Is my anemone dying?

No not excessively high, 78 would probably be better.
I am assuming the LFS told you that just in case the anemone was dying and did not want it to pollute your tank.

 

anemones have many ups and downs in aquariums. i just think that you could use the money instead for some other aquarium thing instead of a light you dont need

 

Hope everything is going well for you was a little late in this post and missed out. As for the light issue IMO they do just fine under high light this one is thriving and is about twice this size now. He is under a 250 watt halide and 4X24 watt actinics he eats great he is one of the best nems iv had. Think its a lighting issue dont think a power compact is were id keep mine. But like i said this is just my 2 cents

But figured id put this pic in here so you have and idea of what he should look like all happy as a nem

Also wanted to add make sure that you have no powerheads he can get into ect. This guy moves once every two weeks he is like the happy traveler in the tank you never know were he is gonna end up.

 

Destin, that one looks very happy.

I too would upgrade the lights IMO. I've tried to keep a nem in lower lighting like you and have not been successful, even with solid parameters. If you plan on getting other corals for your tank I would go ahead and get a more powerful light. A two bulb T-5 will limit you on your coral selection quite a bit.

 

lighting , compacts , or t5s dontmatter as long as you have the right watts for your tank and spectrum, you want them to grow get halide. you need to get them nitrates down that will kill it. it'll live with poor lighting for awhile but will die off . the ooze you see could be it takin a dump.lol...if it starts to fall apart take it out dont wait it makes a mess in your system. it looks ok in the first pic though. the second pic looks grreat and it looks like a hathian anemone . IMO

 

Yes would also agree they do not do well with nitrates, Nitrites or ammonia above 0. I strive to keep them all at 0. and should be your goal. as far as lights your for sure looking at watts per gallon. I just use a halide cuz my tank is a corner tank and it has limited space on top but choice of lighting is something that you want to do alot of research on before you buy. Found that out the hard way!

 

That looks really happy Destin. I wish mine will eventually look as happy. After the water change yesterday, mine opened up and looked really good for the day, and today is all closed up again! It has also moved to a different spot.

Don't know why my nitrates are still so high at between 40 - 80. I don't want to keep doing water changes, but is there really anything else I can do except not feed the tank for a few days??

 

they do do good under any lights, i have kept some under normal output flourescents and they thrive. just what you think looks good. also under lower light they tend to open up about twice as big.

 

I just read the whole thread and IMO upgrading the lights will only be to your advantage so long as you acclimate your tank to the new brighter lights correctly. However, I don't think your lighting is the issue. Your issue seems to be water quality. GET THOSE NITRATES DOWN. It's very difficult to tackle nitrates when they get this high, but it must be done. Do water changes. Skim heavily. RUN CARBON! Blow off your rocks. Feed a little less. Increase your bio-filtration with additional live rock. Increase your flow. Add a sump (canister filters are not good IME) And most of all, read, read, read!!!! Your in the right place to find help and that says a lot about you as a reefer, but following the advice is difficult. Keep up the good work and best of luck to you and your nem.

 

Well water changes are good but IMO canister filters are nitrate factorys think my recomendation to you is to Get them down with water changes and 2 upgrades a Sump Refugium/Chato & Lighting. Keep in mind my nem after he eats gets all crazy nasty looking when he is trying to take a dump. But really I took some advise from coraline and slowed down my feeding and they seem to be doing even better. But those two things id be worried about the most. Get your water ready when you do a water change use a small hose and suck out all the stuff in the cracks of the rocks and holes. Keep your sponge filters clean ect Export those decaying foods in the cracks/holes of rocks. Be careful not to pickup any of the cuc in the hose. I use an oversized airline and just slowly siphon off the rocks. You will be amazed what falls in some of the holes. Wet Skim also. Are you running a skimmer >?

Also double check you test kits dates and maybe even take a sample to your LFS and double check it to make sure your numbers are close to his.