Longnose butterfly fish fin.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Glenn

i'm very concerned with my longnose butterfly. Like a week ago i bought a longnose from my LFS. The problem is that yesterday i noticed that he was missing half of his left pectoral fin!!! When i bought him i made sure that he was healthy and eating, no white spots, no scratching, etc. His fin was fine but as i said i noticed his missing fin. Is this harmful enough to the fish that he could die? Is he gonna grow it back? What can i do to help him recover more quickly? He's still eating and does not look stressed or anything.
Also another question is that i also bought a long tentacle anemone. It looked healthy and everything but i noticed that, mostly  at night but sometimes during the day too, it shiws it's mouth opening and shrinks and also deflates some tentacles to the point in which they look like white spaguetties! Is there something wrong with it? Should i be concerned? Right now it is housing a pair of mated mature maroon clownfish. The tank has been running for more than three years and all the parameters are normal. 0 ammonia 0 nitrites less than 10 nitrates. I use two actinic blue lights and two power compacts. It's a reef tank. The calcium is between 420-470ppm.  
I'm sorry for so many question but i just want to know what's with my fish and what's best for them. Thanks in advance for your answer ! :)

ANSWER: Hey Aldo,
Yikes!!! Hard to be specific without seeing the fish. It's quite possible he was damaged in collection or shipping and it just wasnt visible yet. Do you see inflamation, swelling, discoloration around the fin? Any visible damage(other than the half fin missing)? Is there anything in the system that may have damaged the fin(sharp edges, exposed mechanical filtration)? Judging from the tank mates you mentioned its highly unlikely that its aggression that damaged the fin. If the fish is able to still swim and maneuver well, it should pose no problems in mortality. It will heal, and regrow the fin to a degree, complete regrowth generally doesnt happen. At least not 100% as it was originally.
The nitrates are not a good thing for an anemone. They require pristine water quality. Get the nitrates down and your anemone should be fine. It's not uncommon for them to "deflate" for periods through the day. The "spaghetti" look is most likely due to the nitrates. Fish can handle the nitrates, some corals can even handle them at your levels(most cannot), anemones simply cant handle them.
On a side note, the calcium is a bit high(recommended around 400ppm for a reef system) and you have a pretty big variance in your reading. 420 to 450. You should be able to get a more specific reading. I'd look for a different test kit. Salifert test kits are accurate. Measured at 10ppm increments. Let me know whats going on, if you have any more information. I'd be glad to help.

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QUESTION: Hi Glenn!!!!
I don't see any swelling and/or Inflamation. About discoloration of the fin well it is transparent. He does still swim as if he had nothing. I suspect that either the female maroon clownfish or my onespot foxface was the culprit. I have seen those two harrasing(nothing to be concerned about) the longnose. I really don't have any kind of mechanical filtration inside the tank. The filter is a wet dry trickel filter with a protein skimmer and a uv light thingy. Every piecee of equipment is outside the tank.
About the nitrates do you think i can lower the with those pellets that can supposedly reduce nitrates? If not what other option do i have besides the water changes?
Also about the calcium what i meant with the 420-470 readings is that i use purple up but when the readings are 270ppm i stop using it until it goes to a minimum of 400 i usually don't let it go below 420. But thanks for the info. Now i know that 400ppm is not low. I mostly have soft corals and mushrooms.
another question i had is what brand of buffer do you think is the best? Also do you think Marc Weiss Reef-Vital DNA works?
Moreover just letting you know that the hippo blue tang stopped scratching. The neon gobies really helped a lot !!!!
Thanks for you help!  :)

ANSWER: Hey Aldo,
I would say the Foxface is definitely the prime suspect! Just watch them closely, bullying can escalate once a fish is injured and stress the victim to the point of not eating and death. As I said, as long as he swims and maneuvers ok and is eating he'll be just fine.
Nitrate reducers for marine systems are flighty at best. I don't believe in adding them to a system. Too many risks for the small(if any) gains. Water changes are the way to go. As with most water quality issues, you can reduce the amount of food per feeding and do your water change and you'll get a good handle on the nitrates quickly. You can look into some macroalgae as well, for a permanent stabilizer to water quality. Chaetomorpha and any of the Gracilarias are great exporters for a reef system. They wont do away with water changes, but they are a tremendous help!
I get you with the calcium now. Reefs do well in the 370 to 400 range so you should be great there.
I'm glad to hear about your Hippo Tang! Thats great news! Do keep an eye on him though for a couple more weeks. Better safe than sorry.
Marc Weiss Reef Vital DNA.... I've never personally used this. I have friends that swear by it. I also have friends that say it's a waste of money. I've read about the product thouroughly however and see nothing that would be detrimental, and it is a mix of several different nutrient/supplements all in one. So I can't fault it there. If 1 product can take the place of 3 effectively and safely then why not? As with all supplements use the exact doseage/treatment amount. Let me know how it's going!

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QUESTION: Thanks for the answer !!! About the macro algea where can i buy it? Is it expensive? Also i just read that mangroves remove nitrates very effectively. Do you think this is true?

Answer
Glad I could help! Macro algae are available at almost any local fish store. Fosters and Smith Liveaquaria.com has a good selection and reefcleaners.org has a GREAT selection. Mangroves are good, but they need to have only the roots in the aquarium.... they grow out above the canopy. They are great but dont offer many aquarists the additional food source for fish and some people just dont want them hanging out the top of their aquarium. The Red Mangrove, Rhizopora Mangle, is the most commonly used and the species found closest to shorelines. Works great! You can plant them directly in the substrate(but they will have to grow out of the water eventually), place them in a hang on the back filter, or in a lighted sump. If you buy mangroves that have been used in freshwater, they will have to be acclimated to saltwater slowly over several days. Start with fresh water in a pot, vase, urn, etc then gradually bring the salinity up to match your aquarium over 6 or 7 days. I have them growing out of the top of a sump on one of my 250 gallon systems. They work extremely well. As I said the only drawbacks are they dont provide a grazing source for omnivorous species, and they dont provide the environment for pod growth. Chaetomorpha and Gracialarias provide a nice protective net that pods will thrive in and also provide the additional grazing. There are numerous species to choose from if the appearance is something you dont like as well. Halimenia(Dragons Tongue) is beautiful, a great exporter and the hermits and fish will love it. Just stay away from Caulerpas(especially the grape varieties)... they tend to be a risk(have a sexual stage that can be toxic) and can spread rampantly. You can do combinations(I do), macro algaes and mangroves are usually very inexpensive when purchased locally.