new items in tank, got some questions that need asap answers

[satx-94integraLS]

ok, i recently aquired an anenomae (sp) thats got green tentacles w/ pink tops. i also got 2 perc clownfish that supposidly hosted once on it.

question is this:

the rock the anenomae was on had some green hair-like algae, which i scrubbed off underwater with a soft toothbrush. the tank i want to put it in has been going for 4.5 months now. its a 20 gallon tall w/ 110watts of PC lighting on it. it has some xenia and a few zoo colonies in it already aside from a possible algae outbreak, would it be safe to put it in my tank with the clowns? ive got it in a 10 gallon right now till i get an answer.

[NaCl_H2O]

The PC lighting is probably adequate for the Anemone, but a MH would be better, if it moves around searching for a spot, that may be an indication that the light isn't enough.

Primary concern is the "possible" algae bloom. That is an indication that water quality may be poor, which the anemone won't tolerate. The other inhabitants in the tank and bio-load seem OK, assuming you have decent filtration.

Can you provide some specifics about your setup (filtration, flow, etc.) and what your water parameters are: Temp, PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

When did the possible algae bloom start, and did anything change about the time it started?

[satx-94integraLS]

tank parameters are as follows:

ammonia - 0
nitrite - .10
nirtate - 0
pH - 8.1
temp - 80F

filtration is a penguin 330 w/ live rock in it, plus a seaclone 150. for a current, i have a 170gph powerhead.

there is no possible bloom. the rock the anenomae is anchored too HAD some green hairy algae, but i brushed it all off with a toothbrush. i did see some floating around, but i have a nice current in my little 20 gallon tank and im certain my filter will pick it up.

[NaCl_H2O]

Ok, sorry ... didn't notice all the equipment listed until after I posted :blush

The Nitrite at .1 with 0 Nitrate seems a little odd, but probably just testing innacuracy - sounds like your nitrogen cycle is working.

a "little" algae is no biggie, just wondering if new lighting or any recent change could be geting the algae going.

I would say go for it ... Only thing to watch is the anemone getting sucked into the powerhead >_< For some reason they love to take a trip through the PH blender and then your whole tank is toast :sick A sponge filter on the inlet of the PH is how most folks deal with this, but you need to clean it every few days.

Not sure how much flow you are getting from the HOB and skimmer, but 170 gph in a 20g should be plenty for the anemone ... it will likely wander around looking for the combination of flow & light that it likes. So why do they always climb into PHs and overflows ... who knows :unsure

[satx-94integraLS]

let me ask you this also. is the penguin 330 really required for a tank this size? ive gotten mixed reactions about it. im gonna put the anenomae in now and see what happens :D

[NaCl_H2O]

I would say the Penguin is required primarily to keep your Nitrogen cycle going. The Bio-Wheel is about the only surface you have that will perform the anerobic cycle for eliminating nitrite.

[satx-94integraLS]

everyone ive spoken with is against bio-wheels in saltwater tanks. ive personally never ran bio-wheels in any saltwater tank and have no plans on. i assumed my 4" sandbed and 20lbs of liverock + skimmer did most of the filtration work anyways.

[NaCl_H2O]

ive personally never ran bio-wheels in any saltwater tank

Ah, now I know why you are measuring Nitrites ;) Why wouldn't you run the Bio-Wheel?

It is a combination of filtration methods. The skimmer is simply export, it does nothing to reduce/convert nitrogen sources. the Live rock & sandbed definately do their part too, but in a 20g I'm not sure you can get enough cirulation through the substrates. Granted, I haven;t done any small saltwater quaruiums, but I would think the Bio-Wheel would be a "Good Thing".

Maybe other Nano folks can chime in here?

[satx-94integraLS]

please do chime in, id love to know wether or not i can take this filter off :)

[satx-94integraLS]

another question:

can i temporarily keep 2 green chromis and 2 scissortail dartfish in a 20gallon w/ 3 percs in it? just till tomorrow when i can unload the fish at a fish store...

[satx-94integraLS]

oh my bad, my nitrAtes are at .10, my nitrItes are at 0

:w00t

[hammondegge]

thats good

[matt]

Do you know what kind of anemone you have? Where did you get it? If, in fact, the percs were hosting in it, and they are the more common "false" percs, you might have a "ritteri" anemone, H. magnifica. This is an extremely difficult animal to keep alive; it needs very strong lighting and pristine water quality, neither of which it sounds like you have.

OTOH, it might be a caribbean anemone (condylactis) which is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that it has a much better chance of survival in your tank, the bad news is that it's unlikely that your clowns will host in it.

I would suggest you try to find out what kind of clowns (oscellaris or true percula) you have and what kind of anemone you have. Try this link:
http://biodiversity.uno.edu/ebooks/intro.html

Then I'd find someone with a very well established tank and a lot of experience to either sell the anemone to or hold it for you while you get your tank more mature and deal with the light and filtration issues. It's probably too small a tank to keep any host anemone other than E. quadricolor, the bubble tip anemone. Other than the problem with this anemone, it sounds like your system is doing okay. If you have trouble finding someone, you can send me a PM and I might know someone, depending on what kind of anemone it is and where it came from.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news here, please don't take it the wrong way. IMO, the number one worst thing fish stores do is sell fragile host anemones to unsuspecting customers that have no idea what the habitat requirements are for these animals, as well as the pretty serious environmental issue of removing these from the ocean almost invariably to die quickly in an aquarium.

