Anemone Advice

[Fitz19d]

So I'm starting to get worried about the purchase I'm picking up in 2 weeks. Bought a huge RBTA.

Now I'm starting to get paranoid about it doing well. My first small one which I recolored up from being bleached met it's end after getting stung from a hidden aiptasia that grew in underneath it. It got all scarred up and tentacles fell off/retracted. Lingered on for 2 months but the big clowns and other stress ended him.

Time and delays have made me hit an awkward timing. I'll have to go pick this thing up not long after my 210 *SHOULD* be running.

I have 150lbs of rock that was cycled over a month, and has now been sitting w/ heat/powerheads in barrels for another 1.5 months before the anemone would be coming home.
Then there is ~100lbs of rock coming from mantis tank/55g that's been established close to a year or more.

I am planning to start the 210 with just it's rock and water + some fresh salt to top it off. Then I wanted to add the 2 anemones I have and let them get settled before adding in the rest of my corals etc from the 55. I may immediately start transferring over little things here and there or some of the rock since it's more established. When I do the rest of the 55, I'll be taking all the water I can to basically use that to fill the 75g sump (I figure ~50gallons when it's running.)

Think all that should mean I'm fairly stable or what's the missing component that may affect the RBTA? Am I just stressing as I paid too much for the huge monster?

 

[xxHLTxx]

id say ur stressing for nothing. Honestly my corals and nems do great, and if my nems dont look too hot, my leathers or xenia show signs of discomfort first. figure out whats on the same nutrient level as the nems, or close to it... and just make sure when you do those daily glances or walk by's or anything that those are happy first. I had a rainbow that wasnt looking too hot, got 2 nems as DBTC and wasnt sure how well theyd do since the one i have never really... opened up? sure enough, 5 minutes after being in the tank and 15 minutes later when hosted by 4 of my clowns.... it was happy as can be and doesnt even close up at night. stays fully open and host able! So IMO... dont stress too hard about it. you have PLENTY of rock and cycling that will happen and take care of the 210... i fully cycled my 180 with rock JUST from a 55g and had no issues.

 

[jda123]

Unless you have an ammonia issue, captive roses are very hardy and can survive even the toughest conditions. I have not had such good success with wild one until they are nice and acclimated. If you are really worried, why don't you see if the current owner can keep it until you are sure that you are ready?

 

[Fitz19d]

Was from a LFS. I suspect it was one they bought off a customer. (Attached to pretty large rock, much healthier than some of theirs I can tell were just shipped in.) So can't wait too long. (No more delays Mr. Tutu from your tank people I hope.)

Though in a pinch I can probably put it in my sump with a T5 over it or something creative in a pinch, but I would ideally be able to put it into it's final home.

 

[jda123]

It could go weeks without light if you feed it a bit, but it won't be as good - nems need food either from light, plankton or both. I have seen these things handle tank crashes from PH, salinity and electricity, but I don't think that they can handle a cycle - the ammonia just eats through them.

I would worry anytime that you move rock - you can always have a cycle, but you never know how bad it will be.

If you get stuck, drop it by if you want and I can watch it in the frag tank or in the display, or have somebody closer watch it for a while.

 

[mathewkofalk]

I'm going to have to agrea that the tank will probably cycle. Curing the rock doesn't do enough to build the bacteria you need. The only way to do this is bio load. So if it were me I would have stability and prime handy. There are directions for a quick cycle on the stability just add it everyday and watch for amonia you can use prime to detoxify the amonia but if it gets too high prime probably won't help.....just my 2 cents.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

At any rate, I an goona need to compensate you for your patience! We'll think of something. Thanks for being such an awesome guy while waiting for the tank. I really understand as I am waiting too!

I do think you're going to see a small cycle like people are suggesting. Hopefully you are feeding the rock you have something to help support the bacteria population.

I'm not a good person to give advice on the nem as I have never owned one. I did crash my tank moving it and can caution you to be careful! Def don't add new dead rock! That'll start a cycle quick. Do you have a tank to house the nem in for a bit as you get the 215 cycled? I'd bet the nitrogen cycle can happen in a short time, maybe 2 weeks in your situation. Not the full cycle but the ammonia and such. Adding a bacteria supplement will help as well.

