Bubble Tip Anemone in my tank..

[LazyD]

Hey all, about a month ago I traded a friend of mine my old Tidepool 2 sump system for a healthy amount of liverock, on the liverock I got a colony I guess you could say, its about 5 seperate red mushrooms on one rock and a bubble tip anemone on another rock, it was doing alright for the first few days but then it moved and went hidden for a while, it finally came back about 1 - 2 weeks ago looking horrible, it looks like 50-60% of the "tentacles" are missing and they dont extend out at all like they used to..Can I save it, and if so, what should I do here are my tank specs

85 Gallon Tank
260 Watt Power Compacts
SG: 1.025
Temp: 78
Nitrates, Ammonia, Nitrites: 0
Calcium: 380

I moved the rock the anemone is on to the top of my rockwork so its getting the most of my lighting, I also recently started putting Marine Snow in, im worried that because its tentacles dont come out anymore that its not even possible to spot feed it, I have a tomato clown that doesnt even notice it. Any reccomendations?

 

[finding nemo]

Sounds like it is starving, have you not been feeding it all of this time?
Get some silversides and cut one up and drop it on its mouth and see if it will take it.
Short nubby tenticles mean starvation, what color is the anemone?

 

[dantodd]

re-run your nitrate test. I have a very hard time believing it is accurate considering you just added a bunch of new (to you) live rock.

SG looks good
temp is a little low for anemones most folks keep the water at least 80.

I think that the lighting may be a little low. If you have a tall liverock stack it might be OK but he won't like being on top of the live rock. BTAs prefer to have their foot in a rock crevice that is protected and then stick their oral disk out for light.

At this point you're better off that the tomato doesn't both the anemone. Try feeding it a little bit of finely chopped up silverside as karen suggested. You can try chopped up raw shrimp or scallop if you don't have any silverside yet. Feed right next to the mouth and see if it can get it in his mouth. DO NOT shove the food into his mouth, that can be fatal.

 

[LazyD]

My tank was already established with around 65 lbs of liverock and the liverock I traded him for was out of an established tank he had.

I know the temp is low, I need to get a different, or another heater, any suggestions, right now I have an all glass aquariums heater, I believe 250Watts and it just doesnt keep it up to snuff.

Ive heard alot of people feeding silversides, I honestly dont know A. What exactly they are, and B. where I can get them

As for color, its a tannish brown color

 

[finding nemo]

A picture of silversides from my web site.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/karenssaltwater/silversides1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a>

 

[LazyD]

Ah, nice, how small of pieces do you suggest I cut them into both for my anemone and my fish?

 

[dantodd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7395535#post7395535 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LazyD
My tank was already established with around 65 lbs of liverock and the liverock I traded him for was out of an established tank he had.

I understand but there are a ot of things that die with just a few seconds exposure to air, sponges for example, which I'm sure died or were damaged in your transfer. I'm sure that the existining biofilter can take care of the die off quickly enough but that will create nitrates. Are you exporting nitrates?

I know the temp is low, I need to get a different, or another heater, any suggestions, right now I have an all glass aquariums heater, I believe 250Watts and it just doesnt keep it up to snuff.

I have the same problem. I'm adding a second heater. Ebo Jager but the quality of those have been going down lately too.

Ive heard alot of people feeding silversides, I honestly dont know A. What exactly they are, and B. where I can get them

I see karen has already answered that one.

As for color, its a tannish brown color

That's a good sign. This means he hasn't "bleached" at all. When they are heavily stressed and don't get adequate light they will expell the algae colony that gives them that color. The colony also helps feed the anemone between meaty meals. When they go to a new aquarium they regulate the growth of their colony be controlling how much light they get.

 

[LazyD]

So that would imply there is still hope for this little guy, I imagine I would need to chop the silversides up pretty small since he has nubs for tentacles...

 

[dantodd]

With BTAs there is always help as long as they are in good water/light. They are pretty resiliant as anemones go.

Just take it slow.

 

[baussie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7395535#post7395535 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LazyD
My tank was already established with around 65 lbs of liverock and the liverock I traded him for was out of an established tank he had.

Doesn't matter...stuff dies quickly and will foul your water. I have a bta that split from a friend's bta that has some bleached tips and some nubs. I'm letting it rehabilitate itself. I keep the water parameters good, and offer it food. For almost 2 months is has refused food. BUT!...I noticed improvement this morning; the bleaching on its tips seems to be shrinking & its tentacle nubs seem to have grown just a bit.

My point is..leave the bta alone. Do your part by keeping the water clean and chemical parameters good. Offer food, but don't try to force it to eat. Good luck!