My 6" Carpet Anemone shrunk to 2" and retracted into his foot. Normal?

[kylewest]

I got & drip acclimated a haddoni carpet on Saturday into a 3 year old 120 gallon mixed reef tank. He's been looking great until this afternoon. He seems to be rolling himself up into his foot. Is this normal?

Couple Days Ago

eating ...

Couple Hours Ago

Just Now

The colors are washed out because I turned the radions all white to get the picture. He's still pretty colorful in person.

Tank Parameters:

Temp: 77.7
PH: 8.08
Salinity: 34.1
Nitrate: 0.2
Alk: 11.48 (always high like this, not sure why)
Cal / Mag: Ran out of reagent. Will have more tomorrow. Typically 400 / 1500
Phosphate: 0.05 ppm

Thanks for your help.

Kyle

 

[Winwood]

Should be fine. Relatively normal. Haddonis can completely retract into the substrate if disturbed.

 

[SwampyBill]

I'm not sure that's normal behavior for a new carpet nem to shrink up after acclimation. It also shouldn't be fed for a few weeks after acclimation. You're only stressing it out more. Do you have a QT to treat it with cipro? Hopefully OrionN (carpet nem guru) sees this & chimes in. Good luck!

 

[kylewest]

Thanks for the replies. I checked on him just before lights out and he was back "out" but still 75% smaller than he was in pic #1. It doesn't look like his mouth is open but hard to tell because of the blue lights and angle. I'll try to get and post some more pictures in the morning.

I didn't know about feeding. I intentionally fed him a small krill on day two. He also caught some mysis or brine on his own when I fed the fish at least once (pretty sure that's what the picture is).

I do have QT and am already taking our bulldog to the vet in the morning. Should I ask for some just to have on hand even if I don't need it this time?

Kyle

 

[SwampyBill]

It's my understanding that it's a bad sign if a carpet nem starts to retract soon after acclimation. i'd put it in QT & start treatment ASAP. It's a good idea to have cipro on hand for carpet nems anyway. Check out the sticky at top of page about correct dosage & duration.

 

[kylewest]

Well here he is this morning. I'll have CiPro from the vet this afternoon (had to call it into CVS) but I'm thinking I should just leave him alone for now?

(I need to learn how to take better pictures.)

Thanks for the help.

Kyle

 

[addictedreefer]

Looks better. I would not rush to treat, especially with haddoni as they are quite resilient. Probably just some "growing pains" which are normal for newly introduced nems. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[kylewest]

Here's the latest (6 hours after the last pictures). He's still out but not very puffy. I'd call him more of a pancake. His mouth is closed but there is a brownish ring around it. I thought it was from him getting one of the fish's pellets. After looking a bunch of other sick anemones seems like it may be an infection? I wish I could get the colors to come out correctly in the pictures.

Still waiting it out. I think I'd do more harm than good right now just trying to get him out.

 

[addictedreefer]

Looks fine for a nem that has been in there only 4 days.

 

[SwampyBill]

Yea, I agree, it looks better now that it's not retracted in on itself anymore. Good to see it's mouth is closed too--that's a real good sign.

 

[Winwood]

It looks just like it should for a healthy new nem. The first set of photos is pretty indicative of a new haddoni working his foot down into a securely anchored position. Sick haddonis going through the inflate/deflate cycle, don't exhibit the rigid nature yours did. Almost always they will appear more fluffy even when they're inflated, and almost never exhibit the foot burrowing behavior, even though they might adhere to a rock for a while.

 

[kylewest]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll keep everyone updated and add pictures as things progress. When should I try to feed him again (and what)?

Kyle

 

[M Woodhill]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll keep everyone updated and add pictures as things progress. When should I try to feed him again (and what)?

Kyle

dont feed it

feedin sometimes can make huge trouble

 

[BonsaiNut]

This anemone looks completely healthy to me and is behaving exactly how you should expect an anemone to behave. When introduced to a new environment, particularly after being through a series of wholesaler/retailer tanks, it takes a while for an anemone to adjust. During this time it will shrink down to expel waste or old water, and then expand. What you DON'T want to see is a non-ending cycle of expansion / contraction, with each expansion getting smaller. I would not treat him right now unless he demonstrated that he was getting weaker.

 

[kylewest]

dont feed it

feedin sometimes can make huge trouble

ever?

 

[OrionN]

Wait until you know for sure he is fine. Feeding seick anemone, will cause more trouble becasue sick anemone cannot digest the food. Undigested food give fuel to infection inside the anemone (if he is infected). Once you know that he is Ok, not infected, then you can feed him.

 

[kylewest]

Here's "sting" today. He decided to come out and look awesome for my birthday. As an added bonus I finally figured out how to take somewhat decent pictures. He's more colorful in person, but these are 1,000 times better than the pics up above.

Kyle

 

[addictedreefer]

Nice looking nem. Love those color patterns.

 

[bjledbetter]

Looking good.

 

[Winwood]

Sting! Lol! Are you watching every move he makes?