Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

when a rose anemone dies does it give off toxins ?? i have had him for about 5 months...i am asking because this morning i looked at my tank and everything was dead my new corcea clam (two days old), my pistol shrimp (7 months old), my serpent star (4months),a mushroom and a featherduster was out of his tube...yesterday i checked the water parameters and they were fine so i am thinking the anemone died and took everything else with it ?? all i have left is a horseshoe crab and a queen conch

When an Anemone dissolves it could do this. But you also have to think of the possibility of something else causing everything to die. I have had several Anemone's die and everything live.

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of months ago, Sorry to hear about your loss. I lost ALOT of fish with no explanation. All levels were perfect. But everything is great once again. I would do a 25-30% water change for good measure though.

Dave

Its weird the evening before everything went bad i turned the light out and the next morning the first thing i saw was the anemone was dead and my clam was dead also..is there any way the clam could have died then the anemone ?? the clam was perfect when i left he was reactive and was real healthy looking (extended his mantle good and bright colors)..well i tested the water today and my results were perfect across the board except for nitrates which were like 80 but i think this is from everything dying because doesnt it go from ammonia to nirtites to nitrates ?? thanks

Just my opinion, but I don't think your nitrates would climb that fast... you would have more ammonia and nitrites than anything unless it's been a few weeks.

everything died saturday night i tested friday morning and everything was fine....what would cause nitrates to climb so high like that ??... i do have an idea i think it is my mechanical filters how often are you supposed to change the "pads" or floss ??

WARNING.....Mechanical Filters ? Pads ? We all need to talk.

besides the filters i mentioned i have a uv sterilizer and i have a berlin skimmer...the tank has a 3" sand bed and about 30- 40 lbs of live rock

Well that last thing you want in a Reef Tank is Bio Balls or anything to hold detritus, this is the norm. So any foam pads, sponges, filter pads get rid of them. Even people that run filter socks do not keep them in for any amount of time.

The beauty of the Reef Tank is that they do not require mechanical filteration to thrive. I have no skimmers on any tanks, no filter socks, no foam, no floss. So far going on at least 8 months with no mechanical filteration and zero problems, in fact less problems that ever before.

Just sharing my thoughts:

Two years ago, I bought a "ritteri" anemone from Peter for the 29 G tall in the office. It died overnight, and everything died also. Before that, everything was okay.

That is not unheard of with that particular anemone, though. The "ritteri" anemones can and often do these rapid dying events. This is quite uncommon for rose anemones though. What was the temperature doing? Also, when anything dies, especially anemones, the dissolved O2 levels drop dramatically. Of course, this depends upon the gut contents of the anemone when it dies, its size, temp, etc. Something like this can kill everything.

I agree with snoop on the non use of mechanical filtration. I have a 120 gal. with 3" sand bed and about 200lbs LR. I have a skimmer but only use it for 3 or 4 days a month. I have WAY less problems since going to this method.

I would get as much LR as your budget will allow though.

Dave

yes i will try to get as much live rock as i can but money has been tight do you think my 30-40 lbs of live rock will be enough with my sand so that i dont need the mechanical filters ?? on a side not i also have a 20 gallon that has a mechanical filter with about 20 lbs of live rock in it and about a 2" sand bed i guess i can stop mechanical filtration on this also ?? it has been running for a year next month...i have been looking around and i have read that water changes are the quickest and best way to get rid of nitrates right ? thanks again so much for the information

dave3112 wrote:I agree with snoop on the non use of mechanical filtration. I have a 120 gal. with 3" sand bed and about 200lbs LR. I have a skimmer but only use it for 3 or 4 days a month. I have WAY less problems since going to this method.

I would get as much LR as your budget will allow though.

Dave

I attribute it to "hands not in the water" theory. The less I screw with it the better.

The happenings on my Anemone dying are probably different than others. I got the body out fairly quickly. Of course anything dead on a tank can cause horrible stink, especially Xenia.

how soon after a water change should you test the water for nitrates ?? thanks