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

[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!