are these rotting tentacles on my BTA??

[Jamie1210]

I got this rBTA as a clone from a fellow reefer 3.5 months ago. It's not bleached, it's mouth is not gaping open, its mouth is tightly closed, it eats like a pig, but my concern is that ever since yesterday, I noticed that one of its tentacles have these curly brown things on the tips. Today I noticed that a few more tentacles have these curly noodle-like things. However, the anemone isn't spewing curly noodle-like things from its mouth; these are only on its tentacles. I did notice, however, that it's shrunken today, whereas it almost NEVER deflates previously.

I've seen pics of sick BTAs that are bleached, starving, etc, but mine seem to be in perfect health except for these curly things on its tentacle tips. What should i do? i posted some BLURRY pics, and I circled them in black.

TIA!
Jamie

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[traveller7]

Appears to be a predator or water condition.

Do you have shrimp, nudibranchs, cowries, butterflies, angels, or clowns in the tank?
Is the anemone under the location of Kalk drip, top off, additive dosing, etc?

Most common culprits are the clowns and shrimp eating the tentacles.

 

[MarinaP]

Re: are these rotting tentacles on my BTA??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10614640#post10614640 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jamie1210
I noticed that one of its tentacles have these curly brown things on the tips. Today I noticed that a few more tentacles have these curly noodle-like things.

I cannot really tell from the pics for sure, but these "noodle-like things" could be mesenterial filaments used by anemones for defense. Clear pic will help.

 

[Jamie1210]

ok, I will try to get a clearer pic tonight. The anemone isn't near any top off's, I dose in the sump. I'll do a water change and test for water params later tonight. There are 2 true percs that host in them, but they've been hosting for 3.5 months now ... other shrimp, hermits, etc. don't appear to be bothering it ...

will try getting better pics tonight and water params out.

thanks for the replies!

 

[Jamie1210]

it's practicaly impossible to get a good pic of the curly things b/c they're sooo tiny, and on the tip of the tentacles but based on what i've said, has anyone ever seen these curly things happen to their BTA's tentacle tips?

Usually, it doesn't have bubble tips, but currently it does, yet, it's almost three times as small as it usually is and although it hasn't moved from the rock where it sits, it's shifted position so that the tentacles point sideways, and half of it is hidden and unable to get light. Does this mean that it might be splitting?

Just did a water change, and I have my fingers crossed that it'll either perk up, or get this split over with, bc I'm getting pretty frazzled over it!

Any suggestions, ideas, comments, etc would be most welcome!!

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[Jamie1210]

Also, here's the other tank parameters info:

Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: >500 ppm (Salifert)
Alk: 9.6 dKH/3.43 meq/L
pH: 8.0

 

[E.J. Coral]

Hey Jamie,

They sure look like messentrial(spelling?) fillaments. Is possible that they were expelled from the mouth and subsequently grabbed by the tentacles? I ask because the tentacles look deformed and somewhat "empty" for lack of a better description. Expulsion of the messenterial filaments along with lthe appearance of "empty" body/tentacles is something that I have observed with bacterial infections .Has the anemone eaten, and if so have you observed the waste....?

 

[chrisstie]

For the rest of us following this thread could you elaborate more specifically on what kind of shrimps could harm a Bta like this?

Mine has been a little funky lately too and my water parameters are fine and I dont dose near the anemone but I have been slightly concerned about my cleaner shrmips and\or copperband

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10623384#post10623384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisstie
For the rest of us following this thread could you elaborate more specifically on what kind of shrimps could harm a Bta like this?

Mine has been a little funky lately too and my water parameters are fine and I dont dose near the anemone but I have been slightly concerned about my cleaner shrmips and\or copperband

Peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaners, etc., are opportunistic feeders and will not only pick at anemone flesh but they will climb right in a steal food.

Copperbands can pick at anemone tentacles and column.

IMHO, it is an error to focus on the filaments in the posted picture, almost every tentacle is showing some level of deformity or damage. Damaged tentacles will frequently exhibit discharged/exposed filaments.

fwiw: clowns are one of the most frequent culprits, biting and twisting off the tentacles.

 

[chrisstie]

I have all of the above in my tank. I find some pieces of tentacles detatched and on the sandbed so I was happy to see this thread. I just haven't caught anyone in the act and am not sure who to point a finger at or who to remove if it becomes a problem for the anemone's health.

 

[Jamie1210]

Thanks for everyone's replies, and here are some answers to some questions, as well as other extraneous info.

The anemone ate 2 nights ago seemingly just fine, despite those damaged tentacles ... however, i really don't know what could be damaging it. I have 1 fire shrimp and 1 peppermint ... but they only go near the 'nem at feeding time .. and even then, I distract them w/their own chunk of shrimp or silverside first Otherwise, they don't even go near it. After a few hours of lights off last night, I shined a flashlight on it, and there was only a hermit crab sitting close by it, but wasn't doing anything to it. Haven't observed my percs biting the tentacles or anything.

E.J., I don't think the filaments were expelled by the mouth, but originated from the tentacles. Why? Ok, i KNOW i should've left it alone, but I was curious too: i gently tugged at it to see if it was maybe just debris (wishful thinking!), and it just kept elongating from the tips! So, yep, definitely tentacle-originated.

Traveller, if you think it's damaged tentacles, if you've seen this on your own BTA's, will it eventually heal?

Basically, what do you guys think I should be doing in the meantime? Just every-other-day water changes? or is that too extreme?

I'll try feeding it later tonight and let you guys know if it'll continue to eat, which i hope. the lights are not on yet, but just from the semi-darkness, the tentacles look to be inflated again.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

Sorry for all this reading i'm making you guys do, but hey, details are good, right?

jamie

 

[Jamie1210]

ok, i have some good news for those who've been following this thread:

last night, i noticed that VERY same hermit crab (it's got a funky looking shell, so i KNOW it's the same one!haha) was hanging around the foot of the anemone while it was all shrunken up, this was once again when the lights were out. so i decided not to take any chances and chucked it into the sump.

This mornig it was totally taking a poop--and the poop looked normal.

Then I came back from research in the evening and noticed that almost all of those strange filaments have disappeared except for maybe 2 or 3. the tentacles are BUBBLY again--i've never had it bubble on me, not even when i first bought it! it's still eating silversides too.

It's still smaller than when I bought it, but I think it just may be on its way to recovery

 

[traveller7]

The anemone can recover, and will quickly once the culprit is found. In my humble opinion, it is not the hermit crab.

 

[chrisstie]

it sounds like whatever was annoying it has stopped.

I am still weary of my copperband or shrimps because I see one or two tentacles actually detatched but he's looked better since he crawled to a different spot on my rock.