getting. I know a lot of ppl have told you that you needed more light to get 1 nem, but at this point you are getting a lot of nems, and you haven't yet upgraged the lights (I know I know, it's coming soon) however you may want to think about asking someone to hold all or most of them, until you can figure out whats going wrong
 
Apon said:
add a little carbon and increase the water changes.


+1

+1 on what Norman said as well, funny thing, I was at AC today talking to Lap and was saying the exact same thing to him, zoanthids come in dirtier than any other animal IME, dead sponges, tunicates, mystery goo, you name it. It is a must when buying wild zoas to dip and baster with a vengeance, it helps to repeat the process a day or two later.
 
Media like carbon and stuff normally doesn't work for me. It just ends up creating a huge mess. I just removed some year-old carbon from the back of the tank. Not sure how it worked out, but I recently tried Chemi-Pure Elite which resulted in a huge mess of brown water. I did a water change and the water went back to normal in a few hours after I removed it. I also used Purigen for like 4-5 days and then I removed it thinking it may be causing the problem. I left it in since it wasn't the one making the water all icky. Could that be it? Could it be that I removed the old carbon and the phosphate went up and caused a bad effect? Should I add another bag of carbon?
 
Matthew,

Carbon should be in a media bag or canister and changed every 1-4 weeks.

All media should be thoroughly rinsed before its placed in the tank, Carbon and Chemi-Pure both need to be rinsed to remove the "dust" that comes with that type of media.

As I have previously stated, take this hobby slowly, you have a lot of excitement now and we all want you to be successful. So step back and take some time to take in all the suggestions members on this site have given you and see if that helps. Most have suggested that the anenome's you are keeping need a lot of light and that keeping 5 or more anenome's that are as large as yours, may not be the best bet for such a small aquarium.

Best,
-Kyle
 
tuberider said:
[...] zoanthids come in dirtier than any other animal IME, dead sponges, tunicates, mystery goo, you name it. It is a must when buying wild zoas to dip and baster with a vengeance, it helps to repeat the process a day or two later.

Sometimes the rock is so bad, that it's better just to frag the zoas off the rock and re-mount them.

Good time to look for bad critters under the zoa mat too.
 
Euphyllia said:
Media like carbon and stuff normally doesn't work for me.

When you find stuff that works for other people and not for you, it's a good idea to figure out why.

Or do the laws of chemistry and physics not apply to you?

Actually, that's a joke that we have about some of our researchers at work. Some continually insist on things that are physically impossible. Sometimes we have to ask them, "Do the laws of physics not apply to you?"

:D
 
Carbon Doesnt remove phosphates, its more of a chemical filtration. Are you saying you left carbon running in your tank for a year before swapping it out? Try leaving your tank alone for a while. Maybe somethings getting off balance when you keep messing around with it. I used to try and tweek out every little problem I had before when I first started and the end reslults were always on the negative side. Maybe just try and keep up with water changes for now without adding anything and see where it goes from there.

but make sure your salinity, cal, alk and mag are in range.

Also, maybe check for stray voltage.
 
Mr. Ugly said:
tuberider said:
[...] zoanthids come in dirtier than any other animal IME, dead sponges, tunicates, mystery goo, you name it. It is a must when buying wild zoas to dip and baster with a vengeance, it helps to repeat the process a day or two later.

Sometimes the rock is so bad, that it's better just to frag the zoas off the rock and re-mount them.

Good time to look for bad critters under the zoa mat too.


Just as a caveat, wear your goggles and keep you lips tightly shut if you're going to peel the mat off :)
 
tuberider said:
Mr. Ugly said:
tuberider said:
[...] zoanthids come in dirtier than any other animal IME, dead sponges, tunicates, mystery goo, you name it. It is a must when buying wild zoas to dip and baster with a vengeance, it helps to repeat the process a day or two later.

Sometimes the rock is so bad, that it's better just to frag the zoas off the rock and re-mount them.

Good time to look for bad critters under the zoa mat too.


Just as a caveat, wear your goggles and keep you lips tightly shut if you're going to peel the mat off :)

+1
 
I am going to have to agree with Roc on this one ... you seem to run into quite a few problems/issues with your anemones. I have three times the BTA's you have in a tank half your size, and I do not encounter any of the issues you're having ...

