how to acclimate anemones?

[Jonathan G.]

after i get my lights hooked up i plan on getting either a ritteri (heteractis magnifica) or a purple long tentacle. i was wondering if you guys had any tips or anything on anemones should be acclimated like how long, what rate should i add water, should i keep the lights on when i add them or should i turn them off, should i put them in the subsrate first or on a slab of rock?

 

[NaH2O]

When I acclimated my RBTA - I just hooked up airline hosing and did the drip acclimation method for over an hour. I wouldn't worry about where you start them out at, as they'll move to where they are the happiest. Check out where the anemone you are interested in is found naturally. I believe Ritteri's like to be on the rockwork, where long tentacles like the sand.

Here are a few articles:

http://www.w3page.com/fishline/anem.html
http://www.athiel.com/lib/questions/anemone.htm
http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html

 

[Maxx]

Jonathan,
Anemones are pretty tough to keep, can you tell us alittle aabout your system, so we can help you out a bit more??

Nick

 

[Jonathan G.]

well i have a 75g tank, 150g rated wet/dry with built in skimmer, 40lbs live rock (plan on adding 60 more lbs once i get my lights on, 2 maxi jet 900's. tank has been setup for a few months and have only 2 baby O. clowns, lawnmower blenny, and a handful of hermits and snails.

 

[Jonathan G.]

but the question is "How do i acclimate an anemone?" i have a drip acclimator but do i just drip acclimate then empty out a bit of water and drip some more, and also do i leave my lights on when i add it?

 

[Maxx]

Well...here goes....
Wet dry filters are not good for reefs, and/or anemones....they create an ideal environment for aerobic bacteria which produce nitrate. Nitrate levels higher than 0.2 ppm are unhealthy for corals and anemones.
The fact that your tank has only been set up for a few months is not good either. Anemones require a stable, mature tank...this is usually at about the 1 year mark. Liverock......you dont want to be adding liverock to an established tank..the die off will cause a short cycle..the ammonia produced by this cycle is lethal to anything in the tank. The nitrate produced by the ammonia fixing bacteria is not healthy for sensitive inverts like corals and anemones.

You dont mention what lighting you have over your tank, nor do you mention the skimmer specs.....anemones require high intensity lighting, and excellent water quality.

Your tank is not ready for anemones and you should do more research before adding one to your tank. Anemones are much harder to keep than corals. They are ALOT more delicate than most people realize, and alot of LFS dont exactly inform people of this fact.

Here is some important reading for you....

http://www.athiel.com/lib/questions/anemone.htm
http://www.breedersregistry.org/anemonesurveyresults.htm
http://www.carlosreef.com/AnemoneFAQ.pdf

Nick

 

[Jonathan G.]

thanks for the advice on getting an anemone and i am quite aware of all of this, as i do plan on changing my bio balls for LRubble and upgrading my built in skimmer which already works fine. also thanks for the links that last one is really good. i must add, though, that my lfs has about $30-40k invested in corals and anemones and every one of his tanks is ran with the same brand of wet/dry with bio balls and skimmer i have. and only one of his tanks he uses a uv sterilizer which is his 200g coral frag tank.

 

[Jonathan G.]

have any links on how to acclimate zoo's and mushrooms?

 

[NaH2O]

but the question is "How do i acclimate an anemone?" i have a drip acclimator but do i just drip acclimate then empty out a bit of water and drip some more, and also do i leave my lights on when i add it?

That's how I did it. I emptied the bag a little bit, then started to drip the water in....as the bag filled - pour some out and start again. I had my lights on when the anemone went into the tank, but only until I watched it attach. Then it was lights out overnight. I resumed regular photoperiod the next day.

On acclimating zoos and mushrooms - you can acclimate them the same way.

With regards to the bioballs - as Maxx pointed out they can create issues, and you have indicated you will be using live rock rubble in place of bioballs, which is great. If you want to use a wet/dry thats fine - I think Maxx was pointing out they don't make tank conditions ideal when bioballs are used. I'm glad your LFS doesn't have any problems with their systems.

What kind of lighting do you have?

 

[Jonathan G.]

i ordered a 4x96w retro from ahsupply.com with 2 10k bulbs and 2 acinitic 03 bulbs. also plan on added the lunar tracker. www.thelebos.com

 

[dnjan]

H. magnifica live in (and expect) surge-type water movement. You won't achieve that from a couple of maxijet900's. What type of closed-loop sytem are you going to be installing? And what type of controller for it?

Also, if H. magnifica thrive and grow, they can be expected to spread to at least 18-24" wide. So a minimum tank dimension should be 30-36" for long-term care. I think you would be best aiming towards a LTA or a bubbletip for this tank, and use the experience to design your "dream" H. magnifica tank. Those anemones also have a better chance of surviving under the lighting you are planning.

 

[Maxx]

You can keep BTA's in PC lighting, but I would be very leary of keeping an LTA under PC's....
LTA's are a sand dwelling anemone, and PC's just dont have the punch to get to the bottom of tank with much intensity.

Nick

 

[Jonathan G.]

well my lfs has a full tank of LTA's mixed with sebea's in a 75g with 4x96w pc's or maybe even 4x65w. either way i know they will survive under pc's and since me and my lfs use the same salt, SG, and temp it should be more likely to live then if i order it online or get and H. magnifica online. why does everyone here under rate pc's sooo much?

