Maron Clowns or Bubble Anemone Acting Up ?

[salt e]

i have had 2 Maron Clowns in my tank for about 2 weeks now... ever since they have been in the tank they have only been a pleasure... they do not harass other fish even though they are active and obviously the more dominant of the livestock.

Since introduced into the tank they immediately adopted my Green Tip bubble anemone as there host...the larger of the two clowns (about 1 1/2 head to tail) mostly occupies the bubble anemone and the smaller of the two (about 1/2" ) sits on the side but still very near.

withen the first few days the bubble anemone moved very close to the corner return and had a little less then 1/2 of his tips in the direct current (the current there is strong)... im not sure why he was doing this but i was assuming that it was because i feed DT's zoo directly from the sump allowing the pump to evenly dispersed throughout the tank. so i left him there for about 2 days... then i found laying in the sand a small peice of his green tentical, I knew his location was a bad idea... i immediately moved him to the center of the tank and have been keeping a close eye on him... little by little he has been losing more of his green tips and the length of his tenticals / bubbles have dropped greatly even under actenic lighting not showing much color at all...

today i watched the smaller of the clowns biting and pulling at a few of the anemone's smaller tenticals when the larger clown saw this he chased the smaller away. this is the 2nd time i saw this happen in 3 days... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON HERE... what is wrong with the anemone? are the clowns stressing it or is the smaller clown jellous now from lack of attention from the larger clown cause of the anemone and is attacking it for some reason.
PLEASE HELP ADVISE

Cris

 

[salt e]

i just noticed that the bubble started to deflate completely on the side that the smaller clown was biting it...but ONLY on that side... and is letting out a very light color, silky red slime that the larger clown is cleaning out from the anemone's center area... what the heck is going on*!?


UPDATED...2 mins later....anemone completely deflated now... Larger Maron clown is very upset... charges the tank when i walk by and wont let the smaller clown near the anemone...still have no idea whats up

 

[salt e]

the mouth of the anemone is open exposing every internal part....i fear i just watched my anemone die

 

[jjirsa78]

Sounds like it ...

 

[®eefer]

Maroons are weird. I thought some sort of parasite was eating some mushrooms once..no big deal. Then I realize it's my maroon eating them, they were too close to it's rbta. The rbta moves...the maroon knocks over other corals and rocks close to it and tries to bite anything attached to a rock it cant push out of the way. Real pita

 

[salt e]

ok...i just woke up from a nap... the anemone is NOT dead it has expanded back to full size and the large clown is back to normal as well...starting to think it was all a strange dream... the only way i know its not is the anemone still has very little green tips... so now im back to trying to figgure out what is causing the anemone to become tip-less

 

[salt e]

anyone?

 

[Reefer421]

Maybe a stress reaction or something. Mine did the same thing one time but since then the tenticles have grown back and all is well. I agree it is very strange.

 

[GTR]

I'd feed both the Clowns and the BTA some bite size pieces of shrimp or squid. Might help the BTA cope with the damage and the hearty meal might calm down the fish.

Pretty normal for Clowns to suck on the BTA and an occasional loss tentacle shouldn't cause long term harm.

SteveU

 

[TOURKID]

it deflated and let out the 'red slime' to expell waste... basicly it was pooping. if you feed it... it'll poop the next day or the day after.
you should feed it. feed it silverslides. only 1 piece, and not a whole silverslide, just half or less.
feed it every third day. (gives it time to poop)

your female will usually pull the poop out and spit it out. shes just cleaning her home.

the lil one isent really aloud in the nem yet. you'll find him on the side or the behind it until she accepts him

your bubble tips may never come back. they usually dont in tanks. no one knows why.

if it continues to lose color.. its expelling it internal algea (i cant spell it but it sorta like zoolengthee) lol if this happens it'll bleach out till its clear, and eventually die unless you feed it regularly and have correct lighting

Maroons are the very best caretakers of anemones. is the lil one 'diving in' the nem yet? if it hasent, its nibbling to biuld its slime coat. no problems.

losing tenicles all together is sorta strange, just keep ALL your intakes covered. feed it, give it proper lighting and your maroons will take care of the rest


heres mine

 

[salt e]

WOW....very nice...i remember when mine looked like that~sigh~ and thats a nope on the little one diving in yet...
just curious... the BTA seemed to move back to the corner return heads..this time not directly in the current (whew) do they normally prefer a more strong current? also...another thing... the bta isnt very sticky... i was told they eat more planktons and such so i feed DT's... how is it supposed to grab and hold solid foods if it can not stick to them? should i just drop the food in its center and hope for the best...i always see the clowns bring it shrimp and squid from left over scraps when i feed the sting ray, but i wasn't sure if the bta was eating the food thanks for easing my fear about the slim stuff... that was kinna a big wonder.

 

[TOURKID]

even if it is eatting the dt's.. You need to focus on larger meals
(my bta shows no feeding reaction when i feed dts)

Heres how I feed mine.

I cut a silverslide in half (eyes, face etc are all fine)
I put it in a little cup and drop some selcon on it
after a few minutes I soak it in tank water and wait for it to completely defrost
Grab the silverslide with tongs
drop it in the middle of the anemone, close to the mouth if possible

The nem should grab it with its tenicles and open its mouth so fast you'll barely get to see the silverslide agian.

Anything else it eats is just bonus.

Check this site out
www.karensroseanemones.com best bta site out there

 

[ghever]

my maroon clown beat up my RBTA and ate its tentacles as well... I have no idea why they do this, but they do..I had to remove the RBTA and put it in my other tank to recooperate.... it has since done so, and maybe when it gets bigger I will try to reintroduce it to the clown...

G

 

[salt e]

thanks for all the info...the site will prove helpful...i am reviewing it now.