The bleached anemone thread

[BonsaiNut]

We seem to get a lot of posts from people who have bleached anemones and don't know it, or don't know the difference between bleached and non-bleached appearance. In the past we have seen some amazing threads of "before" and "after" photos of people who had bleached anemones and they recovered. I thought we could put them together in one thread, and maybe sticky it for a reference.

So show us your BLEACHED ANEMONE success stories!

 

[Toddrtrex]

I wish I had more/better pictures of it, but only have before and after of an M. doreensis (( LTA )). It was in a 29 (( normal rectangle tank )) with a single 250 MH over it -- memory escapes me a bit, was either a Current 14,000K lamp or an XM 20,000 one.

Before,

About 2 months later,

 

[davocean]

Great post Bonsai, while we do prefer to start off healthy it's nice to know that many have been brought back to health to help keep a positive attitude.

Here's my H.Crispa, got it from Petco many years ago in pretty bad shape not knowing any better back then.

And this is what it became, had this guy 5 and half years and sold it w/ tank.

 

[zeeter]

I wish I had pictures of my bleached sebae that was lost under my rocks for a couple of months and then turned a nice greyish-tan color with purple tips after I teamed it up with a pair of GSM's.

Most important thing, at least with Sebaes, is that if they have no pigmentation on the tips of their tentacles they cannot be saved. They could be completely white but as long as there's event he slightest purple on the tips they can recover. This is where they grow their phytoplankton or zooplankton or whatever they grow. You can spot feed it and extend its life for a while, but eventually it will die.

 

[bradleym]

Well this thread needs more attention than it's getting, so I guess I'll post one. Hmm, let's see... Never had a Doreensis, but here's a H. Crispa I got from a friend. He had a reef tank that he broke down and rebuilt into a shark tank. Only problem is, no reef lighting, and no regular feedings. So I took it off his hands.

Less than three months later...

I'll be back in April to bump it again with a Haddoni if it drops off. I've got a couple recovery stories to tell, but I CAN'T be the only one.

 

[phender]

I wish I had pictures of my bleached sebae that was lost under my rocks for a couple of months and then turned a nice greyish-tan color with purple tips after I teamed it up with a pair of GSM's.

Most important thing, at least with Sebaes, is that if they have no pigmentation on the tips of their tentacles they cannot be saved. They could be completely white but as long as there's event he slightest purple on the tips they can recover. This is where they grow their phytoplankton or zooplankton or whatever they grow. You can spot feed it and extend its life for a while, but eventually it will die.

I have never seen a bleached sebae without purple (or sometimes yellow tips). Do you have a reference to the purple area spawning more zooxanthellae? The purple is a pigment. I can't think of any reason that it would have anything to do with producing more symbiotic algae.

The sebae comeback pictures are impressive, but I wouldn't refer to either of the anemones that were started with as bleached. To me bleached is completely transparent/translucent white. Both those anemones started as (at least) a little tan.

I wish I had pics of my colleague's RBTAs that would always bleach during summer vacation(got too hot in his classroom) and then recover slowly during the course of the school year.

 

[davocean]

The sebae comeback pictures are impressive, but I wouldn't refer to either of the anemones that were started with as bleached. To me bleached is completely transparent/translucent white. Both those anemones started as (at least) a little tan.
.

The pic of mine is at about 3mo old, at purchase it was that typical bright yellow/white w/ blue tips.
That pic was really meant to photo my pain in the but cowfish.
Exscuse the poor quality, that was like 12 years ago and copied from paper.

 

[alanbates12]

<a href="http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/?action=view&current=IMAG0053.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/IMAG0053.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket Android App"></a>

Here are my two RBTA and two BTA. The BTA split about 5 months ago and two days ago it split again:

<a href="http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/?action=view&current=0e0c474d.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/0e0c474d.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>

 

[Seahorse NJRC]

I purchased my sebae anemone in September of 2010. I had only been a reef keeper for 9 months, but felt I was ready to take the plunge. I put it in my 5 month old tank (disclaimer it was an upgrade and I do not recommend anyone put any anemone in a 5 month old tank).

Here is the nem when I got it:

As you can see it was very bleached, but otherwise healthy. I got lucky when I put it in the tank, since it settled in the center of my tank right where I wanted it to. For the first year and few months, I kept the nem under 250 halides. It quickly colored up and began hosting my ocellaris clown. It is now under LED's.

Here is a present pic:

 

[ousnakebyte]

I got this magnifica from a local tank break-down sale; I guess I've had it for about 1.5 months now.

When I put it in my system, the tentacles were even whiter than they are now. Over the past month or so, I've seen the zoox return to the tentacle tips - you can see the brown speckles starting to come back. (sorry for the crappy cell phone pic).

This anemone eats well, and I feed it about 3 times per week. Its mouth has never gaped; it has never deflated/crashed; and it has stayed put right since the first introduction.

I'm optimistic about its recovery, but I can updated its progress periodically.

Cheers
Mike

 

[~RuSh~]

Perhaps you all could go one step further and let other in on how you helped them recover? What steps you took to save these nems?

 

[bradleym]

Perhaps you all could go one step further and let other in on how you helped them recover? What steps you took to save these nems?

Well for mine, it was good clean water, along with about 400w of 12K MH lighting. I also fed it mysis every other day until it was big enough to eat silverside chunks (I didn't know better at the time).

 

[alanbates12]

Perhaps you all could go one step further and let other in on how you helped them recover? What steps you took to save these nems?

Great Point! Patients is a must. I used small pieces of krill and increased my light cycle. Water quality was also an improved. Once it started eating I would feed it 2 or 3 times a week. Now I feed once a week or once every other week.

 

[bradleym]

I'll be back in April to bump it again with a Haddoni if it drops off. I've got a couple recovery stories to tell, but I CAN'T be the only one.

Wow I suck...

Time to bump this thread. Here's that Haddoni I promised, just a LITTLE late:

This is what I brought home

And this is what I passed along when it got too big

I remember that thing was a PIG! I could feed it a whole scallop every other day and it would still act like I was starving it.

OK, who's next? ousnakebyte how did the H. Magnifica do?

 

[Conrad25]

Healthy H. Magnefica / Ritteri Progress Pictures from bleached to healthy

Badly bleached, almost completly gone and looks stressed with short tentacles and being clear/see through

Mid stage, starting to recover

Nem made full recovery

 

[Mavrk]

Here is my old RBTA that I nursed back to health (lost it in a move though).

 

[Mavrk]

Here is the above anemone hosting my clowns:

 

[brian762]

Here is my H. Crispa that a few people thought was dyed and wouldnt make it.
<a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/?action=view&current=IMG_1268.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/IMG_1268.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

A few weeks after with feeding of PE Mysis every other day.
<a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/?action=view&current=IMG_1338.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/IMG_1338.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This is the most recent pic I have from 4-21. Been too busy with work to take any pics. It has continued to grow and tenticles are a lot longer than this pic now.
<a href="http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/?action=view&current=crispa.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj132/bstetka/crispa.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[brian762]

Here is the link when i first purchased the nem.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2099526

 

[james30ct]

I dont want to invade your thread but I have had a gbta for about 2 months now and it hides under a cave and doesnt have tentacles just tiny nubs. I was told to move it in light and put eggcrate and layers of screen over it and remove a screen every week or so to aclimate it. Its been over a week and it went back into a cave. I've read to feed it daily and not feed it at all. It still sticks to rocks but it still looks awful. Not sure what to do. I have a 72gal bowfront with cree leds at 65%.