I'm confused!?

[Matt Rogers]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Jenny.

One thing I'd like to add - but I don't think it was your case - is that anemones deflate when expelling waste too. A good indication of a 'goner' is when it appears they are turning inside out via their mouth. There is also the smell test if you are brave.

The survival rate of anemones is generally pretty low. It is best to have a mature tank and ideal water conditions and lighting I've learned through experience - I've kept a hard to keep Ritteri for over 3 years in mature and stable tank, but killed easier to keep ones in other tanks. If they seem happy with the light and current and you get them to eat, you have a good chance of keeping it. There is a lot to learn with anemones - different requirements, different clown fish, etc..

[rayjay]

You have enough light to keep anemones. Fluorescent lights are sufficient for anemones.
According to Dr Ron Shimek when he was on RC, posted in reply to a query on anemone lighting, that very low light can be supplimented by more feeding for an anemone. High light requirements were not an absolute.
When I first got a computer some years back, I saw many posts saying that I couldn't keep anemones, most corals,and clams with fluorescent lighting. This after having been doing all for many years already.
My sebae was the very first thing I purchased, along with a clarkii clownfish, when my first tank completed it's cycle, and for a year, it was in a 30g tank that sat under a fixture with four NO's over it and another 30g.
I upgraded to a 90 and again, while there are more lamps, the lighting is still NO fluorescent lamps.
When I bought mine, it was white with purple tips and I was really dismayed when it turned a dirty beige color that was hard to see the tip color also.
At least now I know that the white wasn't natural for it and if I buy another one, to look for that beige color to be there.
I guess the point I wish to make is that there are a lot of misconceptions in the hobby, and high light requirement for anemones is one of them.

[rickzter]

Originally Posted by Jenny415b

well i think our biggest mistake was thinking the people at Nahacky's (LFS) wouldnt give us wrong info....

thanks

Yeah, FS's do that a lot. Always read, read, read! Books or online!

[Jenny415b]

Rayjay- Thank you for your post as I think that the pale color was a big part of the problem. Your anemone was able to turn brown over time and regain its zooxanthellae, but unfortunatatly mine did not live long enough to do that. The reason why I am leaning toward this issue as being the main problem is due to the fact that every sickly looking anemone at nahackys was as pale as mine, while the darker ones seemed fine. And I believe now (after what I went through) I know the difference between a closed up anemone and one that is just not doing so well. Like I said, next time I will buy one that is much darker (this one was so pale). Thanks again to everyone for their help. And to Rickzter- Any good reccomendations on quality anemone books? I havent yet found one---Let me know.... Thanks guys!

[jonathan]

from my research on anemones it's not always the wattage to be concerned about but the PAR of the bulbs used. some animals just react differently to various spectrums of light. i would also highly recommend drip acclimation when introducing new animals into your tank. buy a small bucket that has never been used and specifically use it for acclimating new arrivals only.

[SAW39]

I've read all the earlier posts....I have had an anemone for 5 months now, he went through a sickly phase like Jenny415b described, but mine recovered.
I have to disagree with the comment about lighting requirements. I have a 96W T5-HO lighting system on my 45 gal tank and my anemone is happy. RayJay's comments were excellent.
I did Matt's smell test when my anemone was sickly looking. She (the anemone) didn't smell bad, so I put her back in the tank.
BTW, we forget that size and shape changes are part of anemone behavior, especially when newly introduced or when water parameters are not optimum. Before I upgraded the lighting, my anemone used to pick up her foot and float around about every week or two. She finally settled into a corner of the tank that caught a sunbeam for an hour each day.

[jonathan]

i was going to mention that also. using a good t-5 fixture with individual reflectors and proper wattage (a tek light by sls comes to mind), one could keep just about any, if not all, corals/invertebrates they wanted to. the germans have been doing this for years and the par is very comparable to a mh unit...you just don't get those lovely shimmer lines.

[SAW39]

It's funny that I had mentioned yesterday that anemones change their shape. Here's a couple of photos of my anemone today: she was startled by something and shrank to the size of a nickel in less than 3 minutes (before I got my camera, she was half the size shown in the first photo). A few hours later, she had recovered to her normal size.

[jonathan]

wow, what a difference. it's amazing how much more vivid the coloration was when the anemone was "startled".

[jonathan]

thanks for the karma SAW39!