 

[Maxx]

Jonathan,
you're comparing apples to oranges, and you're not really listening here. We're not telling you this stuff to annoy you or keep you from enjoying the hobby. We're telling you this stuff because you honestly arent ready, your tank isnt stable enough, and you dont have the right environment to keep even a relatively hardy anemone like a BTA right now.

okay lets start with your last post...

well my lfs has a full tank of LTA's mixed with sebea's in a 75g with 4x96w pc's or maybe even 4x65w. either way i know they will survive under pc's and since me and my lfs use the same salt, SG, and temp it should be more likely to live then if i order it online or get and H. magnifica online.

How long has your LFS kept LTA's and Sebae's under PC's? A month? Two months? I'd honestly be very surprised if they kept them longer than a few weeks before selling them. They dont stay in business by holding on to livestock. Anemones will waste away slowly when not kept in the proper environment, and it usually takes a couple months for that to happen. Success in keeping anemones is measured in years, not a few months in a LFS sale tank.
You mention that you and the LFS use the same salt, keep the same parameters etc, yet you talk about buying anemones online??? When your LFS is having success at keeping them under PC's??? Why order online if you have a local supply of healthy PC acclimated anemones to choose from?

Finally, H.magnifica is a tough anemone to keep, and rarely ship well. Try to keep a BTA before trying one of these. The Magnificent anemones and Gigantea carpets are the two hardest anemones to keep. I would not suggest starting out with either of them.

why does everyone here under rate pc's sooo much?

i ordered a 4x96w retro from ahsupply.com with 2 10k bulbs and 2 acinitic 03 bulbs.

I'm not under rating them at all, I'm saying they arent enough for what you're trying to keep. You will have two bulbs that are really effective at providing the zooxanthellae in the anemonev with energy for photosynthesis, (10k), and two that will not contribute much beyond making the anemone flouresce, (Actinic 03's). The blue spectrum provided by the 03's has a very low par compared to the 10k's and your'e already dealing with lower light intensity than is ideal for these animals. You're much better replacing the 03's with 10k's. If you think I'm misleading you, do a search on Sanjay Joshi. He's an Engineering Proffessor at Penn State University, and widely recognized as one of the best experts in reef lighting. Read his stuff and tell me what conclusions you come to based on his research.
Finally, ask yourself this... What do I have to gain by talking you out of buying an anemone right now? Whats in it for me if you wait, research, learn, and set up a good anemone environment, and then start keeping them?
Whats in it for the LFS if you buy the anemones right now?

I'm not trying to be a jerk here, none of us are. We're genuinely interested in you being successful in the hobby, so that you stick around in it and help the hobby grow by sharing it with others.

Nick

 

[Jonathan G.]

understandably so but i definitly don't have plans on getting an anemone until i get more live rock and get my tank established. i just really dont like it when people point their finger like im some kind of moron.... dont get me wrond i read and take in all of your advice but all i was simply asking was how to acclimate the anemone for when the time comes so i dont waste $50 on something just for it to turn into jelly from acclimating it wrong u know? thats why i was asking in the other thread what kind of bulbs to get and how high to keep them cause im building my own canopy. should i have went with the 50/50's instead of the whole 03's? no one really answered my questions in the other thread just told me that i need MH's. also the reason i was looking online is because i read that the true pair of the O clowns is the H. magnifica or some other carpet anemone, which i wouldnt want. the H. magnifica really interested me cause of its shape and color and the fact that it was the O clowns true "home". but i will probably most definitly get my anemone from my lfs becuase he has been in business for about 20 years and they are just as i say, though ur right they do not stay in the tank for more then 2 months but he will hold them as long as pay for it and if it dies he will get another one. but this one purple LTA he got about 2 weeks ago i totally fell in love with, this puppy had a foot of about 4-5in and a head of about 7-8 and in perfect condition, only thing is that the foot crushed a hermit against the glass and he couldnt move. but crabs are evil anyways :badgrin:

 

[NaH2O]

i just really dont like it when people point their finger like im some kind of moron.... dont get me wrond i read and take in all of your advice but all i was simply asking was how to acclimate the anemone for when the time comes so i dont waste $50 on something just for it to turn into jelly from acclimating it wrong u know? thats why i was asking in the other thread what kind of bulbs to get and how high to keep them cause im building my own canopy.

I don't think anyone is pointing their finger. The advice is because everyone cares about the critters we keep - and providing the best environment for them to meet their needs......not only to "just survive" but to thrive. We want you to succeed in the hobby, because we've all had set backs, and how many times we've made mistakes..."If only someone told me that was going to happen". I've even said recently, "Ahh! He told me that was going to happen....why didn't I listen?". Some critters are more difficult than others, and some have stronger lighting requirements. You can take the advice or leave it....I think it is more important if you see where everyone if coming from. We're here to help, and not to frustrate you. You had asked about acclimation, and part of acclimation is lighting. In my case, the LFS is a 5 minute drive, and they have lighting similar to, if not better than mine, so I didn't acclimate the anemone to the lights. If they had poor lighting, and I put the anemone in with my MHs, then I would have acclimated it to the lights.

Choosing lighting is a tough thing....and recommendations are based on what types of critters you want to keep, and keep healthy. It would be difficult for me to tell you what types of bulbs to get (I have a hard enough time choosing my own bulbs - lol ), because the inhabitants you want in your tank may not do well with the lighting you have chosen.....so I would recommend stronger lighting.

Does this make sense? No one is trying to bring you down, or point fingers....we want you to have a successful aquarium that is full of life, and help others that may be reading the thread to learn, too.

 

[aloha_ssn]

how do you acclimate an anemone to higher light peramiters

 

[Maxx]

Shorter photo-period or place Window Screen over the top of the tank above where the anemone is placed. Just keep in mind that if it feels its not getting enough light it will move to a place where it can...

Nick