Alright need other's opinions/ ideas on what to do

[Tango451]

Sorry for the ton of recent questions. This is a repeat of the of a question I asked awhile ago. I have tried everything - jumped up to bigger and more frequent water changes, added a phosphate reactor, cleaned out the entire sump, cut back on feeding, and even switched from nsw to start using a Synthetic (coral pro salt) water. Salinity is 1.024-1.026 constant (usually 1.025), pH is 8.0-8.2, calcium is at 460-480, nitrite normally undetectable except a little showed after I cleaned out the sump - I was expecting this and nitrate jumped to 20ppm after and it's now below 10. However this carpet has been like this for months and months and months - ever since I put him in his new tank. His mouth will not close normally - always inverted. I picked up that blue / purple haddoni and he eats like a champ, extremely sticky, and looks very happy. Which makes me think it's not the tank. I have dual 400 watt radiums and a 65 watt blue t5. Two tomato clowns who lay eggs like crazy host him. From time to time he will eat but not always and not consistently (I quit feeding him tilapia and started feeding shrimp after tilapia was mentioned as possibly bad because it's a freshwater fish - didn't think about that before). A lot of times one of the clown fish will pull the food right from him. And when he eats you see a pearly white kin of transparent bubble like apparatus pop out from the side of his inverted mouth and starts "absorbing" the shrimp. Here is a picture just taken from a few minutes ago. So times his "bubble" (his inverted mouth) looks small and firm - almost all the way in but most of the time he he looks like this picture.

He is sticky, big, firm and has good color. I have had him for years. Is there anything else I could do or try? Is it possible he just has an inverted mouth for whatever reason (maybe it's from when I moved him from his 75 to his 190) and this is how he will be for forever?
Thank you all in advance

 

[Tango451]

Of a question* and kind*

 

[Tango451]

Also does anyone know of a list of things that cause inverted mouths other than stress in haddonis/ carpet anemones in general?

 

[Tango451]

Started dripping just to try and keep everything more constant to try and eliminate as much stress as possible. Could it be the clownfish?

And I heard that a lack of oxygen could cause an inverted mouth as well? However, if this were the case wouldn't the other carpet be showing similar signs of stress?

 

[phender]

After reading your first post, my thought was the tomato clowns may be to rough for your anemone. I see in your last post that occurred to you as well.

Its possible that it could have a bacterial infection that is causing a gas bubble, but I really think if you were able to remove the clowns (sometimes easier said than done) your problem would gradually go away.

 

[D-Nak]

When my giganteas and haddoni eat, they invert their mouths, but after they ingest the food, their mouths quickly go back into their oral disc. Does the mouth appear to have air in it, or is it just something else? If it's trapped air, you can poke it with a needle to release the air. I've seen this happen when nems are removed from the tank, and when added back to the tank air is trapped inside bodies.

 

[Tango451]

His mouth is always inverted. When he does eat, his mouth remains inverted and a whithish clear thin little "bubble" starts coming from the side and grabs it. These clowns are very mean so I wouldn't mind parting with them, but as you said it is way easier said then done. I might try making a trap or leaving a net in for them to get used to it just to give it a shot.

Awhile ago from last post about this I mentioned if it is like the fish "air bladder" and perhaps got air in it when I moved him from his 75 to his new tank. If I were to poke it I am assuming I would need a hollow needle long enough to reach the air to release it? Also, if I do poke it and it is not air - what would be the consequences?

 

[Tango451]

Here is a picture from two minutes ago.

If you look at the side not seeing the mouth - he looks perfectly healthy (at least to me)

 

[Tango451]

And what would be the signs to look for if it is trapped air* ... That is what I thought originally, like it was impossible for him to close his mouth because of air - but then again I am not 100% sure as it was only an idea I had

 

[Tango451]

and here is a picture I took of him as he was finishing his piece of shrimp. If you look to the right of his mouth you can see the really white "bubble" that comes out when he eats to get food

 

[Tango451]

and for the last picture for now, here is one I just took from closer to the sand level - it doesn't look as bad from this angle, as the other angle makes the bubble look higher up. Usually his main "bubble" (mouth) is much more balloon-ed shape and higher, but isn't right now (will probably become higher by later tonight/ tomorrow).

 

[Tango451]

Just purchased selcon to soak his food in to help maybe increase the carpet'a immune system just in case I end up popping it.

Not going to do anything in a hurry, want to make sure I am going to do the right thing. I have been trying to do more research but I haven't found much about it

 

[Tango451]

After reading your first post, my thought was the tomato clowns may be to rough for your anemone. I see in your last post that occurred to you as well.

Its possible that it could have a bacterial infection that is causing a gas bubble, but I really think if you were able to remove the clowns (sometimes easier said than done) your problem would gradually go away.

If it does have a bacterial infection that is causing a gas bubble, do you think popping it would help or no? Also, do you think I should get cipro (have some at home) and use a turkey baster to push dissolved cipro in sea water into his mouth? (- I can't really get him out if I wanted to, he is buried pretty deeply and attached to a large rock under the sand)

I tried pressing on his bubble and pushing on it with a turkey baster (did not push water or anything) and the bubble appeared to somewhat deflate and now it is back and he is not happy (his mouth opened up more and more white is showing)