S. Haddoni carpet anemone spawning??

I would point a small pump at the anemone and keep the flow steady. See how the anemone responds. You should be able to see some sort of change in the animal (does it inflate?).

Do you have a sea cucumber in the tank or grape culerpa in the sump?
 
I would point a small pump at the anemone and keep the flow steady. See how the anemone responds. You should be able to see some sort of change in the animal (does it inflate?).

Do you have a sea cucumber in the tank or grape culerpa in the sump?

Grape culerpa? Why?
 
no algae or cucumbers in the tank at all, and i did point a powerhead to blow across the surface of the nem.

yes he inflates
tentacles still sticky also
 
the tank is not a see through tank. Its a rubbermade tub im using as a temporary holding tank. The foot is securely attached.
 
IME, the single greatest predictor of success with these anemones is whether they "settle down" by firmly attaching to a rock/tank bottom, and remain unmoving, even after being fed, in that location.

Spawning, a gaping mouth, and extreme contracting/expanding cycles are all "bad" signs... but they're also pretty common in virtually every recently shipped S. haddoni anemone I've received... with symptoms improving markedly over about a three week period after being shipped.

Are the pictures you provided taken with a "normal" lens? I've never seen a S. haddoni anemone with that color pattern before.
 
Are the pictures you're showing taken with a "normal" lens? I've never seen a S. haddoni anemone with that color pattern before.

yes its the lens i got with my nikon d60. Its a 18-55 nikon lens.

He accepted food, inflated, mouth closed, stayed inflated. Checked on him about an hour later mouth is back open, but the food was ingested.


as we speak his current condition is:
partially inflated roughly 30-40%. Supports its own weight, has the ruffled flower look. Mouth gaping huge probably about 3" but no discharge after the release of sperm on thursday late/friday early 1am or so . Lights have been off for roughly 3 hours.

Here is what strikes me odd as ive had haddonis in the past perish.
1. the gaping mouth but no discharge (brown poo like goo)
2. the gaping mouth, but acceptance of food
3. Inflation, but never complete deflation to where it looks like a blob

As for the stickyness: when the anemone loses the stickyness, is it the inability to replace nematocists? or are they retracted?
 
Given what you're describing, assuming the anemone is firmly attached and not moving, I'd be reasonably encouraged. I've had several that had a horrendous looking gaping mouth for the first couple weeks, that recovered.

Personally, I'd limit the feedings to regular, very small portions of enriched foods for the next couple weeks. Stop feeding if the anemone moves, if it everts its "stomach", or if the contraction/expansion contortions become more extreme.

You'll (obviously) still have the brown bolus expelled within 48 hours or so after the anemone eats. That's normal and fine. It's the small brown blobs and excessive contortions that would be of concern and it's a good sign that you're not seeing them.

As to stickiness, the anemones seem to become less sticky 1) after eating (a lot), 2) when moving around (sick or not), 3) when they're in a serious state of decline. I don't think it has anything to do with a lack of nematocysts.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
thanks mark. I will update daily. Since i offered some food today i think ill wait til probably tuesday or wednesday to offer another small portion.


Pics tomorrow
 
Do you have sand in the holding tank? You said that the anemone was supporting its' own weight, hence my question...
 
Such a pretty and interesting color. Did you do your water change yet?
If not, my suggestion is to do a series of water changes after discharge is seen. In my experience, I was lucky enough to catch mine doing that when first in my tank. I caught it doing it again a couple of days after that. Otherwise, I would have never known what was going on.
I imagine that what you see is only a moment of what can be going on throughout the day and night a little bit at a time. I also noticed a slight 'off' smell to my tank water after witnessing these events and prior to water change. If you have ever smelled sps out of the water, it's similar to that and can be subtle. I have a habit of smelling my tank up close when I sense there may be something wrong with my anemones. :)

One time I caught it happening and quickly siphoned directly from nem's mouth to bucket. The water in the bucket smelled horribly.

I also agree with others that feeding shouldn't be a priority right now. If it will make you feel better to see a feeding response, I would also suggest very small foods.

The mouth looks gaping, but has pretty good tone around the rim. I would interpret that as meaning it still is strong enough. It could also mean something is going on with it's foot, whether it's not firmly planted yet or damage from removal and transport.

Are you acclimating the lighting? My knee jerk response when seeing the pictures was to give it a little less light....either by raising your lights or using a screen or eggcrate. I really have no good reason why to tell you to do that, other than that was my gut reaction.
Good luck!
 
Do you have sand in the holding tank? You said that the anemone was supporting its' own weight, hence my question...
no sand in the tank. This anemone was in a bare bottom system and flourished for 2 years. This is why i did not do the tupperware with sand.

What i meant by supporting its own weight was that the foot inflates vertically, raising the top of the anemone off of the ground. It supports the weight of the inflated top piece (mouth/tentacles) whatever you want to call it.


Did you do your water change yet?
yes i did a 50 gallon w/c on the 300 gal system

Are you acclimating the lighting?
no, but i measured today and the bulbs are 30-32" away from the oral disk.

pics to come soon tonight
 
so i was just thinking...Say if the anemone did have a damaged foot. I know for a fact that i didnt damage it, but the person i bought it from said they had no luck removing it. Im guessing they attempted to remove it. Say they did damage the foot slightly to where its unnoticeable. Maybe the mouth is gaping because it naturally has a reaction to do that to prevent infection (venting the interior of the body)

What would be the best way to repair it? Feed alot of enriched foods to aid in healing? let it heal on its own?

This is a hypothetical situation and have not seen any damage on the foot so far
 
I am pretty sure that a damaged food on an S. haddoni is a one way street ending in the death of the anemone, especially for one that is not established in its surroundings. I have seen comebacks for E. quadricolor but not haddoni...

Haddoni prefer to have their foot in about 3" of sand so being a BB, it may be struggling to settle into its new surroundings.

The best thing you can do is provide it with pristine water and feed it some krill every few days...good luck
 
If the anemone was healthy (presumed it was since it was in a tank for 2 years) a little bit of damage can be tolerated. It definitely would/should be babied and allowed to heal without disturbing it (other fish, crabs, shrimp that may bother it)

My last Haddoni attached very firmly to the bottom of the bucket during acclimation and took me 35 minutes to try to pry it out without damage. I still had fine strings of tissue hanging from the foot and thought it was bad news. That Haddoni gaped for a good month and a half. Can't determine if this is a direct correlation, but only something that was observed. This is the same anemone that released substance and I did a series of water changes.

But, my circumstances were a little different. This anemone was shipped, and was in the foulest water I have seen to date. So for mine, there were most likely a number of factors in play.
 
Last edited:
his mouth is 3" wide now with what loooks like the stomach expelling.

Does anyone know the number to "anemone hospice" because giving him the best before he dies seems like the right thing to do. :(

here is the unfortunate pictures 2 hours before lights out sunday night day 4:
DSC_1502.jpg

DSC_1501.jpg
 
Back
Top