House hunting for my maroons is over

[jkmargerum]

We started out with a purple sebae anemone. In the LFS it was about twice the size of my maroon female when it was all spread out. When I got it home the clowns stressed it to hell and would not stick to anything. Also every morning it was laying face down all shriveled up.

So I took it back to the LFS and traded it for a bubble tip (I think.) It was already attached to a rock and was hosting a crab (in which I evicted. )

This poor guy was only in the tank about 5 minutes before the clowns took to it and started biting off tentacles. Surprisingly the anemone didn't seem to get stressed, never lost any appetite and never left the rock (although he moved a bit) even though the clowns were brutal the first couple of days.

He's been in the tank about a week now. Today was the first day I noticed the female clown take it food.

 

[brndfrb]

my clowns do the same

 

[dantodd]

Keep feeding him. It looks like the fish did quite a bit of damage but he still has good color and it holding himself open nicely.

FindingNemo on here has put together a good site for BTA beginners: www.karensroseanemones.com

 

[jkmargerum]

I took this picture not long after feeding. He was still bringing a few tidbits to his mouth. Both clowns fed him during the afternoon meal. Because of the damage I'm still feeding him every 3 days until his poor tentacles grow back. Thanks for the concern.

 

[55semireef]

Your BTA is starving.

 

[jkmargerum]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8116803#post8116803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef
Your BTA is starving.

Um... thats nice...

Care to explain?

He's right in the path were the main jets bounce off the front of the glass. He gets food every feeding and a 1 1/2 - 2 inch silverside every 3 days.

I know he looks a little rough right now but I explained that above.

 

[dantodd]

As anemones starve they often consume their own tentacles. Yours looks like it has been doing so for some time. I doubt the clowns did ALL the damage we see here. 55 is a young kid who often comes off that way. Don't worry, you are doing the right things to help your anemone make a strong come back to health.

 

[jkmargerum]

Actually I'm pretty sure my clowns did do all that damage. Take a look....

This was taken at the LFS when I was helping build his website about 2 weeks ago.

This is the first evening we had him home about a week ago. We fed him the next morning.

By the middle of the day there were several tentacles floating around the tank.

This is what he looks like now. (Ok about 15 minutes ago) Sorry about the distortion from taking the pic at a sharp angle on the glass. I was trying to get a more head on shot.

 

[jkmargerum]

Ok, this pic came out better...

off the subject...
Everytime I try and take a picture of something towards the back of the tank I have to take at least 4 or 5 pics to get what I wanted. But I did get a decent pic of my YB Hippo, Chromis and Cleaner wrasse in the process...

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8116879#post8116879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jkmargerum
Um... thats nice...

Care to explain?

He's right in the path were the main jets bounce off the front of the glass. He gets food every feeding and a 1 1/2 - 2 inch silverside every 3 days.

I know he looks a little rough right now but I explained that above.

Well since you have been routinely feeding your BTA, then its probably recovering from starvation. I didn't know your feeding schedule up till now, so now I know its recovering not still being starved. Thats good to hear its coming back.

55 is a young kid who often comes off that way. Don't worry, you are doing the right things to help your anemone make a strong come back to health.

A young kid??? Trying to make me sound inferior to you isn't helping the situation any better there "elder." Its not that I came off that way, its how you interpreted it. I disagree with your perception but what do I know, I am a young kid.

 

[dantodd]

Wow. It really does look like the maroons did most of the damage. Most BTA will have considerably more tentacles in the middle too at that size. The stubby tentacles are usually a sign of starvation. It will take a lot of supplemental feedings to get him back to health but you seem on the right path. Hopefully the maroons will not start tearing him up again.

 

[jkmargerum]

I didn't take any pictures again until he looked like he was healing. Up until about yesterday all those nubbies had the shriveled green dots on the tips where the tentacle closed up to stop seeping. His main body has gotten bigger since we got him. I'm pretty sure he'll be ok. He's not moving around and he eats everything he touches (except the clowns and by the way he looked on day 3, that surprises me :lol: )

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8117484#post8117484 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jkmargerum
I didn't take any pictures again until he looked like he was healing. Up until about yesterday all those nubbies had the shriveled green dots on the tips where the tentacle closed up to stop seeping. His main body has gotten bigger since we got him. I'm pretty sure he'll be ok. He's not moving around and he eats everything he touches (except the clowns and by the way he looked on day 3, that surprises me :lol: )

Thats good to hear.

 

[phender]

The clowns may not have done all the damage. BTAs will pull their center tentacles back in when they are not happy. It could be the maroons beating it up, it could be there is some other coral, etc., that may be putting some chemicals in the water that are irritating it. You might want to start using carbon or change your carbon if you are already using it.
I'll glad the anemone is eating. Are you seeing the food go into the mouth? BTAs are famous for closing around the food and then dropping it when you are not looking.
Good luck, I hope those tentacles come back quickly for you.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8117254#post8117254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef

A young kid??? Trying to make me sound inferior to you isn't helping the situation any better there "elder." Its not that I came off that way, its how you interpreted it. I disagree with your perception but what do I know, I am a young kid.

Sorry for acting like that. It was rude of me. My apologies to you.

 

[jkmargerum]

We only recently added a coral to the tank. We held off on adding anything the clowns might host until we got an anemone established.

We have a refugium/skimmer setup, no filters.

And yes I make sure the food goes in the mouth while using the spot feeder to fend off the shrimp. :lol:

Thanks for the concern, he looks even better today but I'll have to take a picture later since he just decided to shrivel and poop. :lol:

 

[phender]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8123797#post8123797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jkmargerum
Thanks for the concern, he looks even better today ........

Good, if it is eating and there is nothing else wrong, BTAs can bounce back from looking bad very quickly.

 

[boyooso]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8123797#post8123797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jkmargerum


And yes I make sure the food goes in the mouth while using the spot feeder to fend off the shrimp.

FWIW,

I have watched my a@@hole shrimp dig in and take food from my BTA 6 or 12 hours after feeding :**E*(@(#

I have since taken him out.

The cleaner shrimp was well fed, but I guess not every 7 hours though...

Shrimp are too aggressive for my aneomoe, or at least this shrimp...

My advice is : get it out... one less variable.

 

[jkmargerum]

I've started slicing the tails off the silverside and spot feeding the shrimp to keep them busy during feeding. I don't want to remove them since the fish enjoy the cleanings.

This morning my anemone was shriveled and hanging at the bottom of his rock. He looked just like the anemone in this thread. When I got back home from work this afternoon he was all puffed out bigger than before. He also moved behind the rock where its harder to get a decent pic...

I took this from the side of the tank up high looking down over my clam. Sorry for the crappy pic. He does seem to have more nubbies growing back. His tentacles were longer and more puffy when the MH's were on.

 

[jkmargerum]

Update

Update

My poor abused BTA is looking much better today. His main body seems like its grown even more since last pic. He also has more tentacles growing back.

Again, sorry for the crappy pic. He's still fixed towards the back of the tank were its hard to shoot. In the near future we may add an extra powerhead back there to try and get him to move forward.