LTA dying???

[BigJim]

I have had a LTA for about 4 or 5 years now and it is about 12 inches in diameter. I have been feeding it about every two weeks. Monday I fed it a piece of scallop from the grocery store, I normally feed it a piece of shrimp from the same place. This week it has been shrunk up. Yesterday it start opening its mouth wide spewing out a slimey lougee looking thing. It did this all evening several times. This moring it looks at if its has turned inside out. It's looks like its stomach has turned inside out and a slime is coming out and is all around it. Is the anenome dying or is it dead? What should I do? Take it out of the tank? How long do these things usually live?

 

[patriots81]

I think that it might be dying. Does it look like its melting? If it does, you should take it of your tank. But don't just follow my advice, listen to others too, i don't want to tell you the wrong thing.

 

[clowns101]

Pics would really help.

 

[patriots81]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15484639#post15484639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clowns101
Pics would really help.

agreed

 

[BigJim]

well I'm pretty sure it's dead. A few hours after the original post in had came out of the sand and flipped upside down. I took it out and put it in a bowl and it never attached and basically turned it's stomach inside out. The tentacles fairly deflated and the water is cloudy.

What could have caused this? I've had it for about 4 or 5 years. There were no sudden changes to the tank and all other livestock are fine. Could it have eaten a bad scallop? I ate the same pieces for dinner that night and I was fine but mine were cooked.

 

[Toddrtrex]

It is possible that it was from the scallop. About a year ago I had an H. malu, fed it a sliver side, the next morning it was acting similar to yours, and I ended having to pull it. That is the main reason I won't feed silversides any more.

 

[tufacody]

How big was the piece you fed it? Nems shouldn't be fed anything larger than a pea, or you risk it fouling in the gut of the nem.

 

[BigJim]

It was about the size of a cube of frozen food. That is the size of the food that it has always eaten. The anenome is fairly large, about 12 inches in diameter when fully expanded.

 

[MarineFlake]

Just for some perspective, I feed all three of my BTA's full silver sides. I used to cut them up of course when the nems were smaller, but there really isn't a reason to anymore. They are very healthy and the two original's split once (via feeding/water change induction). I have feed 'table' shrimp to my nems before and they do not seem to like table scraps. Cooked food, with 'chemicals' in them that may be ok for humans may irritate our treasured salty pets : ) I can't speak for the other poster who said they felt the silver side killed their nem, what I can say is that the two or three years I've had mine, I have fed silver sides. I recently went on a fishing trip (Gulf stream) and caught serveral yellow/black fin tuna. I do feed one of the nems (as a test) some of the fresh tuna and she loves it. They have all grown and flourished well under proper lighting, flow, etc with ss's as their staple diet. I guess maybe the old saying 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' may apply. Sorry about the loss hope you will consider trying another nem, sounds like you were quite successful. We shouldn't let our mistakes paralyze us.

GL!!