Carpet Anemone not looking good

midnightmadman

midnightmadman

New member
Over the last 3 or so days he seems to keep flipping himself upside down..
Last night I moved him to a corner and turned the powerheads off to hopefully get him to find a spot he likes. I also tried to feed him a little. He did not accept food and it just floated away or the other fish snatched it up.
This morning he looks inside out and deflated very small.. smaller then I have ever seen. There are also, a few hermit crabs savaging around him. Is he dying!?
Water params are better then they have ever been and also, I started using Vibrant about 2 weeks ago. I contacted them and they said it could be because the water is now so pristine...?
 
Can we get some pictures? What kinds of carpet anemone? Sounds very bad to me though. I can't make a judgement now but I hope he can make it. Don't move him anymore. Move any animal that can cause irritation to him away. Tell us a little bit about your water quality and lighting setup. I have a haddoni carpet and I have never used any chemical product in my tank other than adding some trace elements...Sorry I don't know what Vibrant is. 😷

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Vibrant is a newer product that helps control algae but is supposed to be 100% safe
Lighting 4- 54 watt t5. 2 Lagoon blue 1 pure actinic 1 blue actinic
Water param are really great I'm also running a phosphate reactor with brs high capacity Gfo
The anemone has been in the tank well over a month and was truly gorgeous!
I started the vibrant about 2 weeks ago
I don't know for sure if that effected it or not
 

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Different carpet anemones prefer different flow. If it's a haddoni carpet then keep the flow as low as possible (at least mine doesn't like high flow). if it's gigantic carpet anemone then stronger flow. For now, turn he flow down to help it settle.

From my experience anemones are too sensitive to chemicals in the water. If he has been fine before you used the product then I would suggest stop using it from now on.

Also before any anemone settles down on their spot, don't feed them because feeding stresses anemones, even if it's a healthy happy anemone because it triggers their defense mechanism.

If the water is all good then all you can do is wait till it finds its spot. If it's a sand dweller anemone (haddoni carpet anemone typically, since I can't tell from the picture), dig a hole on the sand bed let it touches the tank bottom(or a nearby rock edge) can help it settle down because anemones can't attach to find sand (that's what I did when I first had him).

Unless there is bacteria infection then it's another story"¦I hope not.

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Oh, I didn't see the picture... it looks like a very stressed green haddoni carpet. Mine has the same color.

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humphreyhh said:
Different carpet anemones prefer different flow. If it's a haddoni carpet then keep the flow as low as possible (at least mine doesn't like high flow). if it's gigantic carpet anemone then stronger flow. For now, turn he flow down to help it settle.

From my experience anemones are too sensitive to chemicals in the water. If he has been fine before you used the product then I would suggest stop using it from now on.

Also before any anemone settles down on their spot, don't feed them because feeding stresses anemones, even if it's a healthy happy anemone because it triggers their defense mechanism.

If the water is all good then all you can do is wait till it finds its spot. If it's a sand dweller anemone (haddoni carpet anemone typically, since I can't tell from the picture), dig a hole on the sand bed let it touches the tank bottom(or a nearby rock edge) can help it settle down because anemones can't attach to find sand (that's what I did when I first had him).

Unless there is bacteria infection then it's another story"¦I hope not.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have an eggcrate bottom so I think he has a hard time finding a spot. Does it look like he's close to dead from the pictures? What scares me the most is all the blue leg hermits gathering around him.
 
midnightmadman said:
Thanks. I have an eggcrate bottom so I think he has a hard time finding a spot. Does it look like he's close to dead from the pictures? What scares me the most is all the blue leg hermits gathering around him.
Click to expand...
It does look quite scary to me too since it deflated badly. Not to make it sound sad but definitely get ready to take him out though. A dying anemone can polute the entire tank... you night have to recycle the tank again.

One trick to know if an anemone is dying other than "being unhappy" is to smell it. If it smells freshly fishy, then it's still in good health; If it smells badly fishy (like rotten fish) then it's gone... Falling/broken tissues from the anemone is another sign of death.

I'm very sorry but I hope he is getting better. 😢

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"not technically" a chemical... What the heck does that mean?
How can you add something to your tank and your water turn from dirty to pristine? The only way to remove something is by removing it. You cannot addthing into a close system, not removing something and end up removing something from the system. Many filtration system rely on skimming out things, or incorporate waste into plants and then harvest it. Adding nutrient so bacterial growth, then skim the bacterialout.........

Your carpet is dying. It is inverted and decomposing. You added something that likely OK for FO tank but not reef tank. Either that or your tank just not suitable to keep a difficult to keep animal like a clown fish hosting anemone. I am not sure that there is anything you can do to help your anemone other than keep him in appropriate condition and possibly treat him with an antibiotic. If you can you can remove him from your reef and put him in new clean water with antibiotic
 
Last edited:
OrionN said:
"not technically" a chemical... What the heck does that mean?
How can you add something to your tank and your water turn from dirty to pristine? The only way to remove something is by removing it. You cannot addthing into a close system, not removing something and end up removing something from the system. Many filtration system rely on skimming out things, or incorporate waste into plants and then harvest it. Adding nutrient so bacterial growth, then skim the bacterialout.........

Your carpet is dying. It is inverted and decomposing. You added something that likely OK for FO tank but not reef tank. Either that or your tank just not suitable to keep a difficult to keep animal like a clown fish hosting anemone. I am not sure that there is anything you can do to help your anemone other than keep him in appropriate condition and possibly treat him with an antibiotic. If you can you can remove him from your reef and put him in new clean water with antibiotic
Click to expand...

Thanks.. I feel bad about this whole thing as well.
I am not sure it was the additive, the zoos and other soft corals are perfect.
 
midnightmadman said:
Thanks.. I feel bad about this whole thing as well.

I am not sure it was the additive, the zoos and other soft corals are perfect.
Click to expand...



Anemone is one of the most fragile animals you can have in your tank. They are too slow to show you the sign of stress. Usually when they do, it gets too late... I lost anemone before and I was very nervous to get my haddoni carpet anemone so I did a lot of research before I got it. Just remember the less stuff you put in the water, the better it is for your animals. If water is dirty, do water changes.

Don't worry we are all learners in this hobby. Keep doing researches and you will have a happy anemone in the future.


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OK. I need to make a decision. Should I remove him or let him go a little longer. I am worried about him releasing poison and killing the entire tank. He still has green color.. but I am seeing the fish picking at his body. I think the top is his mouth inverted. its hard to tell. Should I post another picture? I saw a milky looking substance coming out also.
 
I ran some more tests. One suprise was my nitrates are about 20-25.. phosphates are 0
I am making up some RO water to do a 20% water chance tonight also
 
If you can see some part of tissue falling already then he is almost dead. You can take him out. When you take him out, pay attention to the smell. Like I said before, you will know if it's time to let him go. Decomposing/dying anemone can contribute to rising ammonia and nitrate.


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humphreyhh said:
If you can see some part of tissue falling already then he is almost dead. You can take him out. When you take him out, pay attention to the smell. Like I said before, you will know if it's time to let him go. Decomposing/dying anemone can contribute to rising ammonia and nitrate.


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Click to expand...

Oh.. I hate to disturb him if there is SOME possibility of recovery.
His green area is still very green. I do see parts of his white area sort of melting. But he is moving a very little bit and every so often the white are will inflate a little then deflate.
 
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