Anemone and lighting puzzle?

[Knowleman]

Got a green bubble anemone a few days ago. It rooted within a few
hours with its foot buried at the back of a little cave in the
rockwork. There is now a strange lighting related routine that seems
to go against the text books:

1. The Arcadia 4 tube lighting system comes on at half power (1 white
and 1 blue tube) at 0730 on a timer. Over the next hour or so, the
anemone comes out fully, completely surrounding the mouth of the cave
(about 8-10 inches in diameter)

2. Second timer kicks in at 1200 switching lighting system to full (2
white, 2 blue). At this point, the anemone begins to retreat,
shrinking to about half of the full diameter (with quite a bit of it
in the shade of the cave). It stays like this for about 1.5 to 2 hours
then completely retreats into the cave with nothing of it exposed.

3. Timer switches lighting back to half power at 1600. Anemone remains
hidden for another hour or so then begins to emerge slowly, eventually
back to about half the full diameter. It then stays like this until
lights switch off for the night at 2300.

OTHER INFO:

We originally had the lights switching to full power a lot earlier in
the day and switching back to half power later, but have been
gradually reducing the full lighting period given the anemone's
apparent sensitivity to more intense light. The retreating and
re-emergence appears to be linked to the time the lights are switched
from one level to the other, though we have not had the anemone long
enough to be absolutely certain of this.

We have couple of young tank bred percula clowns who took to the
anemone pretty much straight away. Other than these, we have a few
other fish, three cleaner shrimp and a few hardy soft corels (from the
"good for beginners" list).

Anemone looks healthy and appears to be feeding OK (grabbing bits of
brine shrimp that float its way).

QUESTIONS:

In theory, what is a reasonable lighting schedule for a mixed reef
tank with an anemone and soft corels?

Does the anemone behaviour described seem normal/unusual?

Cheers
Knowleman

[CheezWiz]

What kind of lighting was it in before you acquired it?
Was it shipped to you in the dark?
Did it take root when the lights were on full blast?

It is known that when an anemone has been in the retail loop
(Capture/breeder->end buyer) that they do not get the light that they would
naturally be used to in the wild. Therefore it is important to acclimate
them slowly to the new lighting arrangement as you would a coral.

Depending on its light requirements, it may have taken up residence too
high, but it will move on its own if necessary...


"Knowleman" > wrote in message
om...
> Got a green bubble anemone a few days ago. It rooted within a few
> hours with its foot buried at the back of a little cave in the
> rockwork. There is now a strange lighting related routine that seems
> to go against the text books:
>
> 1. The Arcadia 4 tube lighting system comes on at half power (1 white
> and 1 blue tube) at 0730 on a timer. Over the next hour or so, the
> anemone comes out fully, completely surrounding the mouth of the cave
> (about 8-10 inches in diameter)
>
> 2. Second timer kicks in at 1200 switching lighting system to full (2
> white, 2 blue). At this point, the anemone begins to retreat,
> shrinking to about half of the full diameter (with quite a bit of it
> in the shade of the cave). It stays like this for about 1.5 to 2 hours
> then completely retreats into the cave with nothing of it exposed.
>
> 3. Timer switches lighting back to half power at 1600. Anemone remains
> hidden for another hour or so then begins to emerge slowly, eventually
> back to about half the full diameter. It then stays like this until
> lights switch off for the night at 2300.
>
> OTHER INFO:
>
> We originally had the lights switching to full power a lot earlier in
> the day and switching back to half power later, but have been
> gradually reducing the full lighting period given the anemone's
> apparent sensitivity to more intense light. The retreating and
> re-emergence appears to be linked to the time the lights are switched
> from one level to the other, though we have not had the anemone long
> enough to be absolutely certain of this.
>
> We have couple of young tank bred percula clowns who took to the
> anemone pretty much straight away. Other than these, we have a few
> other fish, three cleaner shrimp and a few hardy soft corels (from the
> "good for beginners" list).
>
> Anemone looks healthy and appears to be feeding OK (grabbing bits of
> brine shrimp that float its way).
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> In theory, what is a reasonable lighting schedule for a mixed reef
> tank with an anemone and soft corels?
>
> Does the anemone behaviour described seem normal/unusual?
>
> Cheers
> Knowleman

[Mislav]

>> Got a green bubble anemone a few days ago. It rooted within a few
>> hours with its foot buried at the back of a little cave in the
>> rockwork. There is now a strange lighting related routine that seems
>> to go against the text books:

It is very likely that anemone needs to adapt to new light conditions. You
should give it one month or more to see how will it adapt. Probably before
you bought this anemone it didn't get very much light.
The other possibility is that light spectrum of your aquarium is much
different from the spectrum it used to be exposed to. That means that
pigments in its tissue do not protect it enough from the light in your tank
so it needs to develop pigments adapted for new spectrum.


Mislav

[Knowleman]

Thanks to those who responded on this problem. The anenome is now we
settled. It obviously needed to acclimatise as you guys suspected. I
reduced the intense lighting period right down and gradually extended
it by an hour a day. Anemone is now behaving and feeding well. Clowns
seem to love it.

(Knowleman) wrote in message >...
> Got a green bubble anemone a few days ago. It rooted within a few
> hours with its foot buried at the back of a little cave in the
> rockwork. There is now a strange lighting related routine that seems
> to go against the text books:
>
> 1. The Arcadia 4 tube lighting system comes on at half power (1 white
> and 1 blue tube) at 0730 on a timer. Over the next hour or so, the
> anemone comes out fully, completely surrounding the mouth of the cave
> (about 8-10 inches in diameter)
>
> 2. Second timer kicks in at 1200 switching lighting system to full (2
> white, 2 blue). At this point, the anemone begins to retreat,
> shrinking to about half of the full diameter (with quite a bit of it
> in the shade of the cave). It stays like this for about 1.5 to 2 hours
> then completely retreats into the cave with nothing of it exposed.
>
> 3. Timer switches lighting back to half power at 1600. Anemone remains
> hidden for another hour or so then begins to emerge slowly, eventually
> back to about half the full diameter. It then stays like this until
> lights switch off for the night at 2300.
>
> OTHER INFO:
>
> We originally had the lights switching to full power a lot earlier in
> the day and switching back to half power later, but have been
> gradually reducing the full lighting period given the anemone's
> apparent sensitivity to more intense light. The retreating and
> re-emergence appears to be linked to the time the lights are switched
> from one level to the other, though we have not had the anemone long
> enough to be absolutely certain of this.
>
> We have couple of young tank bred percula clowns who took to the
> anemone pretty much straight away. Other than these, we have a few
> other fish, three cleaner shrimp and a few hardy soft corels (from the
> "good for beginners" list).
>
> Anemone looks healthy and appears to be feeding OK (grabbing bits of
> brine shrimp that float its way).
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> In theory, what is a reasonable lighting schedule for a mixed reef
> tank with an anemone and soft corels?
>
> Does the anemone behaviour described seem normal/unusual?
>
> Cheers
> Knowleman