Dead Anemone.... Frustrated

[The Fat Panther]

Why did my anemone die?

I bought it last sunday and it was doing absolutely great. It was fully open and it rooted to the ground. Then it shrunk up a little bit and it "expelled its waste". Later that night it started to move all the way up a mountain of rock and all the way in the back. (Which I thought was weird because to my understanding LTAs stay put for the most part.) The next morning it was all the way in the back. I thought ok, I'll just let it be happy and deal with it later.

I came home from school and it was back in the front right corner, which is right near where I wanted it and I put it at first. So I moved it there. It was looking quite deflated and shriveled up. Now it looks quite shriveled up and almost inside out.

 

[jhentr]

Sorry for the lost. Could be a lot of things. How long was your tank up before you got one? Usually you want a more mature tank before adding any nems. I would suggest in the future to get a nem thats a clone from another one from members of this site to get a better chance at survival.

As for moving around, they'll move around til they find a suitable spot.

 

[agsansoo]

How old is your tank ? What are your water parameters ?

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

It is just up-side-down. It's not dead unless it starts to fall apart and its guts come out of somewhere on the anemone other than the mouth. Is it still in the tank? If so, post a picture of it right-side-up and point out any rips or tares.

 

[The Fat Panther]

It is just up-side-down. It's not dead unless it starts to fall apart and its guts come out of somewhere on the anemone other than the mouth. Is it still in the tank? If so, post a picture of it right-side-up and point out any rips or tares.

I put it right side up and it's not good. It's just deteriorating with many many tears. I think it's a goner.

As for my tank it's been setup for a year so it should be stable enough. I don't think that's the problem.

I called my LFS and told them what happened and they said to bring it in a bag with a sample of water and they would see what they could do.

Hopefully I won't be out 50 dollars.

Is the rest of my tank at risk for disease if it deteriorates in the aquarium or should I take it out now.

I'm just really confused because it seemed really healthy and thriving for the first 2 days.

 

[COreefer]

Take it out...do a water change and run carbon. Your tank should be fine unless the anemone has died and is in decomposition.

 

[tahoe61]

Anemone

Anemone

You need to list your parameters including temp and SG as well as lighting, I find it weird that your anemone would die after your post of yesterday.

 

[The Fat Panther]

COreefer, it is definitely deteriorating, I pulled it out of the tank and put it a baggie to show my LFS. It was literally falling apart as I pulled it out with no sign of the foot being attached.

Cheryl Jordan, my parameters are

Nitrates 0
Nitrates 0
Ph 8
Alkalinity ~ 120
Hardness ~ 240

SG=Salinity? = 1.021
Temp is around 79-80
Lights are T5 Nova Extreme HO running an hour actinic followed by 9 hours actinic and 10k daylights and then an hour of actinic again.

 

[traveller7]

I put it right side up and it's not good. It's just deteriorating with many many tears. I think it's a goner.

If it shows deterioration, it is a goner. Post a picture.

As for my tank it's been setup for a year so it should be stable enough. I don't think that's the problem.

Stable vs. proper for an anemone are quite different. Checking your build thread, your tank spent quite a bit of time with water conditions outside optimal for an LTA. It is quite easily to kill and anemone overnight with improper conditions.

Is the rest of my tank at risk for disease if it deteriorates in the aquarium or should I take it out now.

I'm just really confused because it seemed really healthy and thriving for the first 2 days.

The rest of your tank is at risk for elevated ammonia levels at a minimum as the anemone deteriorates in the tank.

Anemones are quite simple critters as far as sensory mechanisms go, just because they inflate for a short time that does not indicate they are thriving.

fwiw: LTAs are typically not a good candidate for a first timer to anemones. They are fickle, ship poorly, and really need specialized care. Much better choice would be BTA, E. quadricolor. Your local club is a great source for captive BTA clones:
http://www.wamas.org

Best of luck.

 

[The Fat Panther]

If it shows deterioration, it is a goner. Post a picture.

Stable vs. proper for an anemone are quite different. Checking your build thread, your tank spent quite a bit of time with water conditions outside optimal for an LTA. It is quite easily to kill and anemone overnight with improper conditions.

The rest of your tank is at risk for elevated ammonia levels at a minimum as the anemone deteriorates in the tank.

Anemones are quite simple critters as far as sensory mechanisms go, just because they inflate for a short time that does not indicate they are thriving.

fwiw: LTAs are typically not a good candidate for a first timer to anemones. They are fickle, ship poorly, and really need specialized care. Much better choice would be BTA, E. quadricolor. Your local club is a great source for captive BTA clones:
http://www.wamas.org

Best of luck.

