BTA waste/excrement

[Mazzy]

Posted on my local forum but thought I'd post here too since there are going to be so many more nem keepers than on my local. If you are a member of MI Reefers you may be reading this twice.

My BTA just expelled what I want to assume is 'waste' for the first time. I did several searches though and found some conflicting info as usual so I wanted to check in with you guys.

What the BTA expelled was white, and like a solid 'sac' or slightly misshapen ball. I read several posts on forums with hobbyists talking about nems excreting brown waste, and then one on that Q&A forum Wet Web Media saying they will excrete brown, white, or even black waste and one more (that made the most sense to me actually) by someone claiming to have kept anemones for 10 years on TheReefTank forum stating "whatever color it is when it goes in is the color is should be when it comes out" and that (paraphrased) "anemones will only excrete the exoskeletons and bones of things but hobbyists tend to think their poop is brown and discard it as normal when they see their anemones expelling brown slime. This is actually not normal, is a sign of stress, and action should be taken if you see your anemone expelling brown slimy stuff."

So okay, my nem just expelled this white solid-looking globule. Now, I did feed it a very small piece of grocery store shrimp yesterday so maybe it was rejecting/expelling that, but this looked bigger than that piece. It would make sense if it were expelling waste, as all it has gotten is mysis and that tiny bit of shrimp so these things would all be white, and the exoskeletons of the mysis would be white, etc etc... It didn't "ooze" out either, as is suggested in the posts I read; it 'plopped' out - after what looked like considerable effort by my nem, though he went right back to normal afterward.

Also, the second it 'plopped' out, the MP10 whooshed it away behind the rocks and I can't get to it to remove it.

So, my questions are these: 1. does this sound like 'normal' waste to you? and 2. will something (hermits or nassarius snails or even my sexy shrimp) eat this since I can't find it/get to it to remove it??

Thank you!!!

 

[DasCamel]

They will reject foods they don't like or need.

They will reject foods they don't like or need.

Posted on my local forum but thought I'd post here too since there are going to be so many more nem keepers than on my local. If you are a member of MI Reefers you may be reading this twice.

My BTA just expelled what I want to assume is 'waste' for the first time. I did several searches though and found some conflicting info as usual so I wanted to check in with you guys.

What the BTA expelled was white, and like a solid 'sac' or slightly misshapen ball. I read several posts on forums with hobbyists talking about nems excreting brown waste, and then one on that Q&A forum Wet Web Media saying they will excrete brown, white, or even black waste and one more (that made the most sense to me actually) by someone claiming to have kept anemones for 10 years on TheReefTank forum stating "whatever color it is when it goes in is the color is should be when it comes out" and that (paraphrased) "anemones will only excrete the exoskeletons and bones of things but hobbyists tend to think their poop is brown and discard it as normal when they see their anemones expelling brown slime. This is actually not normal, is a sign of stress, and action should be taken if you see your anemone expelling brown slimy stuff."

So okay, my nem just expelled this white solid-looking globule. Now, I did feed it a very small piece of grocery store shrimp yesterday so maybe it was rejecting/expelling that, but this looked bigger than that piece. It would make sense if it were expelling waste, as all it has gotten is mysis and that tiny bit of shrimp so these things would all be white, and the exoskeletons of the mysis would be white, etc etc... It didn't "ooze" out either, as is suggested in the posts I read; it 'plopped' out - after what looked like considerable effort by my nem, though he went right back to normal afterward.

Also, the second it 'plopped' out, the MP10 whooshed it away behind the rocks and I can't get to it to remove it.

So, my questions are these: 1. does this sound like 'normal' waste to you? and 2. will something (hermits or nassarius snails or even my sexy shrimp) eat this since I can't find it/get to it to remove it??

Thank you!!!

Could he have been over fed?

 

[Mazzy]

It absolutely could have been overfed, which is why I'm not feeding it again for a while. However, to go along with all this, now today, he isn't lookin' so hot. He keeps shriveling up and even when he re-expands it isn't at his full size (not even close), and sometimes his mouth gapes and sometimes I can partially see his guts... 's not good.

