Haddoni shrunk...is it the clownfish?

[Octoberfest]

This past weekend I picked up a blue haddoni. I've been in the hobby about 12 years but this is the first carpet anemone I've ever owned...so I'm a bit paranoid about it.

History - The haddoni came from a well established tank and has been in that tank for well over one year. The owner is a member on here and may chime in. I picked it up from her house after a careful removal from her tank and transported it back to my house, so there was very minimal transit time.

Yesterday the anemone looked great. The mouth was closed pretty tight and it was extended out in all it's glory. It had already footed in the temporary home that I made for it in my 60 gallon frag tank. Here is a picture from last night:

Earlier tonight it looked good and I went about to do some other things. I thawed out some food and when I went in there I found my female clownfish deep in the anemone. This is the first time this clown has been in this anemone. The part that has me worried is that the anemone is about 1/2 the size it normally is.

So is there anything to worry about with this or is it just the clown getting it uptight?

 

[Blitzburggirl]

Hahahaha yes, I think it is the clownfish It looks great! I miss it already

 

[D-Nak]

Looking at the reflections in the photos, it looks like you're running LEDs. Did you acclimate the haddoni to the lights (assuming the previous owner had a different system)?

Clowns can be rough on anemones. I recommend that folks remove or separate the clown from an acclimating anemone, but usually when the anemone is acclimating from LFS, not an established anemone from someone else's tank.

 

[Octoberfest]

The tank it came out of was a 180 gallon tank with four 400 watt metal halides.

The tank it is in now is a 60 breeder with 2 AI SOL's set at 15%/20%/30%

 

[davocean]

Over the years I've witnessed nems change shape, size and color depending on tank conditions, lighting, and flow.
I don't always think size is a good way to judge the health of a nem, often I see them stretch out bigger when lights are weak, or I've seen them tighten up when flow is heavy, they just seem to adjust or adapt to meet their needs.
As long as the mouth is closed, it's foot is set, tentacles are sticky, color is good, and it's accepting spot feeding I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[Octoberfest]

Over the years I've witnessed nems change shape, size and color depending on tank conditions, lighting, and flow.
I don't always think size is a good way to judge the health of a nem, often I see them stretch out bigger when lights are weak, or I've seen them tighten up when flow is heavy, they just seem to adjust or adapt to meet their needs.
As long as the mouth is closed, it's foot is set, tentacles are sticky, color is good, and it's accepting spot feeding I wouldn't be too concerned.

I know the mouth is closed, the foot is set, color is good, and it has accepted food. I don't know if the tentacles are sticky and I'm not checking...let's just say it lit me up when I removed it and I have a really bad rash over both forearms..LOL.

 

[CliftonArbogast]

Is this reaction to skin normal? I moved one yesterday and it was all over my hand for 20 minutes getting its foot detached, no spots or signs on the skin today. Dont plan on overdoing it but i am not afraid to touch it again, just not sure it will need it.

 

[D-Nak]

I think the reaction can be normal. I think we all react differently to any type of poison or sting. I had to move my gigantea yesterday and it stung me pretty badly. I have a rash that resembles poison oak/ivy on my left forearm-- it doesn't itch -- but it definitely still stings this morning. I also think anemones can sting and leave very small openings for other irritants in the salt water to enter. Some people get salt rash from swimming in salt water for too long, known as swimmer's itch.

Also, when we refer to an anemone being sticky, it usually refers to the anemone's ability to fire its nematocysts -- what they use to capture prey. It's not actually sticky, but feels sticky since the nematocysts are firing and grab onto our skin. With gigantea, the nematocysts take hold and the entire tentacle can be pulled off the anemone. With other anemones, you may only see little white marks on your skin where the nematocysts attached.

 

[Blitzburggirl]

I think it's a personal thing.. but like any reaction... each subsequent is said to be worse than the previous. The anemone in this thread used to be mine, and I never had a reaction when I touched it. Granted, touching it wasn't a hobby, but, I did on many occasions, and it never caused a reaction. In fact, one time, I was getting a frag from behind it, and it "jumped up" (obviously stayed footed.. not like a cartoon clam lmao) and grabbed my entire forearm. Still, no reaction. Same anemone, two different people. And, the reaction he described was while it was still in my tank, so the condition was the same.. for the record, it's doing beautifully now in his tank too

My new tank includes a S. gigantea (previous caretaker had it a couple years.. I've had it since Feb.) Even a minor brush (minor enough to not knock the fuzzy seeds off a dandelion) causes a violent erruption of bumps and crazy itchy rash, for weeks. When I moved it from the previous caretakers tank, I was careless, because I'd had no problems with the haddoni, maxi minis, lta or bta's... ever. That thing lit me up!! So, I'm very very cautious around it. But, being in a 60 gallon cube, cleaning the glass became a yoga excercise to avoid it... LMAO