PLS. HELP my anemones!

[marlboro man]

I added a white flat purple tip anemone 3 weeks ago and it was doing fine.
Then 4 days ago I added a Red BTA, which was also doing well.

Then 2 days ago, my white flat anemone excreted some brown slime. I tried to scoop out most of these slime. But most of it dispersed throughout my tank. Then unexpectedly my white flat anemone shrank this morning and started closing up(rolled into a ball shape). By tonight, my BTA also deflated.

I just checked the water and everything seems fine. Even the polyps of my yellow finger gorgonian stayed open so water should be ok.

1)Is it possible that the two anmones are having chemical warfare with each other? (they never came in contact with another though)
2)Or could the brown poop from my white flat anemone be the cause for my BTA's sickness?
3)or could my white flat tip is dying and the toxin is killing my BTA? (but then everything in my tank seems fine and healthy)

Pls help me.
I am doing a water change now

[Stirfry]

i had a brown flat tip anenome and he allways excreated the brown slime an dso did my bta and they were fine in a 80g tank for the longest time untill my brown flat tip anenome died and he took the buble tip anenome with it and then soon my whole tank was dead exept for my fish

i would suggest taking all of the anenome out of the tank an quaretine them and power feed them with enriched food

my anenomes died and everything in my tank was fine for along time and then all my corals started to die.
and as far as i know the brown slime does not affect any other anenome's

soryy i couldn't be more help.

[Aquattro]

Start here.

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

[marlboro man]

Stirfry,

how do you know if the anemone is dying or not?

I don't have a quarantine tank yet, so I am not sure when should I throw away or take out the white flat tip anemone.


I just added some carbon to my tank and it seems my anemones are inflating again.

thanks you guys for the help.

forgot to mention that I have seen bristle worms in my LR before. Could they be the cause for my anemones' sickness?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by marlboro man

forgot to mention that I have seen bristle worms in my LR before. Could they be the cause for my anemones' sickness?

Absolutely not. Bristle worms keep your tank clean of detritus, they don't hurt anything.
How old is your tank? What type of lighting? The FAQ I pointed you to will tell you white is always an unhealthy color for anemones, it means they're bleached. Mixing 2 types of anemones is not the greatest thing to do either.
The brown stuff is zooxanthallae, the algae within the anemone's tissues. They can expel it for various reasons. The FAQ probably tells you something about it. Have you read that link yet? It's quite informative.

[robert]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

Start here.

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

Brad - very good beginner info on anemones.
Thanks.

[marlboro man]

Yea, I read that FAQ before I bought my anemone. It was really helpful.

But when I bought the white flat purple tip from my LFS, they told me that this sp. of anemone comes white and it does not require bright MH.

I have a 25G long tank with a 20G refugium.
Use LR and LS for filtration, have about 50-60lbs of LR and 60lbs of LS.
The tank cycled in a week and it is about 2 months old now.

I have a 130W Coralife PC light running on my 25G main tank.
One 10,000K and one Actinic.

Should I change the Actinic bulb to 10,000K to max my lighting?
I was thinking about getting another cheap 'n small flourescent fixture to run the Actinic instead.
Is the Actinic specturum important to a reef or just to provide a sun-rise/set effect?

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by marlboro man

.
Is the Actinic specturum important to a reef or just to provide a sun-rise/set effect?

Mainly for looks. Some people like the blue look.

[AJ_77]

Originally Posted by marlboro man

Yea, I read that FAQ before I bought my anemone. It was really helpful.

But when I bought the white flat purple tip from my LFS, they told me that this sp. of anemone comes white and it does not require bright MH.

And the FAQ says:
"You should know the natural coloration of the species of anemone you are interested in. Look for an anemone that is vibrantly colored, not faded or pale. Make sure it is not dyed or “bleached”; both conditions are often deadly for the anemone and will require specialized care to fix."

When I read the FAQ then read your description of your tank, warning flags go up. I think you are at least 4 months and 1 species over-optimistic.

The first anemone sounds like it wasn't even bottomed-out yet (still expelling), and the second one added at such a short interval made things worse times 3...

Are you skimming? Do you have a filter/can you run carbon? Even better would be if the LFS would take them both back for credit, then you could at least get thru the first 6 months' worth of new-tank swings and take another crack at it then...

[robert]

Marlboro Man - this might be of your interest as well.