Is my Anemone dying??

[gbishop]

Hi all,

 

Well I thought everything was going well with my Heteractis Magnifica, but after a couple of split second power outages it seems to have gone down hill. My MH light took approx 5 mins to come back on each time.

 

I did a water change before this happened and have tested my water since and everything is fine.

 

It firstly seem to close up, then the tentecles seem to fall down and go very thin and it's mouth opened up really wide.

 

Would this have upset the anemone enough to make it go down hill so quickly?

 

I have tried feeding it incase it was that and although it briefly closed it's mouth then opened up again, it doesn't seem to be doing any better.

 

My main MH light went off at 5pm about 2 hours after this happened (completed 8hr period) and it is now just on actinics until 9pm.

 

Is there anything else I should or could do?

 

Any help would be much appreciated....

[AbSoluTc]

I can't remember who said that H. Magnificas were prone to die in captivity. That doesn't matter tho.

 

Your lights going out had not bearing on the health of your ritteri. As stated in a previous thread (here http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=20430 ) trying to aquire a healthy specimin and even giving it the correct care is a very daunting task. At this point, there is nothing you can do but hope and wait and provide the proper care. Neither of which I don't think you have the knowledge to do.

 

Wait it out. DO NOT TOSS IT. See how things go. You will know when its gone by a gaping mouth, falling off the rock, massive sliming. At that point, take it out and dispose of it.

 

After all that - NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER ONE AGAIN. Unless you can find a clone from a captive one (rare if not impossible), find a wild healthy specimin that is at least a month old and doing well (rare but findable) or, just never get one.

 

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. I warned you. You failed to listen and search.

 

Can you tell me the basic needs of an H. Magnifica?

[gbishop]

Thanks for your reply AbSoluTc, although I wonder why you participate on a BEGINNERS section with an attitude shown in your final comments.

 

Don't presume I took no notice of what you told me in the other thread. I HAVE been researching, but as a novice I will be prone to make mistakes. I'm sure even a know it all like you made the odd mistake but probably didn't have the balls to post it incase a similar minded reefer gave you a slating.

 

As far as basic needs I don't think I am that far off from what I have read:

 

Real high water quality levels

Keep the aquarium temperature around 79-80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day time, and the pH around 8.2 in the morning and 8.4 in the evening

Feed regularly

Adjust the temperature and really adhere to strict maintenance and husbandry

Provide great amounts of lighting of the right intensity and spectrum

 

I'm sure this experience however it turns out will be a lesson learnt. But as experience is the key in most things in life, you have to take so called expert advice at face value until you know any better yourself.

 

You come across as been experienced in reef keeping, so if you could cut the attitude i'm sure everybody would appreciate your advice much more.

[AbSoluTc]

I may come off brute and harsh sometimes. My apologies for that. The problem is I love helping people, but when I see that the person I helped comes back with a question that I previously answered, it makes my help and devotion seem in vain. You have to agree. Im not pointing fingers either.

 

Starting fresh.. Ritteris in the wild are as close to the surface as most anemones ever get. They are exposed to extremely bright light. With having such great real estate, they are also constantly exposed to the ever wonderfull and hard to create, wave action that takes place near the surface. They like high light, and constant heavy water movement.

 

A power head does not recreate their environment all to well and many people lack the proper lighting to sustain such wonderfull creatures. Those who have these anemones and have succesfully cared for them, have done so in short term. There are no long term statistics for ritteris. Why? That should be self explanitory from the nfo above.

 

I myself have had 3 ritteris. All 3 have perished. I bought them from LFS in hopes of trying to save them. Instead, I threw away my money. The main problem with these guys are alot of them are from the wild and go into recession because they are not and can not be cared for properly. Collectors also have a knack for tearing their foot. You may not see it when you purchase it, but it is there and causes a slow death.

 

The basic needs for this anemone are as follows:

 

Metal Halides - There is no exception to the rule. The more, the better. 250+ would be minimum on most tanks.

 

Water Current - Calm, not so turbulent wave action across its tentacles is what it wants. It wants to sway with the current sometimes a bit more turbid than others.

 

Realstate- It will climb to the highest point in any tank to achieve its desired light and flow. Most times they end up caught in power heads or attached on the front glass near the top. Not a good place for them.

 

 

Those are the basics you need to know. You also need to go back to the person you bought it from and slap the ###### out of him/her for being so stupid and selling it to you as a misdiagnosed anemone and one that SHOULD NOT BE KEPT BY INEXPERIENCED reef keepers. There is no exception to that rule. NONE.

 

Lastly and most importantly, you learned a very expensive lesson here. In life and from the pocket. I hate to see such beutifull creatures just wither away because of misinformation and judgement. Always research your purchases. ALWAYS. Its cheaper for you, and saves the life of corals and inverts.

 

Im not saying your a bad reefer. At least you had the balls to post your concearns and be upfront. Most would have covered it up and continued on. Good job. However, you need to be a bit more cautious from now on and get a feel for things before you try the more fragile creatures. Research and ask questions. There is nothing wrong with it. If somone flames you for asking a question, tell them to f*ck off and move along. If people want to help, they will respond. Ignore those that have no life.

 

 

Again, my apologies. If you have any questions further, just ask.

 

Kris

[gbishop]

Thanks Kris,

 

After our bumpy start I feel we at least know each other a bit better hehe

 

I do appreciate any advice given and like a pillock I took the guys advice at the lfs as good. I made it very clear I was new to this and he made no attempt to stear me away from anemones. I did contact him and tell him of his mistake on the type of coral, but he just said that they come to him as a Malu and they tend to go by different names and that's that.

 

As far as my little guy, he still seems to be hanging on and the clown is doing it's utmost to wake him up (poor sod).

 

I do have a question regarding my clown: If the anemone does perish, will he get over it and be happy enough without it?

 

Regarding lighting, in the lfs they had the actinics and the mh running constantly. At present I have they timed so the actinics turn on and off at the beginning and end of the photo period, so as to try and mimic dusk/dawn etc...

 

I've searched on this and noticed it varies depending on the type of main lights people are using. With my mh using a 14k bulb, would there be any benefit running my actinics all day?

 

As you may have noticed from my specs, I am not using a protein skimmer or any form of mechanical filter and was hoping to go the natural way. Although I haven't had any problems with my levels at this early stage, do most experienced reefers use or eventually have to use them for the more demanding corals?

 

Cheers

 

Gary

[gbishop]

Well my anemone is still about the same. It has a gaping mouth but hasn't fallen off the rock and isn't a mass of slime.

 

I tried gently moving it but it is still firmly attached to the LR. Does this mean it is still hanging on in there, or could it in fact be dead and still remain stuck to rock?

[AbSoluTc]

Well I hope for the best but im sure in a few days, maybe a week it will be on its way. Gaping mouth is not a good thing in anemones. Only thing you can do now is watch it.

 

Good Luck.

 

Kris

[gbishop]

Thanks Kris,

 

I was thinking the same, but am still holding out a little hope as is my clown.

 

I am just concerned that if or when it eventually dies, I will know for sure and be able to remove it from my tank before it raises any levels.