Hey everyone,
I picked up a green carpet anemone (Haddoni) about a month ago and I suspect a bacterial infection. The mouth was open at the time of purchase (It looked like it was being fed atm), but otherwise it seemed to be in great condition. From the start the foot was never really sticky although it did stay in one spot for a week or two until it came lose.
Last week it got sucked into the powerhead and because I had to stay at a friends house for a few days I had to pull it out quickly (about a square inch chunk got ripped off in the process). Since then and maybe a little before then it has been expelling little brown balls that look like popcorn kernels. I don't think it is food/waste because I've only fed it twice (silversides) and the volume of material that has come out far exceeds the food I've given it. In addition the hermits show no interest in the stuff and my porcelain crab pulls it out of the nems mouth and throws it away. This leads me to beleive that it is mucus/bacteria laden waste from an infection, or I guess zooxanthellae but it hasn't lost any color.
For the past week it has been alternating between shrinking down to the size of a coaster and gaping it's mouth (about 3 inch diameter) to inflating about 1/3 and sealing it's mouth tightly. It's sticky in just a few places on the top and the foot feels almost dry. I have just been leaving it alone not feeding, let it sit on the sand in a high light area (the foot is not buried or even sticking to the sand bed).
My question is at what point does keeping it alive become hopeless. And is there something else I should be doing for it. I will post some pics in a little while.
-John
I picked up a green carpet anemone (Haddoni) about a month ago and I suspect a bacterial infection. The mouth was open at the time of purchase (It looked like it was being fed atm), but otherwise it seemed to be in great condition. From the start the foot was never really sticky although it did stay in one spot for a week or two until it came lose.
Last week it got sucked into the powerhead and because I had to stay at a friends house for a few days I had to pull it out quickly (about a square inch chunk got ripped off in the process). Since then and maybe a little before then it has been expelling little brown balls that look like popcorn kernels. I don't think it is food/waste because I've only fed it twice (silversides) and the volume of material that has come out far exceeds the food I've given it. In addition the hermits show no interest in the stuff and my porcelain crab pulls it out of the nems mouth and throws it away. This leads me to beleive that it is mucus/bacteria laden waste from an infection, or I guess zooxanthellae but it hasn't lost any color.
For the past week it has been alternating between shrinking down to the size of a coaster and gaping it's mouth (about 3 inch diameter) to inflating about 1/3 and sealing it's mouth tightly. It's sticky in just a few places on the top and the foot feels almost dry. I have just been leaving it alone not feeding, let it sit on the sand in a high light area (the foot is not buried or even sticking to the sand bed).
My question is at what point does keeping it alive become hopeless. And is there something else I should be doing for it. I will post some pics in a little while.
-John
the fact that the mouth is always gaping huge like that, going through inflating/deflating cycle means the end is near. I would actually just take it out NOW.
