Ever seen flame angels eat an anemone?

[delphinus]

I'm completely baffled. I had (for the last 4 years or so) a nice little RBTA. Never really split on me, just a single RBTA. Lately I've had it in a 20g, shared with a pair of juvenile flame angels (C. loricula).

Anyhow, out of the blue, it's disappeared on me. It's completely vanished. There is no evidence of it ever having been in there.

I'm thinking if it had say, run into the Seio, there would be some evidence of that. Even if it was ripped to shreds, there would be something left. The water would be cloudy, or stinky, or something. A pile of goo somewhere. The skimmer maybe having more skimmate than usual.

But there is nothing to suggest it ever was in the tank. I'm completely baffled by this.

Could the flame angels have eaten it??? There's nothing else in the tank save for some zoos and a tiny abalone.

 

[Gig 'em]

Well before jumping to the conclusion that is was eaten, I would assume that it has wedged itself into a small crevice, hole, or between rocks where you can't see it. I've heard that angels have a tendency to nip at anemones so when the anemone was introduced to the aggressive angels it switched to a defensive mode and went into hiding. If the angels had started to eat it there would be evidence that the angels were eating it, tentacles that were cut during the feeding process, or even part of the foot. I would assume that your anemone is still alive, you just gotta find it
Good luck!

 

[delphinus]

I agree, except you'd think there wouldn't be too many places it could find inside a 20g. I've looked and looked, I can't see anything. Been about 3 days now MIA. I'm still hoping for the best. The fish and the anemone have been together in the same tank for a couple months and there's never been any interest shown previously. I'd hate to find out these fish are THAT reef unsafe as I'm quite fond of them. I guess time will tell. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[OrionN]

They cannot eat the whole BTA overnight. It is in the tank somewhere.

 

[delphinus]

I think today is either day 4 or day 5 that it's vanished without a trace. I even took apart part of the rockwork yesterday so I could get a small mirror into peek into most of the crevasses that I can't otherwise get a good angle on from outside the tank. I guess at this point the only way to find where it's wandered is to take apart the whole rock structure and inspect each piece. Honestly if I didn't know better I'd say it walked right out of the tank on me.

I agree, logically, I'd say it's taking a poop in some deep crevasse that I can't see and it should just all of a sudden come out on its own, but it's been kind of long for it to have not come back open already. I guess I'm just starting to worry.

Hey Minh, a bit off topic, but I just saw your signature. Curious what light you have your over 24g tanks? Particular the one with the carpet, are you using a halide over top of it or other?

 

[FishGuttz]

Did you check overflows and/or inlets to power filters/powerheads. I once had to unwrap an anemone from the powerhead workings. He actually lived!

 

[delphinus]

I did, as much as I could without dismantling everything. I'm pretty sure he's not in the overflow piping though as flow seems to be unimpeded there. I suppose I should take apart my Seio but for it to have gotten inside it would have had to be sucked through some mighty tiny holes and you'd think there would be some evidence of that on the outside..

I have seen some mighty impressive comebacks of anemones after encountering powerheads. Amazing what state they can come back from... Of course it's still better to avoid it in the first place!!

 

[jubjub]

i dont think the flames could of eated the anemone...i have a RTBA in my tank to...my flame angel got kinda close got stung actually went belly up for a min and sank to the bottom of the tank..i gasp'd and then a minute later after i got my net he was fine again....now the flame wont go anywhere near the anemone...

 

[OrionN]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12669658#post12669658 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by delphinus
.......

Tony,
Hey Minh, a bit off topic, but I just saw your signature. Curious what light you have your over 24g tanks? Particular the one with the carpet, are you using a halide over top of it or other?

I got three 150 W 10Kk double MH lights one over each tank. I got fans blow on the tank when the light are on to keep the tank cool. All three tank stay at 82F days and night.

 

[delphinus]

Well, I must say this is a new one for me, and I'm completely baffled and stumped. I no longer have an RBTA. I took apart the rockwork and examined everything and it's just not there. I took apart the Seio and it's as clean as a whistle. I can't open up up my overflow pipe but there's no way it could have gotten sucked into the Stockman overflow, the slot water travels through is pretty narrow and there isn't enough flow to create a strong suction - ie., it would have just jammed up against it, not gotten sucked in. Nevertheless I did try flushing some water down the pipe and there doesn't appear to be any blockage and nothing came out.

It's as if someone reached in and took the anemone out.

Sherlock Holmes said, if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. The anemone must have died overnight, and disintegrated so completely as to dissolve into the water column. It's just odd that in 20g of water volume that there was no fouling, cloudiness, or smell to speak of, or that the skimmer didn't behave any differently before or after.

It's just odd to me that an anemone just up and dies on me without any warning. I've had it for 4 years and had no reason to suspect it was not healthy.

I'm at a complete loss to explain it. I guess at this point all I can do is call it "one of those things."

 

[OrionN]

Tony,
How big was this little guy?

 

[adtravels]

i had a keyhole eat a small rbta, but it took a while and it made a mess.

 

[delphinus]

The lack of a mess is what puzzles me. And if it was a new anemone I'd be more "well, OK, it didn't make it." But I had it for 4 years! So weird. I need Fox Mulder from the X-Files to investigate maybe??

It wasn't huge by any stretch, but it wasn't tiny either. I would estimate about 4" diameter, maybe about 3" tall. Footprint maybe around 2".

 

[hansonfam]

Tony it was just encouraging you to pick up one of the new Giganteas that are going around. Just making some room

That is a little odd that you found no trace of it. Something odd has happened and i agree you may never be able to explain it.