Ritteri anemone (Heteractis magnifica)

[CrayolaViolence]

Well, I thought everything was good. The clarkiis took to the anemone wishing hours of its introduction to the tank and they have been loving it to death. Over the past few days I notice that it seemed to move away from the light and away from the flow of the power head, today, it had completely detached from its rock and was laying face down in the sand. I have turned it up right several times only it flips back over and hides much to the disappointment of the clarkiis.
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[vhuang168]

Pictures of the mouth? Did you treat it before introducing it to the DT? How did it look when you got it?


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[CrayolaViolence]

The mouth is slightly gapping and puckered. It had a small tight mouth when I introduced it into the tank. I noticed when the light was at a max it's mouth would gape, but then go back to normal by the time lights were out (I lowered the lights some). Otherwise it seemed fine and moved around the tank the first night but settled in and the clown fish made themselves at home. I admit, it looks better at night when lights are out.
And no, I did not do anything to it before putting it into the system other than wash it off in clean water. Now it has moved itself out of all flow and all light and is laying face down on the bottom of the tank.

 

[vhuang168]

Was there discharge?

When they detach, its not a good sign.

I would suggest you remove it from the dt and setup a hospital tank. Get some cipro and start treating it for infections.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

How much cipro per gallon of water?

 

[joshky]

Protocol for using antibiotics to treat infected anemones ~Added to 7/30/14

^^^^^^

Be sure to read that thread, it has everything you need to know. The sooner you treat your magnifica the better your odds are of saving it.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Can I use either clyndamycin or neomycin until I secure some cipro? Or do you know?
Thanks

 

[vhuang168]

I'm not sure about other medications. I'm sure some more knowledgeable will chime in soon.

 

[joshky]

Can I use either clyndamycin or neomycin until I secure some cipro? Or do you know?
Thanks

I would contact OrionN on that one, you can post in the thread that I linked or directly get in contact with him.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

I think I discovered the issue. It appears the sea anemone has been injured. I can only hypothesize that one of the emerald crabs decided it would taste good. I removed all the emeralds (I hope) from the tank. I soaked the sea anemone in a bowl of water with some antibiotic for several hours then washed it off (in salt water) and placed it into a cup shaped rock. The clowns descended on it immediately and have been nestled in its tentacles ever since. It appears to be on the mend and I will keep an eye out for any more trouble causing crabs. The upside of this being a small tank is it's easy to pull out rocks and dig through the substrate and find the offenders. Should I be concerned about the red legged hermits and blue legs too? Or do you think the emeralds were most likely to blame?

 

[DasCamel]

Clinda may work, cipro ideal since its been tested more.

 

[joshky]

The emeralds are not your culprit, your clowns are going to stress your mag out more than it can take. I doubt the antibiotic bath is going to do anything good, you need to setup a hospital tank to separate the anemone from the clowns and properly treat it.

Not an easy anemone to take care of, sorry to break it to you, the longer you wait to start treatment the less likely it is to respond to treatment.

Good luck, I hope it pulls through for you.

 

[jah hoeva]

Problem is Josh, with an injured foot or column, I'm not sure antibiotics will really do much. For some nems, an injured foot is a death sentence.

 

[D-Nak]

Photos would help.

We can assess if the anemone is 1) actually a magnifica (often mistaken for a BTA) and 2) the extent of the damage.

Either way, move it into a QT tank without the clowns, as Josh mentioned.

 

[Gig 'em]

Several hours of antibiotic treatment is not enough to clear any possible infections. When doctors prescribe us antibiotics they require us to take them for about a week to clear out all the bacteria so we don't create any antibiotic resistant strains. We should be careful when using antibiotics at home and follow the same protocol to completely knock out any bacteria affected by cipro before re-introducing the anemone into the tank.

 

[joshky]

Problem is Josh, with an injured foot or column, I'm not sure antibiotics will really do much. For some nems, an injured foot is a death sentence.

And do you know why that is? Infection. We are SO lucky a few great people were able to pave the way for the rest of us, one of them being Minh (OrionN), who has now successfully treated more anemones than most people will ever own. This guy is so smart and our little niche (anemones) in the hobby is so lucky to have him and the others who were on the forefront of bringing these anemones back from death. An injured foot or column is no longer a death sentence if you're willing to treat, of course there's not a guarantee it'll live, but multiple have recovered with treatment.