Anenome ( BTA ) help!

[method0075]

I already started a post here about my lighting but I would like to get some help regarding my anenome... Currently using track lighting about 6inches from the waters surface. They are the GU-16 50watts each bulbs. There are 4 on the track = 200 watts. But wait... I heard the true intensity of these lights can be counted as double what the wattage is. For instance 50 watts is really comprable to 100 watts.

Based on this I figured my 50 gallon tank would be producing 8 watts per gallon. Alot more then those dinky 15 watt flourescent tubes that most aquariums use.

I thought 8 watts per gallon would be sufficient. I have some rather high LR ledges almost to the top of the water line. I placed the Anenome up there and he has not been seen to move at all since I got him on saturday.

My tank is exploding with coraline and other growth since I added the new lights!

Here is my concern The anenome will not accept my silversides or anything else I feed it for that matter. I bought a cooking baster, and tried to squirt some phytoplankton and vitamin enriched Mysis shrimp directly into his mouth but he would close up and nothing seemed to go in.

Current health of anenome appears OK still tan/brown pink foot and engulfed tentacles. I have not seen him expel anything. When I go down stairs in the morning to turn on the lights he is often laying down on the LR. It perks right back up when the lights come on. I also notice at the end of the day he will be facing away from the lights as if they are to bright?

This has turned into an anenome thread sorry... If this creature is doomed I want to take to the fish store and give it up to them. I like to create life not destroy because my inexperience.

 

[Detri]

As important as lighting is, you probably have enough light directed on it that it is happy. From what I have read Anenome's will move around until they find a happy place. There are alot of discussions that have been started by people that have kept Anenome's under VHO, T5 and PC lighting and nothing more for years.

As far as him not eating, well, again from what I have read, thats not all to uncommon. They either get enough from the water column to sustain it, with the help of light. They feed off light as mush as they do meaty food. Ih he is new to the tank it may take a while for him to feel comfortable there and take prepared food.

I am not an expert nor do I own one yet. But, I have read alot from these people here and various other articles I found. I am sure you will get a straight forward answer from one of our more experience members soon.

 

[Nashon]

I have an RBTA in my tank that also refuses silversides and most other foods. The only thing it will eat is fresh scallops from the local supermarket. My anemone wasn't quick enough in the beginning to take in the mysis that falls on it during feeding time so I used to turn off the pumps for a few minutes to make sure the shrimp settled on it and were taken in. Now mine gets fed once every 2 months or so and still keeps growing bigger and bigger.

 

[Forestal]

try moving the food near a tentacle and let it sting the food and pull it towards its mouth, squirting into the mouth may stress it and make it close up defensively
i dont have experience with track lighting, but its not just wattage that is importance, but intensity and color...
not sure what the minimum wattage is recommended, but it is often not recommended to go by watts/gallon but by measuring the light intensity at the area of the tank you are lighting

other parameters may help too:
how big is your tank?
how long has it been setup?
nitrite/nitrate/ammonia/pH/temp/
what kind of water flow do you have, be careful of powerheads, if the anemone is unhappy and wanders, he may get sucked into the intake
how long have you had the anemone? it may be stressed from the move and need some time to settle in...

hope this helps some

 

[method0075]

Thanx for all the quick responses!

The tank is 50 gallons I set it up about 2 months ago but the stuff in it was from a tank that was established for over a year with FOWLR. I have been doing a lot of research now and wish I could afford to go buy some MHs for my tank but that`s not possible right now.

Water parameters are good I heard they don`t like poor water quality. I have 3 powerheads, sea clone skimmer, and I think it`s a fluval filter and return system mounted under the tank. About 100lbs of LR from Fiji, Tonga branch and a bunch I picked up from Hawaii back in Sept.

I think this anenome is happy, he doesn`t move around (power jets are cover with foam medium for protection ) He almost seems to be shying away from the light later in the day? That`s why I`m confused about the lighting issue. I`ve learned correct lighting is essential for these creatures but, lighting has created incredible growth in a short time. Appearantly the lights give off U/V rays and that`s why I removed that glass cover. I`m hoping with him up on top of the LR and in direct light with supplements I can keep him alive till I can get new lighting with my tax return money

 

[spongebob lover]

have you tried feeding it frozen formula one (the red kind ), i have a LTA and the anemone loves that stuff.
I'm not sure about the phytoplankton, mine has never taken that.
about shying away later in the day, i think it's jsut probably trying to clean itself , but i'm not sure.
hmm is there anyway you can post a picture of the anemone? .
have you checked his mouth?


here's a little info .

http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

just something to think about too .

 

[method0075]

I will try to post pics. The camera has trouble focusing in on it so getting a clear pic can be tough. I tried the red stuff because my soilder fish loves that stuff and I had some around.

What type of lights do you have?

 

[spongebob lover]

i have mh.
but i've seen people keeping anemones with VHO lighting and they do fine .
ohh yeah and when you see the anemone laying down on the LR at night is because is some sort of sleeping mood.

 

[jsmkmavity]

im not sure from your description of color what type of anemone you have, but some, including rose bubbles, do not eat that often, especially when small. try a 1/4" piece of thawed raw shrimp(the kind humans eat) look for wild shrimp if possible, they are even better than the more common farmed freshwater we usually see. as for lighting, any changes to intensity should be gradual, even changing too many bulbs at once can be stressful.try backing off the photo period of two bulbs an hour or two morning and night.

 

[method0075]

This can all be confusing because he will shun the light sometimes, yet from the info I`m gathering the lighting I have is not appropiate for the anenome. I do have 2 false Percs. that I was hoping to host it. If not it`s ok I didn`t get the anenome for the clowns got it for the beauty.

 

[Electrokate]

My RBTA's reject human food shrimp, possibly because of color preserving chemicals... they LOVE big krill and formula one frozen. Small particles seem to be preferred. I feed my fish over the anemone, so that what the fish don't eat gets used. I agree sometimes they just don't want to eat and I don't worry about it. Used to feed them once a week, now I let them take whatever the fish don't want.
Kate

 

[spongebob lover]

hmm they might host your anemone, but hosting sometimes takes quite sometime (months) .

 

[Forestal]

every couple months i get shrimp, clams, mussels, salmon and other stuff from the seafood section, put it in the blender with some dt's and cyclopeeze and use a cube of this to feed them 2-4 x /week

 

[jsmkmavity]

if the rose is small the percs may actually kill it unintentionally by their natural behavoir of "nestling, or buffeting it" so keep an eye on it if the percs do go to it

 

[liveforphysics]

Just so you know how much light is hitting your tank with a little more accuracy, the very best halogen bulbs output about 15-18lumens/watt (this is with favorable tail wind on a down-hill dyno etc. ). This means that your lights are produceing around 3000-3600 lumens, and likely with the intigrated reflector design of bulbs, quite a bit of that will be less than critical angle and actaully enter the water.

Now, with the afore mentioned puny florecent lights, in the typical 48" legnth one would find on a 50gal, you are looking at around 40-32(T8)watts per tube. If the tank just had a single NO(normal output) tube, it would be around 2200-2500lumens of light. If it ran the typical cheesy double tube NO bulb setup, you would be looking at 4400-5000lumens of light getting produced.

As far as how much light actually is in a useful spectrum, and actually lands on life requireing it, thats far too dependent on setup to make a guess.

Basically, I just wanted to make sure you didnt think that florecent lights are weeney. I am personally swapping from 400watt metal halides to VHO florecents.

With the RTBA, I would not sweat it at all. Mine only eat about bi-monthly, if they arent hungry, they just ignore the food and keep basking in the light.

I hope this helps
-Luke