the ghostof PLTA......

[mr_X]

my purple long tentacle anemone took a turn for the worst it seems. all parameters are perfect except for nitrates, which are barely detectable.
i don't know what the problem could be. the only things new are a camelback shrimp, and a new orbit light fixture.
the anemone has moved recently and the camelback, who used to appear very interested in him, has stayed put, so if he was the one causing the issue, the trouble is over.
the light fixture is 2x96 watt purple&blue actinics, and 2x96 watt 10k daylight which i use basically to simulate some sort of dawn, morning, mid-day, afternoon, dusk with, so all bulbs are not on at once.
this fixture is to compliment my 2x400 watt 14k halides.
i used to run my halides for 10 hours, but now i run the blues for 6 hours(3 hours in the am and 3 in the pm) the 10k flourescents i run for 8 hours(4 hours earlier, and 4 evening, overlapping the halides) and my halides are now on for 6 hours.
so..to recap:
8:00am blue actinics turn on for 3 hours
10:00am 10k daylights turn on for 4 hours
12:00 pm halides turn on for 6 hours
3:00pm 10k daylights turn on for 4 hours
5:00pm blue actinics on for 3 hours

so, my purple long tentacle anemone is bleached as white as a ghost. i have just removed him to the quarantine tank fearing that he will nuke the tank with his dead carcass while i am not home.
on the quaranrtine tank (20 gallon) i have 120 watts of CF light 10k and 6500k

i suppose my question is , do you see anything wrong here?
too much light? he seemed fine when i had the halides on 10 hours a day. actually, he did lose some color sice i purchased him, but i just chalked that up to the possibility that maybe he was dyed before i got him.
his eating habits have been great up until just 2 or 3 days ago.
any insight would be appreciated.

one more thing. my tank usually runs about 80 degrees ...could this be a problem?

 

[dnorton1978]

Last I remember your LTA moved to a spot in your tank that received less light. Did he stay there, or did you end up moving him??

 

[mr_X]

he moved on his own. planted himself in one of the engineer goby's tunnels for a day or so and then was bouncing around in the middle of the sand bed aimlessly. i was waiting for him to turn to mush any second...so i prepared the quarantine immediately.

 

[mr_X]

anyone have any ideas?
i was thinking that possibly the heat might be the issue. what i was wondering was, if i can rehab the anemone in my quarantine, how do i re-introduce zooxanthellae to it? pour phytoplankton in the tank? like phyto-feast? need some help with this plz. thanks.

 

[trido]

I run my tank at 80. I doubt that is your issue. MY LTA was nearly pure white with faint green tips when I bought it. It colored up all on its own. IMO there is some reason your tank is causing it to be so unhappy. Nursing it back to health in a QT just to put it back into the display to get sick again is pointless. I would leave it in the display and hope for the best instead of stressing it more and prolonging the possible inevitable death.

 

[mr_X]

hmm. well..possible sources of stress are the lighting, the camelback shrimp, and the clown i purchased him with. you really think the clown should be on the list of possible stressors? i thought the clown compliments the anemone's life?

 

[trido]

The clown could be the cause. It could be a combination of small factors as well.
When my anenome was chewed up it was recommended that I remove my clowns because they do cause stress. The push, prod, and basicly pester an anenome. If a clown is too big, It can kill the anenome by smothering it. I dont think this is your case. In quite a few cases an anenome will seem to thrive for a long time in a tank and then suddenly die with no real cause. This is likely the case here. Between this reason and the case that they will sting corals is one reason that alot of experience reefers dont keep them. If mine dies during recovery from the intake. I definately wont get another. My $30 frag is more important than a $16 anenome for my clowns.

 

[mr_X]

ok..the anemone is basically the same. the clown, however, has healed almost completely. (in an earlier post i asked about a strange fungus that appeared on my clown). the clown actually seems alot happier now.
i attempted to feed the anemone a small amount of silversides, and he seemed to really have a tough time getting the food in his mouth. he didn't drop it though. he just looked as though he had no energy to raise the food to his mouth.
i think i am going to do the best i can to rehab the anemone then bring him to the lfs for credit.

 

[Kevin207]

Here is a thread discussing the process of putting dye in corals to make them look prettier and the harmful side effects they can have on the animals (common culprits being anemones 8O )

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=92933

Maybe this is the cause, as I think long tentacle anemones are normally beige? I know many anemones are healthy when beige, and sick when white. I think this applies to seabae and long tentacle anemones, but I could be wrong.

See if the thread shines any light on your PLTA.

 

[mr_X]

thanks kevin.
as i was reading, i was just about to resign to the fact that this was the case, until i read this- "Bright colored tips (often purple) will remain if they were natural originally, as they generally are not a zooxanthellate pigment or readily aborted under duress."
my anemone is bleached except for the very tips of his tentacles, which are still purple-ish.
ok. that rules that out. back to stress. when i originally purchased this creature, he was labeled "brown long tentacle anemone" even though he had a nice purple color. i am the one who called him purple lta, mainly because he was purple. well, i'm going to banish the camelback shrimp to the refugium and give him one more shot in the display once he is healthy.

 

[Len]

Here's a very generic answer, but have you tried a water change (with water of equal s.g. and temp)? I had an LTA for about 4 years, and it often was a good indicator when I should do a water change. Water chemistry issues is another possible source of stress. Could be tankwide or localized (e.g. if the anemone is downstream of something mildly toxic).

 

[mr_X]

water changes have escalated to 30 gallons a week (i have a roughly 180 gallon system). i don't think he was downstream of anything toxic. nothing was substrate-level, except for some mushrooms. :?

 

[mr_X]

here he is as of tonight.....

 

[mr_X]

my LTA just crossed over to the "promised tank".
farewell seymour.