Anemone help!

[whitasm]

Hi all. My anemones has been looking worse and worse over the course of the past month or so. Started off looking awesome which I have attached to the pics. Since then I’ve had one move all around the tank and the other just not fully opened. Parameters are below. Would appreciate any insight. Thanks!!
Nitrates: 40ppm
Phosphates: .5
Alk: 8.3
Salinity: 1.024

 

[Tamale]

Two things.

1. Some people report certain nems have issues with higher nitrates. 40ppm is generally considered high. Phosphates are also relatively high. So they may be unhappy with that. I don’t believe that high nutrients are always a bad thing. But sometimes they can be.

I noticed a lot of dead snails in your newest pic. Not usually a good sign honestly. Nems are inverts and if other inverts are dying off then likely your nem is suffering more.

2. The tank looks relatively young. How long has it been running? What is the history of your parameters? Nems do not like fluctuations in chemistry and thrive in tanks that are consistent in that department. A younger tank has issues with stability/consistency as it’s still maturing as are you as a reefer.

 

[whitasm]

Two things.

1. Some people report certain nems have issues with higher nitrates. 40ppm is generally considered high. Phosphates are also relatively high. So they may be unhappy with that. I don’t believe that high nutrients are always a bad thing. But sometimes they can be.

I noticed a lot of dead snails in your newest pic. Not usually a good sign honestly. Nems are inverts and if other inverts are dying off then likely your nem is suffering more.

2. The tank looks relatively young. How long has it been running? What is the history of your parameters? Nems do not like fluctuations in chemistry and thrive in tanks that are consistent in that department. A younger tank has issues with stability/consistency as it’s still maturing as are you as a reefer.

That is a good point, hermit crabs have been killing off all my snails which is probably causing a spike in nutrients as they sit there. The tabk is about 3-4 months old now. All of the rock was transferred over from my previous nem tank in which these came from. All else was new i.e., sand and water.

 

[Tamale]

Since the rock was well established from the last tank then I would put money down on it being the high nutrients. Best bet would be to get that lowered. It doesn’t look like the nems are deteriorating just closed up, so probably not in a firehouse the problem situation but also wouldn’t drag my feet. They’d probably be fine around 10-15ppm and .1 phos.

If that doesn’t fix it then it’s likely just system stability overall. Even with established rock it still takes a while for the system to even put and for you to figure out how it “runs” compared to your old system!

 

[whitasm]

Since the rock was well established from the last tank then I would put money down on it being the high nutrients. Best bet would be to get that lowered. It doesn’t look like the nems are deteriorating just closed up, so probably not in a firehouse the problem situation but also wouldn’t drag my feet. They’d probably be fine around 10-15ppm and .1 phos.

If that doesn’t fix it then it’s likely just system stability overall. Even with established rock it still takes a while for the system to even put and for you to figure out how it “runs” compared to your old system!

Gotcha, that all makes sense. So just water changes weekly to get that number down? I can’t tell but if you look at the picture with the open nem that has been traveling the tank, it has very short deflated stubby tentacles. Does that mean it’s dying or just ticked off? Can’t find much on that and don’t want it to be that its dying.

makes total sense with the system still needing to find stability and those rocks trapping nutrients which I think is very correct in assuming. Skimmer isn’t working as well as I thought it would and I’m still trying to find tune it after a few months now.

 

[PeterEde]

I lost 3 nems in the first year. Only now my tank is nearing 2 years have I managed to keep nems alive past a few months.

 

[whitasm]

I lost 3 nems in the first year. Only now my tank is nearing 2 years have I managed to keep nems alive past a few months.

Hmm, it’s weird tho because over the first 3 months they were great and in my past tank that was about 8 months old they thrived in as well.