Again, thank you for being sooooo patient! No word on shipping yet. I'm goona call in a min.

 

[ReefCheif]

Prime will only mask ammonia during the cycle, not remove it, its going to be present regardless, its part of the nitrogen cycle, it cannot be removed fomr this cycle, otherwise you wouldnt have the cycle. Use prime for water changes, I always add Prime to my RO before mixing salt as it removes any chloramines, which can show as ammonia on a test kit (learned that one the hard way), but this is another topic for another thread.

Your gonna want at least 2 weeks of free cycle on the new set up IMO before adding that nem, like JDA said above, the ammonia is very toxic to the nem and I simply would not risk it. Stability will help with this, Brtiewell also makes an anerobic bacteria suppliment that will help too.

I always use Stability in the actuall tank during the cycle and I use the britewell additive directly in the curing rock to help "up" the bacterias on the live rock. You also need ot make sure the perameters between your tank and the water in the containers your using to cook the rock is fairly the same. Remember the organism that live on liove rock are fairly touchy, temp changes, water conditions, drying out, etc. can all cause die off on the rock, which in turn can cause another mini cycle. Your gonna need spray bottles with warm saltwater and plenty of wet new paper to keep the rock wet while you work the stack. I emplyed my 13 year old to spray rocks while I re did my stack.

You can also initiate a mini cycle by adding live stock before the nitrogen cycle has been completley completed, I dont think this applies to corals as thw waste factor is not the same as fish, but with a nem that big it very well could cause enough waste to initiate another mini cycle.

Dont make the same mistake I did when I re did my 180, be patient and test, test, test. Youll know when its ready. Could be 2 days, could be 2 months, but its better to have it ready then to start killing off your live stock like I did.

 

[Fitz19d]

I'd hope no cycle. I mean I had a bad hectic move here with the rocks just in buckets in a back of a truck on a 95 degree day. (And forget to get the prime then.) The buckets of rock I've started feeding flake food a bit back to keep up some bacterial action. If the rock is cycled, I really don't see how I'd get a cycle since there's nothing really to die off and only bio load would be an anemone itself. Granted no matter what. Once I have water in it I'd be waiting a few days to see what the waters doing. And did think maybe add a couple cuc and some xenia in just as taste testers of sorts. Then the anemone.

What I'm somewhat confused on. Is yes you have to feed the rock or else the bacteria won't be built up. It's already been through a cycle after the first month. Then I started feeding it in the previous few weeks. Obviously lends the question if I wasn't starting and increasing bio load after the initial cycle. How to know how much bioload of bacteria is really there. Obviously why I won't just swap everything, instead bit by bit.

Big thing I regret was not getting the chance to really drill a bunch of frag holes in my rock and places to put rods through. (Masonry bit I had on a lot of the rock I had would actually either bind up in the crevices or not really chip away at this pukani or whatever, and the other stuff was pretty dense and wasn't making real headway either.) I wasn't planning on arranging the rock in a dry tank. Always stacked with water in it. (I'd start with all the water I have the rock in, then toping off the big tank with fresh matched temp/salinity saltwater.


As far as where I put it when I have to pick it up. I may borrow that frag tank, but if the rock isn't too narly in size. I will attempt to just keep it in my 55. I just felt that would be a bit more stress to get it used to that tank then a few weeks later go to 210. (Hopefully would be fairly close though.) I was thinking if I need to, I can pull a lot of stuff out and cram it into 9g with crappy lights or even mantis tank to clear up some room. Hope it stays put like my first rose.

 

[Fitz19d]

Actually I still have this 40b. I could just have it setup on the floor running with my T5's directly over it. (HOB if I need, otherwise just heater and PH) Take water change water, some existing live rock and throw it in. When it arrives it has it's own rock its on of good size. Wouldn't this make for a pretty clean tank for it with no corals to rampage around on. I don't think a box hanging on side will work unless he comes off rock, even then it's gigantic.

 

[jda123]

Anything short of an established tank is a risk. Leaving it at the LFS or having somebody watch it is the best bet.

When you do cycle, just let it go. Inhibiting it will delay things... the same bacteria needs to grow whether it is today, or next week, if you convert the ammonia into ammonium.

 

[Cherub]

I would be more worried about the nem eating your fish! I lost 2 fish this week to my nem.