Anem abuse!

[Greg manton]

ifind anneome to be a huge biolaod specialy when first catering to acclimate. keep a close eye on water quality, i have had one it was in poor shape' when nursing back to health all the food can be a huge nutrient adder and i had a reasonably stocked 65 gallon at the time, hope all yours pulls through well and you have to post pix when it gets big

 

[sarahkucera]

Just to give you an idea if you indeed have an H Crispa, which I believe that you do, of the size that it may quickly reach.

This is a 125 gallon tank.
Full tank shot.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/120106/DSC04111.JPG" width=600 height=329>


The monster H Crispa.
Capable of downing an entire silverside in one gulp, she continues to grow.
I'm only feeding about once a week now. Sometimes I feed half a silverside twice a week. Of course, she also picks up shrimp from the water column during feeding.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/120106/DSC04125.JPG" width=600 height=450>


Head on shot.
Thriving under power compact lighting.
She's probably about 14 inches across now.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/120106/DSC04129.JPG" width=600 height=450>

 

[macperry]

Raoul...how do I post bigger pics with the 50kb limit? Sarahkucera...did your nem have very short tentacles like mine when it was younger? Mine has been prending a lot of time pretty tightly balled up today after some serious perc abuse.

 

[illcssd]

I take my bta guess back, with the newest pic, your anemone is h. crispa.

 

[macperry]

What made you change your mind illcssd? It looks exactly like your avatar.

 

[raoul]

macperry - sorry, I have no idea how to make them bigger, I don't even know how to post them, I have to ask my husband to do that for me, I just know that people post a variety of sizes and thought it might be helpful seeing a bigger picture. We might see something we didn't see before.

The second pic is helpful in ruling out bta though. Bta's have smooth undersides, and there's verrucae visible in your updated pic.

Are those bumps (verrucae) on the underside adhesive? With the nems that have them, some are adhesive and some aren't, so that will help with the process of elimination. Crispa will have adhesive verrucae.

Good luck!

 

[sarahkucera]

illcssd
I think you are confusing original poster's pictures with my pictures, since the only recent pictures came from me that show a definite H Crispa. Jury is still out on whether original poster has an H Crispa or not, but I am still of the opinion that it is. Larger and clearer pictures would help still in that matter. I definitely have an H Crispa, and she's about 14 inches across today, really showing off. The following pictures are from July when she first went in the tank. As you can see she has nearly doubled in size since I put her in my tank, that's some rapid monster growth!

macperry
I can answer your question about the picture posting, since I'm the one who posted the giant pictures. I host on an offsite server (in my case it's my own server) and insert the pictures through html codes. You can post whatever size pictures you would like that way if you put the html codes in as part of your text. You are limited to the small pictures when you host them on the RC server.

On to the meat of this reply:
My nem actually looked about a million times worse than yours when it came to me because it came from a tank tear down and neglectful lighting because the old owner thought it was prettier when it was white with purple tips.


This is what I started with on 7/11/06.
A gross blob with hardly any tentacles and seriously looking like it was on deaths doorstep.
But she had a nice tight mouth and a super sticky foot. So I thought there might be hope.
When I put her in the tank she actually gripped onto my hand in the few seconds I was holding her.
It was like she was thanking me for taking her.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/071106/DSC08866.JPG" width=600 height=484>


By 7/23/06 I had this.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/072306/DSC09490.JPG" width=800 height=600>

Some pretty short tentacles.
And she was about half the size she is today.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/072306/DSC09479.JPG" width=600 height=450>

A closeup of her tentacles looking short, but starting to color up nicely.
I had just fed her in this picture so her mouth was looking a little puckery.
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/072306/DSC09478.JPG" width=600 height=450>

 

[illcssd]

Sarah:
I know that those pictures came from you, i was refrencing her second picture she just posted. The verrucae on that clearly dismiss and bta and definitly point to h. crispa.

Macperry: The anemone in my avatar is h. magnifica, aka ritteri anemone. It is extremely big and with a bigger picture you would see the difference.

Lets see if i can get a pic of my h. crispa that i am currently bringing back from a bleached state. Looks somewhat like the pictures you posted macperry.

 

[macperry]

Some interesting developements to share. I had been working on a Tunze NanoStream 6025 mod that would decrease the flow so I could use it in my tank without turning it into a snow globe. Finally got it figured out, and installed it in the tank last night. The pump is great...got rid of all the dead spots, and all the coral looks happier already. A side effect was the percs got so interested in swimming in the new flow...they decided to leave the anem alone for a while. It has moved a little further into the rocks. Do you all think this is just until it gets used to the new flow? I'm pretty sure it wont get the required light where it is now. Take a look at the pic and please let me know what you think.