[satx-94integraLS]

ok, the first anenome i had was a pink bubble. the second one i have is a sebae anenome. i do not have the pink bubble, someone purchased it from me. the sebae i got from fin addict. i told them exactly what i have, how much light, ect ect, had them do water tests. everything checked out.

my clowns are true percs, both gotten from fin addict. i trust they wouldnt sell me an oscellaris as a true perc :)

my water params are as follows:

temp - 80F
pH - 8.1
nitrite - 0
nitrate - .05
ammonia - 0
salinity - 1.021

id say, as much as ive messed with my tank, my water quality is pretty good. what bad news were you talking about? i wouldnt buy something that wont survive in my tank. to double check, as i said, i always ask people before i buy something. fin addict has provided me with invaluable information regarding these fish i have, and are always happy to help me if i have a situation like this.

thanks for the info, i will definatly look into it later tonight after my race meet.

[matt]

The species name for the sebae is H. crispa, and according to the link I posted, the disc on this is commonly 20-50 CM, which is a pretty big anemone for your tank. 50 CM is 19"; and even if your anemone is much smaller than that, if it's healthy it will grow fast. Do you know what it needs to be fed? I'm not sure of the light requirements, but usually these anemones need alot of light, and that usually means MH lighting. In a tank your size that might create excessive heat; something to think about.

The main thing is that your tank, if it's only a few months old, is just not stable enough to support a really delicate animal that's used to ocean conditions. Add to this the fact that your tank is tiny by reef aquarium standards, which makes it far less stable. There are all sorts of things in the water that you can't test for, so saying "everything checked out" only covers the really basic initial parameters of your tank. I'd definitely try to give the animal to someone with a really established tank to hold for a while or sell it to someone like that. You might get lucky, but probably not. BTW, 1.021 is a very low specific gravity for a reef tank, alot less saline than typical reef water. How are you measuring it, with a plastic swing arm hydrometer? Those are notoriously inaccurate. You might try to borrow either a big glass lab-style hydrometer or a refractometer to at least measure your plastic one against. Mine was almost 3 points off, meaning if it measured 1.021, my water was more like 1.024.

Fin addict is a good store, but you really can't rely on any store to be sure that you're adding the appropriate animals to your tank. You have to read alot and talk with more experienced reefkeepers, just like you're doing, to learn how to best care for marine animals. Maybe you should keep the clowns, along with the rock, zoos, and whatever else is in your tank other than the host anemone, let it mature for several months while you find out what kind of light the sebae needs, and use the time to learn more about some more advance water quality issues.

I really don't mean to give you a hard time here, I'm just speaking from experience.

[satx-94integraLS]

my tanks almost half a year old, only 2 weeks 4 days to go. the anenome is only about the size of a quarter and spread out about an hour after i got it. it moved from one side of the tank to the other overnight, but other than that, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

my temp is a consistant 80F, my heater never comes on. i believe my PC light takes care of the heat, not sure though.

i spot-feed it krill, along with brine shrimp on occasion. i dose trace elements as directed (bought a kent nano-reef kit), and i also dose phytoplex for my xenia and polyps/zoanthids.

i test salinity with a refractometer i got onine for 45$. i HAD a hydrometer, but it wasnt as accurate as my hydrometer (off by .002 usually).

as far as what was tested, fin addict and texas tropicals both tested for calcium, phosphates and some other stuff, but i cant recall what. i was given the green light by both, so i figure i was golden.

im really kicking myself in the butt now, i had a NICE looking green/pink pink bubble taht looked GREAT. ill have to swing by and see if its still where i sold it...

so are you saying the pink bubble would have been a better route to go, as opposed to the sebae?

[RZA2222]

I had a sebae as my first anen, and it died afer about three months. I waited awhile and finaly purchased a BTA and it has split several times since and all are very happy. I'm no expert but they seem easier. I had the same amout of light as you have and they did fine. MH probubly would be better but I dont have a money tree in my back yard, I dont know about you.

[matt]

my tanks almost half a year old, only 2 weeks 4 days to go. the anenome is only about the size of a quarter and spread out about an hour after i got it. it moved from one side of the tank to the other overnight, but other than that, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

my temp is a consistant 80F, my heater never comes on. i believe my PC light takes care of the heat, not sure though.

i spot-feed it krill, along with brine shrimp on occasion. i dose trace elements as directed (bought a kent nano-reef kit), and i also dose phytoplex for my xenia and polyps/zoanthids.

i test salinity with a refractometer i got onine for 45$. i HAD a hydrometer, but it wasnt as accurate as my hydrometer (off by .002 usually).

as far as what was tested, fin addict and texas tropicals both tested for calcium, phosphates and some other stuff, but i cant recall what. i was given the green light by both, so i figure i was golden.

im really kicking myself in the butt now, i had a NICE looking green/pink pink bubble taht looked GREAT. ill have to swing by and see if its still where i sold it...

so are you saying the pink bubble would have been a better route to go, as opposed to the sebae?

Good job with the feeding, excellent that you have a refractometer, but again, don't rely on stores for water testing; learn more about the chemsitry involved and monitor Ca and Alk levels yourself. Phosphate will becme an issue in your tank, and typically tsts don't reveal the problem, as phosphates are almost immediately consumed by problem algae in aquariums. At some point, the best solution for phosphates is to grow some caulerpa in a refugium and dose KW into your skimmer input.

The BTA needs less light and is generally more tolerant of aquarium conditions than other host anemones. Probably neither one is such a good thing for your tank at this point. But you never know. Good luck!