Novice Owner of a New Sebae

[Crkbaby]

I have had my sebae for over 4 years now. It was baddly bleached when I got it. It keeps its foot under a shelf to a cave so it stays upside down and reaches its tentecles to the light. I have moved this rock to several tanks and it or its clowns will stay where ever that shelf is. I always recomend keeping them where they have the ability to keep there foot away from the light and also are able to reach for more light if they need. It split once for me and is very healthy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFK2hVA_ReY at 1 min 36 seconds you can sort of see what I mean. Some days it's alot further out.

 

[garygb]

Crkbaby, nice aquarium in the video. You said your crispa split. That species is not known to split. Perhaps you have a BTA (I could barely see the anemone in the video), as BTAs and H. magnifica are the only two species of hosting anemone that split.

 

[Crkbaby]

well honestly I was told it is a sebae after trying to identify it for a long time. The tips are not bubbled like a bta and I have to think it's healthy since when I got it it was bleached and then it colored up. The tips have a florescent orange which I though was weird but I have seen thousands of bta and it isn't like any of them.

 

[Crkbaby]

Here is a few more pics maybe I was told wrong. let me know what you guys think.

 

[Xanthus]

My wife is thinking that the anemone may just be stressed out from the hermits in our tank that keep poking and prodding it. I don't know if that's a valid issue, but I'm worried about it because its tentacles are intermittently looking shriveled and sometimes stubby.

 

[Xanthus]

so, checked my water, alkalinity was still very high >10, and PH was starting to creep up >8.8, so I did a quick 5gal water change and got the alk down to 9-10 and the PH back to 8.4-8.5

Nitrates still undetectable (meaning <10 for my test).

Salinity still 1.0265 or so as always.

 

[Xanthus]

Ugh, I think these crabs are a problem. Sitting the anemone back on the rock which is seems just short of attaching to, the crabs keep coming over and shoving it off the rock. :S What do I do?

 

[bigben2057]

Have you tried making a hole for it to put its foot in the live rock? You need to make a hole big enough for its foot but not too big and put it their.If you dont have enough rock you may need to buy more. They dont attach like others they like to be wedged between rocks or in the sand.

 

[bigben2057]

Oh, pictures might help:

Move that rock up against the others and make a crevice to put the anemone in. In the photo above it didnt copy.

 

[Xanthus]

If it were me, I would probably put that rock it is on beside another rock, so its foot will have a crevice to attach in. You're to be commended for all your efforts. I hope it settles in for you soon.

Move that rock up against the others and make a crevice to put the anemone in. In the photo above it didnt copy.

I know, I know. But as I said last time, that purple looking rock is just one big crevice, like it's shaped like a taco almost. It's hard to tell from the photo, but I could almost stuff the whole anemone inside the crevice in that purple rock.

The problem I'm having now is every time it starts settling into that crevice, the damn crabs come and shove it around and it falls out.

So, I rotated the rock around and I'm trying positioning it differently to try to protect it from the stupid crabs, but I dunno if it'll work. I might need to place the rock against the others, like you said, but less to make a crevice and more to make a sort of 'pen' so the crabs can't shove it out.

 

[Xanthus]

More of everyone's favorite flashlight photography.

I hope you can see here a little better the shape of that purple rock and how the anemone has it's whole foot shoved into a crevice under itself.

You should ALSO be able to see the stupid little hermit crab that's trying to wedge itself in UNDER the anemone, as well.

Why are they doing this and how can I stop them?

I'm worried about the anemone because it's tentacles are starting to, as I mentioned, look kind of shriveled and it's not looking as robust. It's still reactive and well-colored and actually way stickier than before, so I don't know if I'm worrying for any real reason, but the crabs knocking it around is annoying anyway. :mad2:

 

[Crkbaby]

I think I might know what is going on. Are you positive the base of the nem was not injured when they removed it from wherever it was. If it was injured it could explain why your crabs are bugging it they love dieing or dead tissue and will pick at causing the problem to get worse. Crabs are a pain sometimes if you have ever had a lps with some dead tissue you will always see the crabs harrass it giving it no chance to recover.

 

[Xanthus]

I've looked it over when I've moved it and I didn't notice any damage, could it be something subtle? What would I look for?

 

[Crkbaby]

Did you see the person remove it at the store? what did they use? what was it attached to?

 

[garygb]

Yeah Crkbaby, that looks like a BTA, Entacmaea quadricolor. Much of the time in aquariums BTAs don't have bulb tips. The smooth column of the BTA is the most helpful method of distinguishing between BTAs and crispas. Crispas are sometimes referred to as the leathery anemone because of the thick, leathery skin of the column.

 

[Xanthus]

At the store it was like you guys said to try previously, it was sitting in the substrate near a rock, so they were able to just lift it out.

The nemmy actually looked like it was fully attached to that rock this morning, so hopefully it stays attached and the crabs don't knock it loose either. The tentacles still looked shriveled though. But from some internet searches that seems to be possibly normal, especially of out's sol excreting ant waste from that keel it got the other day, or any of the frozen food that may have landed on it since from when I feed the other fish.

 

[bigben2057]

Yeah Crkbaby, that looks like a BTA, Entacmaea quadricolor. Much of the time in aquariums BTAs don't have bulb tips. The smooth column of the BTA is the most helpful method of distinguishing between BTAs and crispas. Crispas are sometimes referred to as the leathery anemone because of the thick, leathery skin of the column.

I though so as well.

 

[m758b033]

Yeah Crkbaby, that looks like a BTA, Entacmaea quadricolor. Much of the time in aquariums BTAs don't have bulb tips. The smooth column of the BTA is the most helpful method of distinguishing between BTAs and crispas. Crispas are sometimes referred to as the leathery anemone because of the thick, leathery skin of the column.

It isn't a BTA it is an H. Malu, that is why the foot is different. Malus and crispas are commonly labeled as just sebae anemones.

 

[garygb]

m758, I believe it is a BTA. H. malu is usually a sand dweller. Plus, in the pics it looks like a BTA.

 

[garygb]

Xanthus, very good to hear it is attached to the rock. I would expect if the foot had been torn then it would have deteriorated days ago. Keeping the water chemistry in check and not feeding are priorities, at this point. As I mentioned, I tried to rescue a crispa a year or so ago and I was trying to feed it regularly. The second rescue, that actually turned out successfully, I didn't feed until the anemone had been attached a few days, and then I fed sparingly with PE mysis and small pieces of squid.