What do you mean by improper conditions for a long time?

Trust me there is no picture needed, I checked on it about an hour ago and the mouth was about an inch and a half open with white guts coming out. When I put it in the bag it completely took the shape of it as if it was a liquid.

I'll watch the ammonia levels definitely.

Yeah, I'll do more research on other species of anemones, it was an impulse buy which was clearly a mistake.

I will look into that club for sure, and what are the advantages of buying a cloned anemone opposed to a new one.

Thanks so much for all your help and everyone else's.

-Tommy

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

COreefer, it is definitely deteriorating, I pulled it out of the tank and put it a baggie to show my LFS. It was literally falling apart as I pulled it out with no sign of the foot being attached.

Cheryl Jordan, my parameters are

Nitrates 0
Nitrates 0
Ph 8
Alkalinity ~ 120
Hardness ~ 240

SG=Salinity? = 1.021
Temp is around 79-80
Lights are T5 Nova Extreme HO running an hour actinic followed by 9 hours actinic and 10k daylights and then an hour of actinic again.

Move the pH to 8.3 and the Salinity to 1.024-1.026 and you're anemones will do a lot better! Inverts like it SALTY! :spin3:
Do a 25% water change.

 

[brshriver]

Coral does better too at NSW salinity.

Captive clones nems typically do better in captivity because they have already adapted to life in a captive reef.

I am in WAMAS. There are plenty of members with BTAs. They come up for sale in the forum pretty often.

I have 5 rose btas at the moment. I will sell some eventually.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Fat Panther]

Ok I'll add some salt, also how to I get the PH up?

 

[tahoe61]

Anemone

Anemone

Sorry about your loss. Just curious why did you post alk and hardness? I agree you need to bring up your SG to 1.025 and keep it around there.
BTA are always better to start with, I was under the impression that is what you had, sorry my mistake. Good luck

 

[The Fat Panther]

Sorry about your loss. Just curious why did you post alk and hardness? I agree you need to bring up your SG to 1.025 and keep it around there.
BTA are always better to start with, I was under the impression that is what you had, sorry my mistake. Good luck

It's no problem.
And I'm not sure what exactly you meant by parameters so I posted everything.

I will definitely bump up the salinity.

 

[traveller7]

Ok I'll add some salt, also how to I get the PH up?

Best to top off your tank with full strength SW instead of FW as a way to bring the up the salinity. Do not add salt directly to the tank.

The pH is likely low due breaking down of organics in the tank. fwiw: that contributed to the algae outbreak as well.

As previous posters said, target 1.025-1.026. A day time pH of 8.4 with an overnight of 8.2 would be nice as well.

Your lighting would be fine, but that was not the problem in this instance.

fwiw2: I'd expect a weakened anemone to take the shape of the bag. If it is falling apart, tentacles falling off, cuts in the sides of the column, then it is really having problems. Biggest measure: dead anemones stink, big time.

Best of luck.

 

[luisse25]

what kind of lighting u have?

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

Lights are T5 Nova Extreme HO running an hour actinic followed by 9 hours actinic and 10k daylights and then an hour of actinic again.

 

[The Fat Panther]

Best to top off your tank with full strength SW instead of FW as a way to bring the up the salinity. Do not add salt directly to the tank.

The pH is likely low due breaking down of organics in the tank. fwiw: that contributed to the algae outbreak as well.

As previous posters said, target 1.025-1.026. A day time pH of 8.4 with an overnight of 8.2 would be nice as well.

Your lighting would be fine, but that was not the problem in this instance.

fwiw2: I'd expect a weakened anemone to take the shape of the bag. If it is falling apart, tentacles falling off, cuts in the sides of the column, then it is really having problems. Biggest measure: dead anemones stink, big time.

Best of luck.

And it certainly does smell. HORRIBLE.

 

[The Fat Panther]

Well I went to the LFS today and talked to the owner there. He seems to think that it wasn't dead because my water is literally PERFECT. He said as long as the tentacles are still there he doesn't think it was dead. He said this because my water was fine and a dead anemone would have caused it to be bad conditions.

We decided that I was going to go home and troubleshoot and see if theres another problem, (electrical current, temperature swings etc...) And that if there wasn't then I could add some more livestock.

I don't know what it is with my tank but I can't seem to keep anything alive.

My lawnmower blenny died about a week after I put it in as well as my baby hippo tang.

So did a coral I thought to be a xenia. And now my anemone.

Not to mention all of my CUC are EXTREMELY lethargic. They hardly move all day, literally.