Anemone Ick?

[38bill]

I have a pair of condy anemones that I have been in my tank for about 7 years now. They have been very well behaved and were beautiful until about 5 months ago. First thing I noticed were some small spots that looked like cysts. The anemones continued to look good for a while and I thought they may just get over whatever it was. Well, that hasn't happened. They don't really look like they are going to die any time soon but the sure don't look like they used to. Have any of you seen anything like this before

 

[jubbers]

as anemones age and get closer to death they begin to lose their color. 7 years is pretty long for an anemone to live.

 

[billsreef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10305984#post10305984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jubbers
as anemones age and get closer to death they begin to lose their color. 7 years is pretty long for an anemone to live.

Loss of color typically has nothing to do with age. Also, while 7 years might be long for an anemone in captivity, their lifespan in the wild is considered essentially limitless. So 7 years is not old for an anemone.

In this case, it looks like growths that can occur as a result of damage or abrasions. You might want to try changing the current patterns in the tank around a bit and seeing how it responds.

 

[Anemone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10305984#post10305984 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jubbers
as anemones age and get closer to death they begin to lose their color. 7 years is pretty long for an anemone to live.

And this bit of sterling knowledge is based upon what?

Kevin

 

[38bill]

In fact their color is still good, its probably the photos that are bad. The problem is the spots (see first photo, little white spots). They appear to be a cyst in, not on, the tissue of the anemone. Now they are causing damage to the tissue. It looks like the anemones have a bad case of acne. You can see the damage in the second photo. The tentacles are pinched and the column has scarring.

 

[38bill]

Darn!!!!!!! I answered my own question. I was taking some more photos to try to show the problem more clearly and I actually caught one of the cysts hatching. Now what do I do??????

 

[billsreef]

Any chemical treatments are likely to be harmful to the anemone as well. It might pay to set up a QT for the anemone and siphon those buggers out as they hatch. In any event, manual removal is going to be the best bet.

 

[xxpipedreamxx]

OK I am going out on a limb and say something completely stupid here...

Do you have porcelain anemone crabs in the tank? From the little picture, it appears to have three pairs of walking legs and two pinchers.

I tried to do a little digging on the subject but it is late and I am tired.

Please do not flame me hehe