New RBTA doing bad?

[seafansar]

I just got a new RBTA and female clown fish for my lonely male clown. The anemone has been in the tank for two days now and it keeps inflating and deflating. It looks great one minute and then a few hours later you can't even see its tentacles. It did look like it was spitting out its insides from its mouth and tentacle tips when I first got it which gave me some concern. The clowns love it. Could they be the reason it keeps shriveling up? Also I tried to feed it and its tentacles aren't sticky. Its mouth usually looks puckered up too. I assumed from taking in and letting out water all the time. Here are some pics.

Happy anemone and clowns...

[/IMG]

Sad anemone...

[/IMG]

Any comments are greatly appreciated!

 

[raen]

Did you try Karen's rose anemones web site. I just got my first anemone yesterday, and that site was great! I can't get mine to host. What gives???

 

[Stealth91RT]

Bet it's getting used to your tank and if it's spitting up thats usual since they don't have an exit, just used up food. Now if by spitting out its insides you mean its turning inside out you have a problem.

 

[seafansar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12313845#post12313845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raen
Did you try Karen's rose anemones web site. I just got my first anemone yesterday, and that site was great! I can't get mine to host. What gives???

Funny you say that. I was looking through that site yesterday.
My clowns were staying on the other side of tank when I first put in the anemone. I finally slowly chased them with a net toward the anemone. They still ignored it, but later the next morning the male was in it. And later that day the female joined him. Now they won't leave it! Just give your clowns some time and hopefully they will decide to host. I've read that it can take some time, so I feel lucky mine did it so fast.

 

[seafansar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12313861#post12313861 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Stealth91RT
Bet it's getting used to your tank and if it's spitting up thats usual since they don't have an exit, just used up food. Now if by spitting out its insides you mean its turning inside out you have a problem.

Thanks. It's not turning inside out, but I'm not quite sure if it was food that it was spitting up. I've seen my condys expel wastes and it didn't look quite the same. It was long, white, spiraled strings (acontia?) and some of it was coming out of the tentacle tips. Maybe it thought it was being attacked when it was being delivered and thought it had to defend itself.

How long until it becomes sticky again?

 

[raen]

OK now I just checked on mine AGAIN, and it has stuff coming from it's mouth!!! Looks like dirt, I tried to gently blow it away with the flow, nothing happened. I will try to attach a picture.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

post your water parameters. include the "basics" such as specific gravity, temperature & alkalinity.
Are there any other corals or inverts thriving in that aquarium? If so, what are they?
What lighting do you have? Have you ever introduced any coralline algae? What other fishes do you have?

 

[seafansar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12314487#post12314487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gary Majchrzak
post your water parameters. include the "basics" such as specific gravity, temperature & alkalinity.
Are there any other corals or inverts thriving in that aquarium? If so, what are they?
What lighting do you have? Have you ever introduced any coralline algae? What other fishes do you have?

It's been staying inflated today. I guess I was just a little hasty in worrying so much. The water parameters were fine when I put it in. I have zooanthids and an encrusting gorgonia who are doing fine. I have 3 150W metal halides. There is coralline algae on the rocks. And I have some gobies (neon and bullet), the blennies, two tangs, a juvenile grey angel, two juvenile high hats, snails, scarlet and blue hermits, and a big coral banded shrimp.

 

[seafansar]

The anemone ate a piece of fish! I guess it just took it a while to get settled in.

 

[MarineFlake]

BTA's will 'de-flate' when they are pooping. The 'dirt' you saw from its mouth was poop, waste, whatever you want to call it. Anemones have one way in and one way out. A couple days after eating, maybe sooner, maybe later, the anemone will look like your picture and stay that way from a few minutes to a few days. Usually after its been in the tank a while, it will settle into a rhythm that you can kinda keep tabs on it with. Any way, two things come to mindfrom breezing over your post...One, IMO, never chase fish or anthing else around the tank with a net. Trying to force something natural to happen just isn't good policy. If this is a new addition to the tank, you may find that the clowns treat the anemone a little rough at first and with it just acclimating, sometimes it can have the opposite of the desired affect. Second (Advice), never force anything into the anemone. If its hungry it will loose its 'bubble tips' and quickly grab any food that comes its way or that you feed it. If it does not want the food, it will simply let it drop to the floor. That doesn't mean try again, its the anemone's way of saying no thanks. I saw a reference to Karen's site, I have had a GBTA for a couple years and still go back to review some of the info there. Its a great site, I have found no other like it for bta info and I HIGHLY recommend anyone considering a bta read it *first*.

Cheers

 

[seafansar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12316796#post12316796 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarineFlake
BTA's will 'de-flate' when they are pooping. The 'dirt' you saw from its mouth was poop, waste, whatever you want to call it. Anemones have one way in and one way out. A couple days after eating, maybe sooner, maybe later, the anemone will look like your picture and stay that way from a few minutes to a few days. Usually after its been in the tank a while, it will settle into a rhythm that you can kinda keep tabs on it with. Any way, two things come to mindfrom breezing over your post...One, IMO, never chase fish or anthing else around the tank with a net. Trying to force something natural to happen just isn't good policy. If this is a new addition to the tank, you may find that the clowns treat the anemone a little rough at first and with it just acclimating, sometimes it can have the opposite of the desired affect. Second (Advice), never force anything into the anemone. If its hungry it will loose its 'bubble tips' and quickly grab any food that comes its way or that you feed it. If it does not want the food, it will simply let it drop to the floor. That doesn't mean try again, its the anemone's way of saying no thanks. I saw a reference to Karen's site, I have had a GBTA for a couple years and still go back to review some of the info there. Its a great site, I have found no other like it for bta info and I HIGHLY recommend anyone considering a bta read it *first*.

Cheers

The stuff coming out of my anemone didn't really look like anemone poop or 'dirt'. I know what that looks like; just got rid of my condys and sun anemone. It was white, spiral strings and coming from the mouth and tentacle tips. Poop doesn't come out the tentacle tips as far as I know. That's why I thought it was acontia. I guess I was being a little hasty trying to move my clowns, but it wasn't like I was terrorizing them. I shooed them very, very slowly to the other side of the tank. They didn't act freaked out at all. And they seem happier since they found the anemone and aren't being too rough with it. Also I didn't forced food into the anemone. I simply touched it to the tentacles and it floated away. And today I fed it the same way and it held onto the fish and ate it.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

sounds very promising :thumbsup: