anemones

[lakester]

hi got a question regarding anemones. we have a 180g reef tank. one year old. all inhabitants seem to be doing well and thriving. corals such as mushrooms, polyps, candy cane, colt, and brain are strong and growing. have not lost any fish for quite awhile. water conditions are good, with exception of nitrates which hold between 15-20 even with weekly water changes. bottom is a sand bed with fair amount of live rock. we have tried introducing anemones twice now and they have died almost immediately. we use ro water. please send help any and all suggestions are welcome. thanks in advance.

Lakester

[dakar]

Where both anemones of the same species? What were they? Aquired from the same location?

[Renee]

Do you test alkalinity?

[jerryc]

Some anemones or ease to keep and some or hard so the type makes a lot of
difference in the answer you will get.
As for as nitrates go you might try a nitrate sponge for a few days i no
most will say find the cause but it can help .At one time i had the same problem
couldn't get them down and used a sponge got them down and Thea never came back up. JMO

[Reptoreef]

Some anemones are extremely sensitive to water quality. Some LFS may be inclined to sell you a colder water spp as a tropical just to make a sale, too.

[Grandmaster_Toad]

Temp, H2O quality are all factors....
Try starting with a simple inexpensive one. Maybe a condi? They seem to be a hardier species.
GT

[davejnz]

The most important part in anenome keeping is finding a healthy specimen.Look for
one that has its foot firmly attached(or burried),check for sticky tentacles,and of course nothing white.Make sure the LFS does not rip the foot during bagging and if its attached to LR,ask for the piece that its attached to.Acclimation can take a week or so.try feeding after a couple days.A healthy anenome will be able to pull food in easily and the food should stick right to the tentacles.I would try a BTA(bubble-tip-anenome)as these seem to be the hardiest of the hosting type anenomes.

[Renee]

Also, don't let your anemone fall into a Pistol Shrimp's hole. It's not pretty.

[lakester]

thanks for the replies they were both bubble tips haven't check alkalinity DKH holds at around 9. we dose with calcium and alkalinity solutions and add strontium chloride and potassium iodide once a week. don't have to worry about the pistol shrimps as far as we know there are none. i am interested in the nitrate sponge. can the sand bed be a source for the high nitrate levels when we do water changes is it a good idea to siphonrough the sand bed where its aceaccessible?

[jerryc]

Whit is the depth of sand and Howe old is it

[lakester]

The sand is 2 to 3 inches deep and the entire tank is one year old.

[jerryc]

Hard to say most deep sand is 4+ and you only blow or star the top lightly
sames people with less then 1 1/2'' siphon the sand to the bottom in
your case i thank just lightly brush the top {JMO]