Mini carpet anemone dying? Or doing well?

Ok, so I am new to having a saltwater tank and bought a gorgeous anemone for my tank and I have had it about 2 weeks and I can not tell if it is doing well or dying off 😟. It was bright pink with yellow edges and it is now a brownish color with pale yellow edges. Is it just that I am not using the right lighting or is my anemone just adapting still? He also is a lot smaller! He is eating though, I feed him twice a day and he eats 4-5 brine shrimp each time. Please let me know what you think.

About 3-4 months.

How large is your tank? Replacing a filter pad shouldn't throw a system into a new cycle.

Edited by Pete Moss - April 10 2013 at 4:25pm

When did you update the lights? It's possible the anemone is just getting used to the new lighting.

Pete and chuck, the new lighting was updated before he was put into the tank, and I got him from............ Petco lol I know that is know as like the devils fish store! But they had him under t5s and they said their lighting will only host soft corals and low light needing things so I figured my lights were perfectly fine! His mouth is closed and he eats when I feed him, and like I said I do it two times a day! I do water changes regularly and I spend about 3+ hours a day making sure everything is in place and taken care of (and staring aha!) but everything else in my tank is doing fine, I only do the four basic tests and my calcium test! Do you think I need to check for more things? The guys at petco told me with the water I'm using I should only need calcium and my 4 basic ones. I don't know if this means anything but he was bleaching for about 2 days, but only slightly, now he is gaining back color, maybe he just takes a while to adapt? I'm clueless.

Sounds like too much light too fast. Try to move him in the shade ( if there is any ). If not dim the leds or raise the fixture from the tank and possibly shorten the light cycle.

What kind of 6 gallon tank is it? Fluval edge? How about a full tank shot?



Edited by chuckfu - April 10 2013 at 7:12pm

Too much light.  Tone it down to 10-12 hours at the most.  T5's are not low quality.  They wear out, and I'd bet that Petco (in general) does not spend a whole lot on bulb replacements.  I like blue (actinic) lights at night.  Not 100% necessary though.  Do a internet search on the subject of lighting/ light cycles for lots of info on this.  This will cover night lighting also.

Are the LED's adjustable, turn them down and place them on a timer for a start.

The LEDs aren't adjustable for this set, I can adjust it to where it is further away from the surface! I had it like right on it but I just adjusted it to where it has about 7-8 inches between the surface and the light. And I will start it on a 10 hour tomorrow! Thanks everybody, you have all been a huge help! I will update you guys in like a week so you can see the before and afters! I crosstown fingers that it returns back to normal! Thanks again!

Try feeding it chunks of shrimp or krill or silversides. Brine shrimp isn't much.

Hey sethooo I'm selling a Boostled par30 led light for $50 if intersted, I had it in a evolve 8 like yours and I had a rose bubble tip anemone doing great and u can also grow almost any coral with it , nice shimmering effect too