That said, I'd definitely replace the carbon ... as mentioned, this should be done at least every month. Water changes also never hurt anything!
 
Matthew, just had to jump in here with a note of caution ... PLEASE do not suddenly think that because Anthony said "I have three times the BTA's you have in a tank half your size, and I do not encounter any of the issues you're having ... " that this means you are also within a "safety zone" and can get more 'nems. I've been following along your various threads because I'm interested in how your tank is doing and I (along with all the other "uncles" here) want you to be successful. Also, all the things I would have said were noted by others, so no need to beat the issue.

Having said this, I'm pretty sure that Anthony's BTA population has been achieved not by buying a bunch of anemones over a short period of a month or two and putting them together. I believe all his have split normally and the density has been acheived because the anemones are happy and are reaching a normal state of equilibrium. There is a HUGE difference between a colonly replicating naturally thorugh splitting (all the animals are genetically identical) and mixing specimens from different locations. Even though the anemones may be of the same species, the variance in sourcing (different water chemistries, light levels, currents, natural food sources, etc.) may cause them to conflict with each other. I have noticed that occasionally some of my BTAs (ones from different sources) will retract their tentacles when touching another BTA, and over time will possibly drop some tentacles or have them shorten to stubs. This doesn't always happen, but if I do not provide enough space for an anemone to seek out a spot with conditions it likes and open fully without touching another one, then I am not being a responsible aquarist.

Remember that happy anemones (esp. BTAs) find a single spot, stay there, and open fully. Those that are not happy will not open fully and will often move about since this is their way of trying to find a spot that is good for them.

With respect to your situation, please do try the carbon and make sure that with it or any particulate additive you place it in a mesh bag or other suitable container and wash, wash, wash. You should never get a major color change in the water or cloudiness when adding these items if they have been properly and very thoroughly washed first.

Also, and I hope I don't tread into the area of being too invasive in telling you how to manage your tank ... I would really highly recommend you look deeply into yourself and objectively consider whether you have way too many anemones in your tank right now. Sure it may look cool to have a wall of anemones, but that should be achieved naturally over a period of time like in Anthony's case, not by buying a couple anemones (and extremely large ones at that) and honestly overloading the tank. Remember the magic line that was mentioned earlier ... each system has an attainable bioload that defines what it can naturally hold (you may have heard the 1" of fish per gallon rule for FW...). The problem with SW unlike FW is that we have access to a huge host of invertebrates that also add to the bioload because they respirate just like fish. And as Norm mentioned, when we buy something on a rock, we don't think about all those things inside the rock (sponges, worms, etc.) that also add to the bioload. Therefore, it can be very deceiving as to how loaded your tank may really be.

So, please look deep into your heart and think what is good for the animals, not what you want to do with respect to loading up the tank. Remember, your animals are the best guage of the health of your tank, and if they are not looking happy, something is wrong.
 
1) buy carbon
2) buy a filter bag
3) fill bag (maybe about 2 cups of carbon for your tank)
4) while open (easier), rinse carbon with water till the black dust is gone (water runs clear)
5) close up bag with the drawstring and tie securely (don't want it to open up)
6) add to one of your rear chambers
7) every 2 weeks, remove the bag, dump the carbon in the trash, clean it out well, and refill with new carbon and repeat.

Many of our sponsors (if not all) have carbon and bags.
This is an EXAMPLE of what you want.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo/media-reactors-filter-bags/brs-mesh-filter-sock-4-x-8-00-1micron-w-draw-string.html
 
Gomer said:
1) buy carbon
2) buy a filter bag
3) fill bag (maybe about 2 cups of carbon for your tank)
4) while open (easier), rinse carbon with water till the black dust is gone (water runs clear)
5) close up bag with the drawstring and tie securely (don't want it to open up)
6) add to one of your rear chambers
7) every 2 weeks, remove the bag, dump the carbon in the trash, clean it out well, and refill with new carbon and repeat.

Many of our sponsors (if not all) have carbon and bags.
This is an EXAMPLE of what you want.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/carbon-and-gfo/media-reactors-filter-bags/brs-mesh-filter-sock-4-x-8-00-1micron-w-draw-string.html

OK thanks. I'll do that.
 
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