jbharlan91

Actually, I could do some test comparisons. The funny thing is though, a lot of the tests that we do in the lab use kits too. They're just WAY more expensive than if you bought one from an aquarium store. A lot of the minerals though, in the lab we just do id tests that check for the presence of the chemical, and not the quantity. But I could compare pH and titrate calcium and magnesium pretty easily.

I do have a refractometer, so I can check salinity. I just have no clue when it comes to brands and quality of test kits.

The tank is new to me, but the previous owner had it running for a long time. I figured I need to test the basic stuff, pH, ammonia, nitrates etc..probably ca for coral

I work in a lab so know how to water test, I'm just used to lab supplies and not the brands available to hobbyists!

Okay, so what are the opinions on water test kits? I'm a bit overwhelmed with the sheer amount of types, brands etc....

What freaked me out and made me remove him was his foot letting go of the rock and his whole body just turning over upside down on the floor. And he didn't feel sticky at all or really respond when I moved him. My GBTA seems perfectly fine.

Well, the condylactis problem didn't end well at all. Thanks Ryan for coming over to look at it. While he was shrivelled up, he completely let detached from his rock and lay upside down on the sand. He was slimy. I kind of panicked thinking he would poison my tank and took him out. Anyone had this kind of experience with an anemone before and have any idea what happened?

That's a good rule of thumb to remember! Cookie defiinitely has spikes....I saw him early this morning next to one of my coral frags with a tentacle out...darn starfish, why can't they keep their tentacles to themselves!

It's a chocolate chip starfish, pretty cool, but I've read that it isn't reef friendly and can munch on coral. My 3 year old loves it though, calls it cookie and watches it all the time. I want to raise coral so.....I've been keeping an eye on it.

My husband was dicing up the shrimp, we may have given it too big a piece. Not sure what size a silverside is...

I'll try the new pump whe I get home tonight and let you know if it makes any difference.

Are you feeding the condy? They are carnivorous, and like to capture food.

Also, it is normal for anemones to inflate/deflate dramatically. As long as it does not look like it disintegrating or not staying attached to a rock, then I wouldn't worry about it.

+1

I have one, it goes from looking like a pile of flat noodles to the below in a few hours.....every single day. Lights out it almost evaporates....20min with lights on and bingo.

that's what mine did look like, but now it turned more brownish, and the very tips, just below the purple spots, are all pinched, like a balloon animal when you twist the balloon to section off a piece. Does that make sense? Wish I had a camera that would do justice to a picture...

We were trying to feed it once a week, maybe twice. Today we tried just to see if it would make it happier. I don't really want to ditch it, I like both of them, but I agree I would ditch it over the bubble tip. Plus, the clown fish would be very angry, and then my daughter would get angry, and she's probably going to get really mad when I tell her we may not be able to keep her starfish because it's probably going to eat my coral!

Yep, we've given it raw shrimp bits and some frozen brine shrimp. The first 2 shrimp bits it devoured. Today it wouldn't hang on to it. The pinching off of the tips of the tentacles is worrying me, it looks really weird, like they're about to become detached and float off. I'm also worried that maybe I made a mistake and shouldn't have put in the GTBA. But they're staying away from each other.

I also think my husband set a profile pic for me, good thing I like Dori and jellyfish!

I ran some water over to Petco on my way back to work and told them I was having a possible condylactis issue, they said the water checked out fine, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite and alkalinity all checked out and were perfect. I'm assuming they checked the pH but I forgot to ask, I can always bring a bit of water to work and check the pH though.

Well, today he wouldn't hang on to a piece of shrimp.

Well, this morning he has inflated some, moved up on top of the rock that he was underneath last night, and he's lost some of his brownish color and is a lot more white. Just about all of his tentacles look pinched at the top, very close to where the dot of color is. But he is a lot more inflated than yesterday, but not opened up.

He deflated and swallowed up his tentacles again.

Well, the BTA won't settle down. He keeps moving all over the tank. He's kept his distance so far from the condylactis, but I'm starting to wonder if we should remove one from the tank - maybe it's too small for both to be happy.

Yeah mr. jibber jabber, seems like you've learned quite a bit!

Did your bubble tip's tentacle tips look like they were pinching off? He's coming out of the rock now, but a lot of the tips look like they're being pinched off and about to literally come off. And he is turning much more brownish green, not nearly as much white as when we first got him.

Oh yeah, but thanks for the info - mr. elite reefer! I'm just a guppy...How's Livi??

I read that too, but haven't seen any fish going near him. He's pulled himself just about completely underneath a rock.

I'm very new to saltwater aquariums, and to the reef club forum. An awesome friend of mine gave me a 29 gallon BioCube, already set up, for my birthday a couple of weeks ago (it is a used aquarium, had been running I think approximately a year). We were very ecstatic and jumped right in (probably before we did enough research, but we were somewhat cautious). I got a condylactis anemone, and at first it seemed very normal for what I know about anemones. Now however, he keeps deflating and pulling his tentacles in, and when I got home from work today and looked at him, some of his tentacles are starting to look like they're pinching off towards the top (he's still somewhat deflated and has pulled himself farther back into the rock). Is this "pinching" normal? He hasn't moved much since he planted himself between a couple of rocks, and he has eaten when we tried to give him a piece of shrimp.

The only water parameter I know right now is the salinity, it's 1.026 (other testing strips and a thermometer are ordered but not here yet), but since my friend set everything up for me very recently I'm fairly confident that the water is good.

Thanks for any help!

Here you go Tim, mostly Acropora but I have a mix of everything. I use tap water and my tank seems fine. I do at prime declor to get rid of the chloramines though.

I was wondering why no one mentioned chlorine - I'm very, very new to saltwater and coral keeping, and was considering using tap water. Thanks for mentioning the chlorine!!

Superman monti, Misbar clown and gbta gone. Thanks Jo Beth and family! It was nice meeting ya'll. List updated

Thanks for your help and all the info! The clownfish found his anemone and everyone seems happy! It was nice to meet you!