 

[Tamale]

Gotcha, that all makes sense. So just water changes weekly to get that number down? I can’t tell but if you look at the picture with the open nem that has been traveling the tank, it has very short deflated stubby tentacles. Does that mean it’s dying or just ticked off? Can’t find much on that and don’t want it to be that its dying.

makes total sense with the system still needing to find stability and those rocks trapping nutrients which I think is very correct in assuming. Skimmer isn’t working as well as I thought it would and I’m still trying to find tune it after a few months now.

I would just do larger weekly water changes (think 20% weekly v 10%) and feed the fish once every other day until the levels are more fine tuned. You could do more but sometimes over compensating can make things worse. Getting the nutrient export working is also a priority obviously.

The pic you have of it opened just looks like an unhappy nem to me. You’ll be able to tell if it’s legit dying because it will be very shrunken (like super small) and its mouth will be gaping and pale. Often it will detach and just roll around which is another indicator of a dying nem. This is not the same as it walking around looking for a better perch. At that point it’s a crap shoot. You can let it roll and hope it recovers or pull it. Understand that if it does and it isn’t removed quickly it’ll nuke that small of a tank.

 

[Tamale]

Hmm, it’s weird tho because over the first 3 months they were great and in my past tank that was about 8 months old they thrived in as well.

Do you remember what your parameters looked like during those 3 months? Because that can help you monitor what has changed between then and now. During those 3 months you may have been sitting really well. And then over the last month they got out of whack or rapidly changed. Which ticked off the nems. All theorizing on my part tho.

If you aren’t, I highly recommend keeping a journal or note on your phone that documents key parameters weekly. I annotate mine weekly right before my water change and then an hour so after.

 

[PeterEde]

Also what light. How much par is the nem getting? Mine is sitting under a Hydra 32 at over 300 Par and is fat and happy.
Flow? they like flow but not too much. My latest BTA was not inflating very much until recently my Nero pump died. So flow reduced some and the nem has never been happier. I have since fixed the nero and placed it in a different spot and the nem is still happy
Here's before pump died and hydra32
and after hydra32 and pump moved

 

[PeterEde]

Hmm, it’s weird tho because over the first 3 months they were great and in my past tank that was about 8 months old they thrived in as well.

Mine appeared happy also. But never fully extended. They die very quick

 

[Tamale]

Also what light. How much par is the nem getting? Mine is sitting under a Hydra 32 at over 300 Par and is fat and happy.
Flow? they like flow but not too much. My latest BTA was not inflating very much until recently my Nero pump died. So flow reduced some and the nem has never been happier. I have since fixed the nero and placed it in a different spot and the nem is still happy
Here's before pump died and hydra32
and after hydra32 and pump moved

Considering they were open and happy for 3 months prior I assumed these were probably in line but good question to ask!

OP you don’t need 300 PAR tho haha. I had mine in 150ish and it stayed nice and bubbly. It’s not bad if there tentacles are thin and wavy tho. Yours look like widows and they seem to trend towards long and thin tentacle profiles no matter the lighting.

 

[laverda]

Anemones typically move for two reasons. 1. They are going to split. 2. They are unhappy with conditions where they are. Those conditions include flow, light and water parameters primarily.
Your nutrients should not be a problem. I have kept BTAs at 3 time your numbers and the grew very large. Nitrates are a food source for BTAs.
You snails dying is probably related to the unhappy anemones. Your hermets are probably just cleaning up your dying snails, not killing them. They seldom kill healthy snails, usually if they need a larger shell and can not find one. If they are not living in the shells, they probably did not kill them.
I would check for ammonia and nitrite with decent test kits. IE NOT AP. I trust Salifert. Both should be zero.
Are you using RO/DI for top off and to make salt water? If so have you checked you TDS of it recently. Has you water source changed recently? Did they recently start adding chlorimines to the tap water?
BTAs love light. They may not need 300 par, but they will not complain about it. 150 par may be enough if the are on full intensity 10-12 hours a day not 6 hours or the anemone is high in the tank. Anemones that are not getting enough light will typically be very light in color. If an anemone is getting too much light it can retract under a rock, but that is not why they typically do so. The spectrum of the light is also a factor in my opinion.