sickly carpet anemone

stevieduk · Jan 1, 2013

Hi , can someone give me some advice on my sick carpet anemone, Ive had it about a year now and when i got it , for about 8 months it was big and light pink and eat really well , a beautiful specimen.
but in the last few months it has gone smaller and smaller and now is about the size of a minimax wereas before it was about 10 inch across.
I am at a loss what to do or how to find out whats wrong with it, the clowns that were with it have been moved because they were battering it in its small state, I know that the water is good. It is still dark pink but dosnt feed much and also is not really sticky if you touch it, (doesnt seem to sting anymore ).
Is it dying a slow death ? can it be saved ?. my local expert at the shop is puzzled. has anyone seen this happen before or is it just old age , as i dont know how old it was when i first got it
HELP ! ! !
Steve

Pappy · Jan 1, 2013

What lights u running?

Emac909 · Jan 1, 2013

Pappy said:
What lights u running?

Same thing I thought. How old r ur bulbs?

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 1, 2013

Can you tell us more about your setup? Also, pics would be extremely helpful.

stevieduk · Jan 2, 2013

well that raises any query , Its a 5ftx2x2ft tank and i have a 5ft 4tube light system over it, i change the tubes every 6 months , and the anemone did start to go wrong after the last change around 5 months ago, I did wonder at the time if it was the new tubes , but they were alot brighter than the ones i took out obviously, plus i did read on a info site somewhere that carpets love light so as i had a small metal halide in the cupboard i got that working and hung i over the tank were the carpet was. Within 30 mins it had moved out of the way of the light , so obviously didnt like it. as i said previously all my corals are good so dont think its the light or water. Ah and also it dosnt like being in high to medium water flow, always moves out the way of that as well.
Steve

Emac909 · Jan 2, 2013

Hey Steve were only trying to help u out so u don't loose a beautiful specimen.
Now so we can try to provide u the right help can u give some hard information we can work off? First can u describe ur setup how many gallons, sump, skimmer, lights watts and type? Maybe providing some parameters? Like what what r ur cal, alk, dkh, salinity, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates levels?
Just saying that ur parameters are good isn't the info that will help us help u. If u can't provide this info then we can't help u.
The Mac is done

Pappy · Jan 2, 2013

So "tube lights" meaning t5 or power compact? This could be the main issue is my guess. I was recently looking into getting a carpet and saw they require extremely intense lighting such as metal halides. Not all corals need this intense of lighting and can also adapt easier than an anemone.

SeahorseKeeper · Jan 2, 2013

What have you been feeding the anemone?

bairdimusprime · Jan 2, 2013

Before hurricane sandy took everything I kept my nems well over 3-4 yrs at a pop I fed them every other day diced scallops and silversides. I've kept ritteri, carpet and btas good luck... Also aquavitro fuel works wonders

Trex · Jan 2, 2013

First things first, what type of "carpet" do you have? There are different care requirements for each of the 3 hosting "carpets". Also, what are your actual water parameters, with numbers please. Been keeping S. haddonis for 17 years now

stevieduk · Jan 6, 2013

hi sorry for gap in getting back.
I have my water tested at my local store every 4 or 5 days and they keep it to the same parameters as their water , as that is where I buy all my stuff from , so i havnt got actual figures. They just say , do this or that to keep the water good. The tank holds about 350 ltrs
I do a 10 % water change once a week , have no algae , have coraline algea , my lights are four 5foot T5 tubes ( on a five foot tank), my salt level, Sg , is 1.23. I have a small sump filter with plants and also a fluval canaster filter which also provides good water flow round the tank.
My corals and fish are good , plus i have a few minimax anemones which are good ( and I believe are small carpets) so the water suits them ok.
I feed it about once every 2 weeks on smelt or cockles
Steve

Emac909 · Jan 6, 2013

Hey Steve to be honest when it comes to my investment in the hobby I don't trust anyone but my self. In the last 15 years I've been doing reef tanks I've found out that ever tank is diffrent and requires different needs. With testing a visual inspection is how I decide what my tank is going through.
Here's some info I pulled up

Stichodactyla Haddoni

Common Name: Haddon's Sea Anemone

Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Hexacorallia
Superorder: Hexactiniida
Order: Actiniaria
Suborder: Nynantheae (Thenaria: Endomyaria)
Family: Stichodactylidae
Species: Stichodactyla haddoni (Saville Kent, 1893)

As Discosoma haddoni, from specimens collected on the northern Great Barrier Reef

Other name previously used include:
Stoichactis kenti (by Friese 1972, Moyer and Sawyers 1973), S. gigantea (by Friese 1972), S. haddoni (by Uchida et al. 1975, Moyer 1976, Moyer and Steene 1979).

Diagnostic field characters:
Slightly to deeply folded oral disc lies on or above sand surface; tentacles either bulbous or with basal "stalk," at the end of which is a blunt or swollen terminal portion that can appear puckered (on close examination). Exocoelic tentacles more robust than the endocoelic ones with which they alternate. Column sturdy.

