Is something wrong with my green bubble tip anemone?

[dc]

That's good to hear. I know you have a 3 yr old FO 55 right? What size is the one for the anemone and how long has it been set up? Maybe it's too new for an anemone?

I still advocate a water change.

 

[wliang]

Keep us posted.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Yes, I'm just running on a regular filter and live rock. The filter has done me pretty good the last 3 years. I've had no fish deaths except when one of my fire goby's jumped out and I didn't find him on the ground until a few hours later. I've had a couple anemone deaths, only to realize it was my lighting because my LFS lied to me, but they were condis so nothing too expensive. I did a complete water change about 3 months ago.

I just turned the actinic lights on which go for an hour before the daylight comes on. From what I can see, the anemone's mouth is MUCH more closed, but it is exposed as the tentacles are still shriveled (assuming that's because of the light being off).

 

[brittanysmith18]

Also, if my BTA survives, would it be alright to get a condi? My clowns seem to prefer to host in condis, but I know they are pretty territorial and fight with other anemones. Maybe if I keep them separated?

 

[Tennsquire]

Also, if my BTA survives, would it be alright to get a condi? My clowns seem to prefer to host in condis, but I know they are pretty territorial and fight with other anemones. Maybe if I keep them separated?

I'd slow down until this episode resolves and wouldn't do (or add) anything other than water changes.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Alright. I planned on waiting until the base rock gets some coralline on it. The anemone looks better. I will post an updated picture later, as I have to flip the rock over to get a decent one. His tentacles didn't bubble up all that much, but the mouth it much more closed, but kind of rolled out. He's suspended completely upside down on the rock, and he's fully attached. Looks much better. I'm assuming he was just pooping last night because he looked so bad.

 

[synofreak]

You need to slow down with the tank..... You just cant throw 30lbs of dry rock in it at once. The dry rock will have dead stuff in/on it that will run through the cycle. Its gonna release ammo, and any ammo is bad.

Leave the tank alone, barring 5g H20 changes daily until you have no ammo or nitrIte spikes. Its not the nem, its what your doing to your tank.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Well, I washed and soaked the rocks in water before adding them. I'll try my ammonia neutralizer and then if that doesn't do anything, then I will change some of the water. I have no nitrites or nitrates. I also noticed that there was a bunch of fuzzy moldy krill buried in the sand that my hermit crabs gathered! I removed it because it was moldy and smelled horrible! I don't know if that had anything to do with the ammonia as there was quite a bit and I don't know how long it was there.

The anemone pooped again, so I couldn't take a photo of it. How often is it supposed to poop?

 

[velvetelvis]

I wouldn't add a condylactis. They're not natural clownfish hosts anyway. Do a water change--this is much more effective and easier on your livestock than messing around with chemical additives--monitor water parameters, and wait and watch for your anemone to recover. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby.

 

[dc]

A water change is much better than adding chemicals. Now if you had bristleworms they'd have eaten the krill by now. .

As much as they have to I guess.

I'd chop up the krill and use a turkey baster to try and feed the anemone. I feed mysis shrimp myself.

 

[sjwitt]

+1 on the water changes. +1 on the chop up the Krill. I wouldn't feed it anything until it closes it's mouth and reinflates. I also would not put a Condy in with the BTA. I have a 185 gal tank ... had 2 Condylactis and (at the time) 2 RBTAs. They were on opposite sides of the tank. Condys did okay for a while but as RBTAs got larger the Condys started getting 'agitated'. They both died within a week or so of eachother (smaller one went first). Nothing changed in the tank and nothing else was affected so I conclude chemical warfare. Now I only have 4, rather large RBTAs in the tank... they split again at the start of the summer and are pretty much taking over the tank.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Anemone looks much better after I removed all that gross krill cause it was fairly close to him. Maybe it was releasing ammonia near it and he didn't like it? But again, he pooped twice in 2 days. Is this normal? I was told to only feed him once a month, but he catches flakes and eats those (obviously that's not enough). The store told me to buy regular shrimp at a grocery store and cut it up for the anemone because it's high in protein. I have the frozen squares of spirulina and sometimes I will rub it between my fingers and let some of the brine fall onto the anemone. He seems to enjoy it as much as my fish do.

If he's open later, I will post an updated picture. He looked better after pooping. I don't know what the store had fed him or how often or when the last time was, so none of his pooping is coming from me feeding him.

I hope mine splits in the future (if he lives of course). He's pretty close to 3-4 inches now, and I would love to have giant ones in my tank as long as it won't eat or harm my other fishes.

 

[sjwitt]

I feed mine at least weekly but more often every three days. It could be expelling zooxanthellae, in which case it will start loosing it's color and will become bleached. This happens from stress or insufficient lighting. If it does bleach you'll need to feed more often. Any meaty, uncooked seafood is fine. I use bay scallops, the frozen ones... I thaw them and then mash them and feed the nemmies with a turkey baster. If it's catching food when you feed the tank, that's good.

 

[brittanysmith18]

What will the anemone look like when it's bleached? Here's some updated photos from about 45 minutes ago...

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/Basmith18/image-7.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/Basmith18/image-8.jpg

When it pooped, it appeared to be brown globs, I don't know what zooxanthellae looks like, but it did have a small amount of mucus looking stuff attached to the pieces of brown that it expelled..

 

[synofreak]

I can realize you are very new to the hobby. Now is not the time to worry about the nem in question, its time to worry about the tank housing him. The nem can never recover if the tank is not taken care of.

ANY AMMO IS bad, your tank is not cycled. A cycled tank "if it has an ammo spike" will always read nitrItes and nitrAtes. Thats the part of the cycle.

I suggest you give the nem to someone who has an established tank, who can hold it for u until you finish your cycle. And yes throwing 30lbs of dry rock in a 55 will recycle the tank. I could throw 30 into my 120 or 125, and it would read ammo and Ites.

BTA's are super hardy, I've had them live months under cfl's in my fuge(forgot about them/bad fishkeeper). I've given/sold more BTA's then I own, and I own 10+ at a time. If a BTA is dying, its the source(bad bta), or the water. Rarely ever is it the lighting.

 

[synofreak]

Its not bleached, but yes expelling brown stuff is expelling zooxan. ZooA is a brown base in most if not all nems. Do a big water change, its the best thing you can do. Then 5g a day. PLEASE just do it. Shoot, its only salt =).

 

[brittanysmith18]

I will monitor it for the next few days. It's actually time to add water because of evaporation, so I won't add any, and just do a bit of a water change... I don't have anyone to give the anemone to..

 

[Breadman03]

I will monitor it for the next few days. It's actually time to add water because of evaporation, so I won't add any, and just do a bit of a water change... I don't have anyone to give the anemone to..

I top off first, then change the water. It helps maintain salinity.

 

[brittanysmith18]

So, I did no water changes and checked the ammonia and nitrates and they're all at 0 now! My anemone ate perfectly fine today, and he even stayed open longer today! Not sure why, but ever since I removed that pile of moldy krill I found, he's been doing better. Since everything is good now, do I really need the water change?

 

[velvetelvis]

I'm puzzled as to why you're so reluctant to perform a simple water change, after so many experienced aquarists have advised you to do so.

YES, do the water change! It's easy and can only help your livestock.