Water params are good but I did a small WC anyway.
amon/nitrite 0
nitrate >5ppm/undetectable on API test
phosphate undetectable on API test
*I'm actually wondering if the Rowa-phos that I'm running passively should be taken out since it seems the system is "too pristine"
dKH 10-11 (range for potential human error in droplet size)
pH 8.3
salinity 1.026

I really don't know what else to do for him. A couple of his tentacles seem to be excreting their little purple 'dot' tip as well, so this might be "extracting zooxanthellae"?? I have no idea. It's not looking good though. I won't be feeding him that grocery store shrimp again if he makes it. I looked up "farm raised shrimp" and it's apparently full of pesticides and dyes and such to make it look edible for humans. Wild caught from now on - IF he makes it.

 

[bues0022]

Was the piece of shrimp cooked before you fed it to the nem? How large was it?

I once had my BTA catch an anthias that was knocking in deaths door. When it was expelled it was larger than when it went in, covered in a slimy mucus. My assumption is that whatever digestion started to take place on the exterior caused it to puff up a bit.

 

[Mazzy]

The shrimp wasn't cooked and I removed the shell. It was about 1/8"; just big enough that the baster would hold it but not suck it up. It could be that piece of shrimp as well. It finally did blow toward the front of the tank and I got it out but it was just a brighter white ball of funk by that point (having sat in the tank overnight and even had a really tiny bit of nibbling, presumably from a crab, on one side - maybe what ever tried to eat it decided it was bad too??).

 

[Mazzy]

Whatever the deal was or is, my nem had a really rough day starting with yesterday when it excreted that big piece up until now. All day long I thought he was a goner. He's looking better now but he looked better a few times earlier and then went right back down to shriveling up and protruding his guts.

These pics make it look like he was 'big' most of the day, but that's not the case; it's just when I happened to take pics. There were times he was a shrunken up ball of nothing with only an outline of tiny tentacles and guts where the disk should have been. I truly don't know what the deal was because my tank params are good, but no matter what it is I won't be feeding that shrimp again.

The nems bad day:

First his foot stretched way out away from his rock so that his whole body would lift and blow in the current, instead of what's normal: for only his tentacles to move and you don't even see his foot.



His foot turned very pale. even though you can't usually see it, the very edge that you usually can see is pretty vivid purple. Not today.





Sometimes his mouth would gape and you'd see his insides (many times WAY more than in this pic).



All day long, no matter if he was slightly inflated or completely deflated, one side of his foot had this bulbous protrusion (the second pic is blurry but it does give a better idea of the bulge).





At one point you could see this spot of white dots on his foot and a couple of his tentacles were excreting the purple 'tip' on the end.



And now, after, oh... maybe 18 hours, he's been holding steady with a more normal look but is still very small/deflated/folded. At least his mouth is closed though and he seems to be retaining this small shape, even though over half his tentacles are still really small and even the ones that are 'full' are not as poofy as he normally looks (typically you can't even see his disk through his bubble tips).



It's been a rough day for him and for me and right now, with his size and semi-inflation it's almost like he's exhausted from it all. (lol but still ) Hopefully he maintains and improves now rather than slipping back into the bad phases.

 

[fishroomlady]

it sounds to me like the food you gave it didn't sit well and may have been too large of piece? From what I can tell, the coloring still looks good and it's footed both good signs. I'd just leave it be for now and definitely don't feed it what you did the other day.

I would suggest not to feed an anemone more than twice a week tops and a small amount.

 

[Mazzy]

thank you. I'm leaving him alone now and just letting him relax and do his thing. I have two sexy shrimp that, of all the times, have just yesterday randomly decided to host in him, which I'd rather didn't happen with him seemingly not as happy as he was a week ago. I shoo'd them away last night and put a net over him just so he could "get some rest" so to speak but took it off before I went to bed (I didn't know if there was a chance they could get a tentacle caught or something so I didn't want to risk it when I wasn't there to see it). They were back in there this morning but he's looking better too.