Anemone help!!

[birdman1989]

I would really love some help with trying to keep an anemone. The full story. The wife and I started our tank back in Oct 19. The link to that build can be found here. We jumped the gun a little and picked up a bubble tip anemone from our LFS a little too early. We thought that our tank was stable enough, but we were woefully mistaken. The anemone never settled. She had bounced around and gotten caught in our pump. That was my mistake. I thought the pump was way too far out of the way for her to get caught in it. We tried to get up to speed on any and everything that we needed to do to help her. We pulled her out of the tank when the tank began to get super cloudy as she began to die. Luckily there wasn't much in the tank for her to wipe out. That happened back in March. We did our research, and got all of the tank parameters in the proper spec, before we picked up a Rock Flower anemone from our LFS. This one lasted 3 days. The first 2 pictures are 24 hrs in. The last 2 are 72 hrs in.
When we tried to figure out what happened and asked questions at our LFS, they said our tank was "too clean" and suggested we hold off on water changes for a few weeks. The wife believes that the guy who pulled her out of the tank at the store, ripped the foot. We did a drip acclimation. The salinity difference from the LFS and our tank was .01 different. The lights were turned down. We tried both placing her in the tank at first. When she started looking bad, we put her in a floating breed box for isolation. Any thoughts you guys have would be great.

 

[DeniseAndy]

First off welcome to the world of anemones. Couple thoughts, the pictures are not really helpful. We need more whites/less blue. To cheat this, find some yellow safety glasses to put over lens for blocking the blue light.

Helpful notes with nems. BTAs will want a bit more mature system. They will walk to get the flow and light they want. Sometimes, they are just not healthy and will fade fast. Sorry you had some bad luck with yours and getting it caught in pump. Can get some shields for powerheads to help.

Rock nems need a good hold or they will detach and blow around. Once they attach, they are usually not overly mobile. Mine move, but usually among the rocks they are on or near. If he tore the foot, it may take time to recover.

Putting it in a little container with lots of rubble to attach is the best idea. So, add lots of rubble to your acclimation box and let it be for a while. I have a couple in that situation right now. Waiting for some footing before moving back in main display.

Yes, nems do need a bit dirtier water. This means nutrient rich. Feeding coral food will help and you can feed it mysis too.

 

[PicassoClown04]

To up your nutrients really quick, start feeding your fish/corals more and more often. I only feed 1x per day but I feed super super heavily. Currently have 6 rock nems and 1 RBTA. The system was started in February of 2020 but the filtration, rocks, and water all came from a 20+ year old tank, I skipped the cycle. For RBTAs, allow them to settle then start feeding them meaty foods (like you’d feed to you fish) 1-3x per week. Rock flowers seem to be much more low maintenance. Good luck!