Are my Anemones Dying?

[ReefJeff]

Hello,

I have 2 long tentacle anemones and 1 sebae anemone that are hosted by 3 maroon clowns. recently I noticed that they are not growing, in fact they appear to be getting smaller. I have been feeding them frozen brine shrimp, bits of fresh raw shrimp, krill. While trying to manually feed them, they don't appear to grab the food like they use to.

My tank is a 50 gallon reef. My lighting consists of T-5 setup with 2 actinic and 2 daylight bulbs. All bulbs are about 6 months old. My water quality is about 1.024 to 1.025, 76 to 78 degrees F. My system is running an AquaClear 70 and a hob protein skimmer. Both are cleaned weekly. Water testing is also very good.

Any help would be appreciated.

ReefJeff

 

[bigblue141]

I'll post it first,

Please post your levels of CA, ALK, Mg, Nitrates, Nitrites, Amonia, PH, & KH.

All very important levels to know when trying to give advice over the internet.

 

[ReefJeff]

I'll post it first,

Please post your levels of CA, ALK, Mg, Nitrates, Nitrites, Amonia, PH, & KH.

All very important levels to know when trying to give advice over the internet.

Hello,

I will do that this evening, thank you. I do not have a test kit for CAL or ALK as of yet.

Thank you,

ReefJeff

 

[Top Water]

What else do you have in the tank? How much and how offen do you do water changes? Other inverts fine?
I would check DKH if you use RO water. Your salt should provide what you need for the rest under basic use.
What kind of filter system besides Skimmer? How offten and what do you feed fish?
How much live rock?
Clowns maybe over working anemones.

 

[capdippe]

Might need to buy new bulbs as the spectrum has deminished.

 

[ReefJeff]

I have about 70 lbs of live rock, live sand bottom. I change about 10% once a week. I have lots of soft corals that seem to be growing nicely especially my Pom-Pom corals. I have very little algae in the tank except for the coralline algae (red/purple). It is not over powering the tank, just on the glass a bit in spots.

The water test I did revealed the following results:

High PH - 7.8/8.0
Phosphate - 1.0
Nitrate - 0.0
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite - 0.0

I feed the fish (3 maroon clowns, 1 small goby, 3 blue damsels) Prime Reef Flakes in the morning and I alternate the night feeding one night with New Life Spectrum pellets and the other night frozen brine shrimp.

My filtration as mentioned is an AquaClear 70 HOB filter and a HOB protein skimmer. I have 4 powerheads directing current throught the tank on a wavemaker timer.

Thank you all for your help,

ReefJeff

 

[Top Water]

I betting on it being your maroon clowns. They can be hard on Anemones.Did you check ALK (DKH) This goes way low with RO water.

I have about 70 lbs of live rock, live sand bottom. I change about 10% once a week. I have lots of soft corals that seem to be growing nicely especially my Pom-Pom corals. I have very little algae in the tank except for the coralline algae (red/purple). It is not over powering the tank, just on the glass a bit in spots.

The water test I did revealed the following results:

High PH - 7.8/8.0
Phosphate - 1.0
Nitrate - 0.0
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite - 0.0

I feed the fish (3 maroon clowns, 1 small goby, 3 blue damsels) Prime Reef Flakes in the morning and I alternate the night feeding one night with New Life Spectrum pellets and the other night frozen brine shrimp.

My filtration as mentioned is an AquaClear 70 HOB filter and a HOB protein skimmer. I have 4 powerheads directing current throught the tank on a wavemaker timer.

Thank you all for your help,

ReefJeff

 

[DonW]

I betting on it being your maroon clowns. They can be hard on Anemones.Did you check ALK (DKH) This goes way low with RO water.

Ro water doesnt reduce alk.

Don

 

[Top Water]

Your Dkh sure will drop thats why you buff

Ro water doesnt reduce alk.

Don

 

[DonW]

Your Dkh sure will drop thats why you buff

No. Ro water has nothing to do with alk. Your alk levels fall naturally as it is used right along with ca and mg. As corals and coraline grow they consume this is why we add.
If their are no hard corals or serious coraline water changes alone with balanced SW is usually all that is needed.

Don

 

[Top Water]

Check your RO levels and regular water levels and your tank levels and tell me their the same .
When you top off your going to change things over time.DKH is tied to MG and CA though if your DKH is off you cant keep them stable.

No. Ro water has nothing to do with alk. Your alk levels fall naturally as it is used right along with ca and mg. As corals and coraline grow they consume this is why we add.
If their are no hard corals or serious coraline water changes alone with balanced SW is usually all that is needed.

Don

 

[DonW]

Check your RO levels and your tank levels and tell me their the same .

That has nothing to do with anything. RoDi water is used for two reasons, first to make new saltwater and the second is to top off evaporation water.
The most decent salts contain everything needed to bring the water to a balanced level for a water change. As far as top off goes the elements dont evaporate so they are still right in the tank where they started.

Don

 

[Top Water]

LOL let the test Kits speak for them self.
Your not helping this guy . What do you have in your tank . Your post don't show too much.

That has nothing to do with anything. RoDi water is used for two reasons, first to make new saltwater and the second is to top off evaporation water.
The most decent salts contain everything needed to bring the water to a balanced level for a water change. As far as top off goes the elements dont evaporate so they are still right in the tank where they started.

Don

 

[DonW]

LOL let the test Kits speak for them self.

:lol: I'm not sure why you would believe that element evaporate. Its no different than salt. If your theory was remotely close to correct SG would also change with evaporation. Alk ca and mg get consumed or preciped bottom line they dont evap.

Don

 

[Top Water]

Never said they evaporate you did . All I said is RO water had a lower DKH reading than tap water. Infact they say drinking too much of it can effect your organs Mr know it all.

:lol: I'm not sure why you would believe that element evaporate. Its no different than salt. If your theory was remotely close to correct SG would also change with evaporation. Alk ca and mg get consumed or preciped bottom line they dont evap.

Don

 

[DonW]

Never said they evaporate you did . All I said is RO water had a lower DKH reading than tap water. Infact they say drinking too much of it can effect your organs Mr know it all.

Not Mr know it all, just Mr. know some. You claimed that RO water affected alk, it does not. Secondly RO water is not bad for you and has no effect on your organs. Its the dionization process that could over a very long period of time cause some organs to dialisize but the chances are slim to none since we all eat and drink other things beside RoDi water.

Don

 

[Top Water]

How about this I don't claim anything I just read the results of the test kits.
Do they all lie? Do you grow chalice? How many anemones have you fragged?

Not Mr know it all, just Mr. know some. You claimed that RO water affected alk, it does not. Secondly RO water is not bad for you and has no effect on your organs. Its the dionization process that could over a very long period of time cause some organs to dialisize but the chances are slim to none since we all eat and drink other things beside RoDi water.

Don

 

[DonW]

How about this I don't claim anything I just read the results of the test kits.
Do they all lie? Do you grow chalice?

I dont grow anything, well maybe a lawn if that counts. I would suggest to you that instead of comming just to argue that you educate yourself as to why the test kits give the results that they do.

Back to the OP ??

Don

 

[Top Water]

I'm not here to argue but was trying to help the guy. I don't even need to be right. Its the end results that matter most.I have educated my self and know how to balance my reefs and the end results are pretty good.

I dont grow anything, well maybe a lawn if that counts. I would suggest to you that instead of comming just to argue that you educate yourself as to why the test kits give the results that they do.

Back to the OP ??

Don

 

[capdippe]

Awesome, I've got to side with "DonW", sorry "Top Water". Is this clear as mud "ReefJeff"?