 

[macperry]

sarahkucera: thank you very much for the instructions on how to post bigger pics. I'm going to look into Photobucket or something like that. As for my nem....what do you think about my last post and pic?

illcssd: It would be great if you could post a full pic of the avatar anem....thanks.

 

[illcssd]

Well, i don't have any recent pictures, but these are two that i have saved on photobucket......Sorry about the low quality.

 

[macperry]

illcssd: Thanks for the pics. Your anem sure looks exactly like mine. What kind of magnifica is it? Let me know if you can find any of those crispa pics to use for comparison. If mine truly is a magnifica, it would explain why it is heading for the rocks. Does yours like moderate water flow?

 

[illcssd]

kind of magnifica? Heteractis magnifica. Thats it.
I will try to get a pic when i get home later this week, currently i am house/business watching for my boss.

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8678833#post8678833 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macperry
Just tried to feed my anem some fresh scallops.....but the perc came over and took the food right out of the anems mouth! Is this "normal" behavior? Also...I got a better pic that may hepl someone ID this anem for me. Any help out there?

The white verrucae (bumps) on the underside of the anemone and the tentacle shape give a pretty positive ID. You have either a H. crispa or H. malu. The faint yellow markings on the column bring H. malu into play, but it is more than likely H. crispa. They are both commonly refered to as sebae anemones.

The good news is that it is not bleached. The bad news is that the tentacles are way shorter than they should be which means that the anemone has been consuming itself for a while to stay alive. They can be brought back once they start this trend with good lighting and feeding but it is not always easy. Having two clowns beating it up don't help its chances. If you could isolate the clowns somehow for a while, your anemone would stand a better chance.

 

[macperry]

phender: Thank you very much for taking the time to supply the ID. From all I have read, and all the pics I have looked at, I have to agree that it is indeed a crispa. The experiment with the Tunze nanostream was very interesting. The increased flow caused the percs to leave the anem alone all day today. Problem is, the anem retreated a little further under the rocks to get into some reduced flow. When I turn the Tunze off, the percs go right back to the enem...which is now tightly balled up again in the crevice of the sand and rocks. Don't quite know what to do about this situation....although I have learned that patience is one of the keys to this hobby.

 

[macperry]

Moved one of the large rocks that was over hanging the anem, and turned the Tunze off, and now I have one happy looking anem! The percs are busy exploring the new layout, and the anem looks like it is anchored very nicely in full light and flow.

 

[macperry]

phender: Is there any kind of supplement that could be administered with a turkey baster that would help "fatten" up the anem and get it back on the road to health?

 

[phender]

Liquid supplements at this point just tend to pollute your water.
If I were in your situation I would find a small bag frozen seafood medley at the grocery store. Everyday try to feed a small(pencil eraser size) piece of one of the selections until you find one it reacts to. I often gently rub the food in the tentacles first. That will sometimes encourage the anemone to grab the food or push out its stomach. If there is no reaction don't bother it anymore and try another food the next day. If there is a reaction, place the food close to the mouth and keep the fish away. Don't leave the anemone. If the food isn't eaten in 15 minutes remove the food. Once you have gone thru a complete rotation of foods, start over again. You can also try mysis in the rotation. I have had good luck getting them started with scallops for some reason, then I usually switch them to something else once they start eating with some vigor. Once you get it eating, feeding 3 times a week is enough.
One of the reasons I use these foods is that I can eat them over pasta if the anemone doesn't like them and the mysis I can feed to my fish.

Good luck. If your anemone is already eating and keeping the food down then you shouldn't have much trouble getting it back in shape.
If your light is good and bright and your water quality is good, anemones can live for months without directly eating anything, but the longer they don't eat, the more difficult it is to get them started again.

 

[raoul]

Don't forget to thaw the food before you try to feed your nem I know it seems like a no brainer, but sometimes you just never know what people will do

 

[RedSonja]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8700862#post8700862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macperry
phender: Is there any kind of supplement that could be administered with a turkey baster that would help "fatten" up the anem and get it back on the road to health?

I thaw frozen mysis in Selcon to feed 'nems, but as Phender said you have to be careful with dumping excess nutrients in your tank. If it eats mysis or shrimp or scallop bits w/o it, I wouldn't worry about it. Me putting a few drops of Selcon in a 110g+ plus system isn't as much impact as putting it in a nano system.

-Sonja