# New anemone might be dying!



## resRfun (Aug 26, 2007)

I just got my new bubble tip anemone, and the first day it was doing well. Today it went into its closed position and stayed like that for a while, and fell over now. Would having sand on the base/ foot be a problem for latching on to things?

Thanks


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

Sand bottoms should not be a problem for an anemone. Most other substrates are too sharp and can damage the foot.

What are your calcium levels in the tank? How big is the tank? Water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH? What other animals in the tank? How long has the tank been set up? How many powerheads? What kind of lighting are you running? How long in a day, and how old are the bulbs? What are you feeding the anemone?

There are a lot of things that will make an anemone respond badly in an aquarium, and it sounds as if yours is unhappy with something about its current conditions. If you can answer the questions above, and add to it anything you can think to tell us about your entire tank situation... then we can offer more help. Photos also help a lot!


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## resRfun (Aug 26, 2007)

alright, the tank is a 10 gal, with brand new 18,000k lighting, 15 w. 
Just got a brand new 10 gal power head AFTER the anemone was "sick" and once i installed both of those, it seems to be doing alright. Its opened up and waving beautifully. 
Ive had the tank running for about a month with a green chromis and Clown fish. (the clown was just added yesterday with the anemone)
The guy who helped install my tank said that the parameters were fine... but i really dont know what that means. I should probably get those measurements asap.
I havnt really fed the anemone yet, but i will feed it live brine shrimp and shrimp pellets from time to time. (btw how would you feed one? drop it in its mouth?)

The only problem is that it still doesnt want to move from its spot. its foot doesnt look completely attached to the surface, but isnt getting blown away by the current. The is a weird see-through goo substance on its foot i just discovered after my shop. + there were some things a wee bit larger than grains of sand that look almost sharp, but very small still. just like big grains of sand. They look attached to the bottom of its food and seems like it cant get them off. I wanna rub it off but it might hurt the anemone.

What should i do for those?

Thanks


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

I would strongly suggest you get water test kits (API makes a good master kit, but it doesn't include calcium, so that will need to be purchased seperatly). Please use either electronic meters or liquid kits, not test strips which are known to be extremely inaccurate. Having someone tell you that your water is "fine" means absolutely nothing. Quite often the people in lfs's don't know enough about the environment or the needs of the specific animals to be predicting something like that. There is an acceptable range for things like ammonia and nitrate, but without knowing how all of the tests balance against each other, there is no way to be sure. Water quality fluctuates constantly... so what may show up in your readings will differ from day to day.

It is likely that sand particles and rock particles are what you are seeing attached to the foot. For that I wouldn't be concerned. 

I want to warn ahead of time, 10 gallons is not a suitable place to keep a bubble anemone for very long. Bubble anemones average 14 - 16 inches in diameter full grown, and they put out a fair amount of waste. Add in the 2 fish that are in the tank, and there is going to be no way to keep water quality stable in a 10 gallon tank, even if doing daily water changes. This is a good time to get yourself a larger tank, and with that anemone, I would suggest at least 75 gallons or more.

As for feeding the anemone, it may not acceot shrimp or shrimp pellets. They can be quite fussy about accepting food. Good food options are forumula 1 frozen food, frozen krill, frozen mysis shrimp, raw fish, and other meaty foods. My best luck has always been with the frozen forumla 1 and krill... I haven't found a bubble anemone yet that didn't accept the formula food.

If you need more help, let us know.


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## resRfun (Aug 26, 2007)

Well, no one ever confirmed it was a bubble tip, but heres some pictures and confirm its a bt.



















Thanks


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