Bubble Anemone In A Formerly Coppered Tank...the Chances?

[tinky]

Ok, I coppered my tank about two months ago and the ich went away..for now. I put carbon and purigen in the tank about two weeks ago. I've tested the water and there is no color change at all in the tube. I've added two red shell hermits, a huge blue legged hermit, and a snail and they've all lived during the two weeks. So today I saw a cute little bubble anemone set for $20 so I bought them. The water temp is 79, and I'm at 1.021-1.022 now. The bubbles came out after a bit and they look really healthy. How long would it normally take for them to be affected by any trace amounts of copper? LFS said I couldn't put any in there but I'm pretty stubborn so I tried and so help me god if they live I'll be pretty damn happy....and so will my clown. I tried to up load pics but my host was down, I'll try again tomorrow. Any guesses I'd appreciate it.

20 Gallon blueback
Protien Skimmer
Fluval 104 (Carbon, Purigen)
Volitan Lion
Maroon Clown
Box Fish
Flame Angel
2 Hemits
Blue Legged Hermit
NAS Snail

Thanks, Kyle

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, putting an anemone in a tank that has had copper meds used in it before is kind of like entering a demolition derby without a helmet... Sure you might live, but people are tryin to take runs at you and its not the best idea.

To directly answer your question, could take days, weeks, months, even years, or there might not be enough copper in the seals to do the anemone harm.

 

[tinky]

Ahh, so I guess you are saying it's hit or miss As a rule of thumb, if it lives for more than a week or two I may be safe to get some others perhaps? What I'm saying is that I'm ready to go charging in without a helmet if this guy lives for a bit!

 

[rhysiboy]

just remember that just because your stubborn if it looks like its gonna dye then take it to your lfs. They can live for centuries in the wild not month or years

 

[tinky]

Well, how does one actually tell if its dying? I mean it retracts its...bubbles ...when the lights go out. If it is dying would they just be sucked in all the time and look deflated? If that starts to happen I'll take it back so hopefully they can salvage it.

Another question though, would a snail die faster than a frogspawn? Because the snail is not moving around much lately...

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, that depends, a "Nassarius" snail could be any one of a couple types, some that are sold that way are not nassarius snails at all but coldwater cousins that do not tolerate high temps of reef tanks. How much did you pay for said snail?

Anemones and other corals and many photosynthetic invertebrates will close up and look funky at night times. Some release sweeper tentacles to feed and others shrivel up into almoast nothing. Thats normal behavior. A dying anemone may or may not first "go for a walk" around the tank searching for better conditions. Usually if it continues to suffer, it will likely bleach or drastically change color. Usually the point of no return comes when it starts deflating randomly during the day and having a wide open "gaping" mouth. When you see the gaping mouth, 90% will die. Death usually involves either the anemone turning itself inside out or it simply disintegrating into the water column. Anemones should be removed immediately if either or those conditions are observed as they can either release deadly toxins to the aquarium or provide a massive nutrient spike fouling up the biological filter, the resulting foulup can "nuke" a tank.

 

[tinky]

I believe I paid about 2.99 for the snail. It has what I call the little parascope that sticks out of the sand while he is submerged. He is still alive by the way, so I bought two more turbo snails to help clean up a bit.

Thanks for the info on the anemones, the frogspawn is looking as it did the day we put it in the tank so I'm happy. I also just got some atlantic and it latched onto the rock in a jiffy and it looks really good. Just waiting for my clown to discover it and I'll be happy.

Here's some pics of my guys...hopefully,

http/www.hostdub.com/1967ghia:Bubble_Anemone

http/www.hostdub.com/1967ghia:Tank

http/www.hostdub.com/1967ghia:New_Fish_003

http/www.hostdub.com/1967ghia:New_Fish_008

 

[tinky]

Skifletch you around?