Ohhh... shoot. Nem in pieces.

[intricable]

First the disclaimer: Its not my tank, I live with the tank but ultimately, the end decisions for the tank are those of the tank's owner. I have expanded my knowledge of saltwater immensely by researching for and interacting with the tank- but details (like what particular type of metal halides light it) are fuzzy. I may not be able to answer all questions, so please forgive me.



The problem: Three weeks ago the tank, the tanks owner, and I moved in together. Long story short, the RO didn't work right at the new house, and the coral, rocks and fish lived within coolers for a week without powerheads or lights. Only a few, very small frags didn't pull through- all fish and all established corals did fine. The rose anemone was ****ed, and subsequently walked in two different directions when it was added to the tank. The piece still visible to the front of the tank healed nicely and its clone, which appeared on the other side of the tank, also healed nicely and was filling out and puffy. Unfortunately, the traveling nem clone decided to settle on top of another coral. To discourage this, powerheads were pointed to convince the nem to walk to the another area. This didn't work- she decided to actually plant herself even more squarely on top of the other coral. The tank owner came to the conclusion that he should move the rock next to the nem (she was stinging the corals on that rock as well now) for the well-being of those corals. To our demise, her foot was also stuck to the rock that was moved- her foot was the size of, say, a tealight candle (maybe bigger)- the piece that ripped is the size of a dime (at best- has about 8 tentacles). Part of the mouth came with the ripped off piece, guts hanging out, some deflated tentacles. The big piece didn't shrink into a ****ed off ball, the clown has been babying the small piece- poking it with her face and tail-fanning away all the sand near the rock it sits on. This happened last night, the lights hadn't come on before I let this morning, so I couldn't see the nems for a progress report.

What are the chances either of these poor mangled RBTA's of making it?

Side note: tank is usually higher than desired in nitrates because of large carnivorous fish.

 

[traveller7]

Amazingly small pieces of BTAs have recovered completely when presented with quality conditions and protection.

No way to predict the outcome, but it is not devoid of hope.

 

[intricable]

Hmm- I'll cross my fingers. I've read some stuff about iodine... I don't know what/why/how to do the iodine thing- any suggestions?

I'm hoping we do a water change tonight (the water is ready in the brute can, I don't see why we couldn't do a change), but, thats really not my call.

 

[traveller7]

I don't dose Iodine in my anemone tanks.

Fresh carbon, small water change, clean the skimmer, maintain stability, etc., would be a good plan as needed.

 

[intricable]

We're water changing tonight after work- the heater is going in the brute can at lunch. I'm hoping both of them do ok- will the clowns continuous touching and rearranging near the little nem frag bother it? I have a feeling that this is one of the "what happens, happens" situations, I'm so bad at waiting things out!

 

[traveller7]

I would consider a bit of mesh or strawberry basket over the piecies if the clowns mess the pieces. Just make sure they get high enough flow.

fwiw: shrimp tend to be quite the problem for recovering anemones, but your predators in the tank may have taken care of that potential issue

 

[intricable]

There is one shrimp- but he lives in the fuge, safe with his own rockwork cave and cheato hidey spots. We tried a sally lightfoot crab recently thinking that her large size and good grip on the rock work would deter the lion, niger trigger, toad fish, and teritorial maroon clown from snacking. Alas, sally's legs were found just the other day. She made it two weeks. Its too bad, the pieces of fish that the nearsighted lion would miss she'd run out and grab them and snack on her find all night.

I will mention the strawberry cage to the tank owner- its a good idea, but unless we zip tie it to the rock, the clown will throw it across the tank once she sees it threatening her nem. She's an evil clown, her name is Penny Wise.

 

[cjtice]

I have had 1 Rose walk into my Koralis on 2 different occasions over the past year.

The first time, it healed very quickly.

The second time... We are going on 2 months and its still a very light pink color because it decided to walk under the rocks for a month. It is healed but has no color.


Good luck!
Chris