sebea anenomea health?

Question

my sebea anenomea has been in my tank for about 2 weeks. I have been worried ever since .at first he wouldnt open and appeared ill i assumed he was stressed from the move,after a while he seemed to settle down and even took some solid food.He still hasnt really opened up though and seems to be having a hard time adhering to the bottom. One time he moved a couple of inches(a week ago) and seemed to leave a dirty looking film behind.I havnt seen this since.He was on a crushed coral but i moved him GENTLY to a sand substrate. I put sand on top of the coral around him and scooted him over untill he was on the new bottom .After a few minutes he adhered and seems ok .....he just ate a bit of shrimp(the move was 2 hours ago. I know this is a hard to keep little critter but through ignorance i have him and would like to see him happy and healthy.....any tips would be welcomed..ps water is usually 0--0--about 5 ppm lights just ok 3 30wt good spectrum for a 45 gal all help welcome thx

Answer 1

Sebaes are a difficult anemone to care for. Rather than trying to put him where you want him to be, you need to let him wander until he finds a suitable place for himself. They have distinct preferences for current and lighting and will go to where their needs are best met (and even after being there for a while, you may discover him in a new spot some morning).

While water quality is one of the first things I'd suspect, the parameters you list sound pretty good. Do you know the pH of the tank as well (since you didn't list it)? It should be between 8.2-8.4. Also, temperature could be a factor, and this should be 76-82oF - much higher on a consistent basis may cause it to expel the photosynthetic algae.

Unfortunately, just saying you have 3 30 watt lights don't tell much about your lighting. Watts is just the amount of energy the system uses, not the amount of light output. Three 30 watt incandescents doesn't equal 3 30 watt compact fluorescents or 3 30 watt T-5s. And the deeper the anemone is in the tank, the higher the output that is needed. It would also be helpful to mention the what spectrum/color temperature of lights you're using. I'd assume something in the 10,000K range for at least 2 of the lights, with the other as a 50/50 or actinic?

Depending on it's size, it may be overwhelmed by clownfish "snuggling" into it if you have these. Anemones should be 3-4 inches at least to be introduced to a tank with clowns. Also, it may be being harassed by bristleworms or shrimp, or stung by corals if you keep these and any are within "reach" of the sweeper tentacles.

So lots of potential causes for problems, and that's not even considering conditions it may have been in during shipping (if it was a recent arrival) or at the store (if it was kept by less than knowledgeable salespeople).

Answer 2

My first guess on this would be your lighting is not capable of keeping the anemone healthy. Anemones prefer very high light output. Metal halides and T5s would be the only lighting i would try to keep a anemone under. By any chance what color is this anemone? white, brown ? Alot of people think these white anemones are so nice looking but, the fact of the matter is, if the anemone is white it doesnt have the light it needs to survive and its expelling all its zooanthelle. a nice healthy looking anemone it a tannish color. unless its a RBTA