Details:
Oral disc diameter commonly 500 mm, rarely 800 mm; yellowish to orange tentacle-free oral area 10-20 mm in diameter. Oral disc, lower portion of tentacles, and column drab -- commonly yellowish or tan. Tentacle ends can be green, yellow, gray, or rarely pink, which can give oral disc a variegated appearance. Exocoelic tentacles usually white, may be up to twice as long as endocoelic, point outward in well expanded animals. Tentacles sticky to touch, may adhere to human skin so strongly that they pull off the anemone; contact with them is painless but can raise welts. Small, non-adhesive verrucae on uppermost column are same colour as column or light rose to purple. Anemone can pull rapidly and completely beneath the sand when disturbed, leaving its fish to hover over the resulting depression.

Similar species:
Stichodactyla gigantea also lives in sand but typically in shallower water, and folds of its oral disc are less regular and more closely spaced. The oral disc of S. mertensii, which lives on firm substrata, lies fairly flat. The column of S. haddoni is more substantial than that of either, and its tentacles are longer and distinctively shaped. The other species lack robust exocoelic tentacles. Tentacles pull off of S. gigantea as well, but in massive clumps rather than one or several at a time.

Stichodactyla Mertensii

Common Name: Merten's Carpet Anemone
Merten's Sea Anemone, Non-Stinging Carpet Anemone, Spotted-Base Carpet Anemone

The Merten's Carpet Anemone is the true giant of the clown fish anemone hosts. The largest of the carpet anemones, it has a deeply folded oral disc that can grow to a diameter of up to 3.3 feet (1 m). They are named Carpet Anemones because they grow wide rather than tall and are so covered with tentacles that they look like a 'plush' carpet. The oral disc of the Merten's Sea Anemone is green, cream, or yellowish in color with tentacles tipped in white, yellow or green. Its column is whitish or tan with sticky verrucae (bumps) that are tan, magenta, or orange. These adhesive verrucae, being under the oral disc edge, hold the disc in position.
Although the Merten's Carpet Anemone does not sport as many colors as other carpets, it is similar in overall appearance to the popular Saddle Carpet Anemone S. haddoni and the Giant Carpet Anemone S. gigantea. This often leads to confusion and mis-identification. An easy way to distinguish between them is by the environment where they are found. The Merten's is always in the midsts of rocky substrates or coral while the others are most often found in sandy areas.
Besides coloration, there are some visual characteristics to help identify each carpet species as well. The Merten's Carpet Anemone has less tightly packed tentacles and it can grow much larger than either of the others. Its oral disc is deeply folded, which differentiates it from the Saddle Carpet Anemone whose folds are less deep, lending a wavy appearance to the anemone. The Merten's Carpet Anemone often spreads out to blanket the surrounding substrate, while the Giant Carpet Anemone is rarely held flat against its surrounding surfaces. The Giant Carpet Anemone also has sticky tentacles while the Merten's does not.
The Merten's Carpet Anemone should only be kept by very experienced aquarists. Besides its large size, this is a much more delicate carpet anemone. In general they do poorly in the aquaiurm. They are rarely imported, but they need very dedicated care when they are.

I think the best way u can help the specimen is to test ur water and find out ur perimeter.

Trex · Jan 6, 2013

stevieduk said:
hi sorry for gap in getting back.
I have my water tested at my local store every 4 or 5 days and they keep it to the same parameters as their water , as that is where I buy all my stuff from , so i havnt got actual figures. They just say , do this or that to keep the water good. The tank holds about 350 ltrs
I do a 10 % water change once a week , have no algae , have coraline algea , my lights are four 5foot T5 tubes ( on a five foot tank), my salt level, Sg , is 1.23. I have a small sump filter with plants and also a fluval canaster filter which also provides good water flow round the tank.
My corals and fish are good , plus i have a few minimax anemones which are good ( and I believe are small carpets) so the water suits them ok.
I feed it about once every 2 weeks on smelt or cockles
Steve

Is your SG really 1.23, or was that a typo and it is 1.023? How do you measure it?
All the S. haddonis that I have kept reacted poorly to low SG, I kept all of mine at 1.0256.

Really need to know what the numbers are for your parameters -- without the numbers we are just guessing.

When is the last time you change your T5 bulbs?
What brand/type of bulbs are you using?
Does your T5 fixture have individual reflectors?

Can you get a picture of the anemone?
How "light" was the pink? It could have been bleached to begin with -- it can take up to a year for it to go down hill.

For reference, this is a healthy red S. haddoni,
(( ignore the few mucus strands around it, had been keeping the sump ))

Ladipyg · Jan 26, 2013

I find one of the problems associated with carpet anenomes is overfeeding and feeding too large a piece of food. When they are hosting clowns, I often see my clowns taking them small pieces and I do mean small. Feeding them larger pieces and feeding them too often stresses them. That is why it is getting smaller...it is not trying to catch food (IMO) When you do place food pieces in it, getting the food to its mouth is a auto response reaction. In the wild they don't get huge meals every other day, maybe every other week or just small pieces if they are being hosted by a pair of clowns. I have helped many anenomes recover by placing them in a "plastic breeder nursery" the kind that is used for FW live bearers. The bottom is usually open to allow flow, I put rock rubble in there to give the nem something to hold onto. I put it where it will get sporadic flow from a powerhead...usually have it bounce over the top or from the bottom, but not constant. Put it were it will get good light, but not necessarily direct. It can be off to the side. Most important...let it be. Don't try feeding it, don't be moving it around, keep your bare hands off of it. Use rubber or latex gloves. I find a huge difference in my corals when I wear gloves instead of handling them bare handed. If all your water is correct then try my method.