dead or alive please help...hurry!

coachtjm

New member
ok, we go to ughhhh.............hmmm....Petco today they just got their order in....not even out of bags..and they were going to pitch this carpet anemone because they thought it was dead...i didn't so they gave it to me...i brought it home and have started dripping it...it appears to be discharging some white junk...I have an airstone working and the drip going,.....how do I know if it is living/ok....?
 
unfortunately no quarantine tank...mouth seems fine...it had some white substance in the bag....it just discharged a large white chunk not sure if I can get a pic on here...will try
 
208347ane1.jpg
 
looks like guts from what ive seen described unless its just regurgitating previous meals, but it looks fairly large for somewhat digested food. if its possible leave it in the bucket on the drip. i dont know if you cqan set it slow enough to keep the temp up and not overflow the bucket but if you can figure out a system it may work as a qt for a couple days maybe
 
ok, if it is changing shape and color does that mean it is living? ok? safe to go in the tank? it has been drip acclimated for about 3 hours...
 
no more white stuff....he gets dark in some spots, light in others....parts of him change shape, swells in some, then shrinks in some...don't know whether to toss him in the tank or leave him with an airstone in a temporary non heated holding bowl....he is currently still slow dripping...
 
non heated bowl would most likely kill it. what do the tentacles look like? what does the mouth look like? are the tentacles sticky? can you feel the sting?
 
still looks similar to the picture, some dark spots in between folds, it seems to inflate in some spots...definitely attached to the bowl...mouth changes shapes, some of the carpets have broken off....

Is it too dangerous to put it in my tank? overnight? or should i just pitch it?

don't have anyway to heat this bowl overnight....
 
if some of its breaking off then its on its way out i wouldnt chance it in the tank id say its done but valiant effort sorry bud
 
What do you mean they have broken off? You mean they were sticky and pulled off, or its disintigrating?

This really doesn't look that horrible to me for a brand new nem, especially one that has been in Petco's hands. If it is attached and doesnt smell (you can't misinterpret the smell of a dead nem, trust me) I would put it in your tank and watch it carefully. Get it out if it starts falling apart. You don't want to keep it in a bowl very long.

Then read up on carpets. Seems like you are new to them, and even healthy carpets pose risks to your tank.
 
ok, he may not have had pieces broken off...it may just be some of the stuff he discharged....i am new to carpets....i actually just started to agitate it a bit with my feeding pipette and he swelled up and closed up a bit...a good sign i thought....If i put him in over night, can it like kill my fish right away or if I check it in the morning will i be safe? I havent yet smelled a dead anemone but everyone says you can identify that...he appears to be alive...I don't want it to "POISON" my tank in anyway and lose my fish....thouhts?
 
How is this working out?

Nems die quick, but not so quick that you usually can't get them out in time. A healthy carpet can catch and eat your fish, although it is semi-rare.

You really need to read up on anemone care. Unless you can meet their requirements, you are just prolonging the inevitable.
 
he is alive today, he actually seemed to get better when i put him in the actual aquarium...immediately actually....This is my fourth anemone.....not an expert but...thought this one was a lost cause.....I don't know much about carpets.....I only found out today that they occasionally eat fish....i really hope not....i didn't want him to just throw him away tho....we dripped him slowly for about 4 hours last night.........then dumped him in and he perked up and moved around to find a comfortable spot.
 
very good to hear, just keep an eye on it and keep everything stable. im sure you already know that. by the way what kind of lighting do you have? very good job on getting the nem to recover
sorry i didnt get that last post last night
 
Back
Top