What happens when an Anemone dies?

C

corsm80

New member
I recently added a Red/Rose Bubble Tipped Anemone to my 70gal tank. I had a friend over on the weekend and he noted that adding an Anemone to my tank is the worst mistake I could make. He said... if it happens to die, you will have a mass-level extinction event in your tank. He said you will lose everything... including all fish, corals, starfish, shrimp, etc... and all probably within a 24 hour period because it will release it's deadly poisonous toxins into the water upon it's death.

So of course... now I'm stressed.

I did some research on the internet and found conflicting stories about this. Some have said that the above statement is true and that people have had anemone in a tank die, and when not immediately noticed... within a day or two everything in the tank was dead and that they virtually had to start all over again. While others have said this is rubbish and that when an anemone dies, it's like with anything else that dies in a tank (such as a fish), it will release "some toxins" such as ammonia, and should be removed asap... but a dead Anemone is not going to kill everything in your tank.

Can someone shed some light on this... maybe from past experience? Thanks
 
Yep it can kill everything in the tank if it dies. I had a green bubble in my 6g nano and it died and crashed the tank. But it was a tiny 6g. If is starts to die just remove it.
 
Size of the Anemone, tank and filtration in use will have its effect on the damage caused by a dying anemone. I lost, a couple of anemones in my old 150G and had no effects.
 
Yes, really depends on your tank and setup. The bigger the tank and better the filtration system, the better chance of survival for your fish.

Just keep a good eye on the nem, learn it's behavior so if/when it starts to die, you can remove it asap. You could also remove it to a QT, so if it dies, it's not in your DT.
 
I just lost my GBTA to my MP40. I had this bta for several years and one day it wanted a new spot on the rocks. It found my MP40 and was diced into several pieces, which went unnoticed for at least 9 hours while I was at work. Upon discovering this I removed all pieces and replaced my filter sock with a clean one. I do run gac and gfo and believe they helped remove the toxins from the tank quite well. I lost nothing other than the bta.
 
Lately, i've been hearing many GBTA's finding its way to a MP40. But best thing to do if you see any signs of your anemone decaying. Remove it right away, and do a water change. Also run Carbon if you don't. It will help remove toxins from the water.
 
Like someone else said, it's not a given that everything else in the tank will die. If you scroll down this TOTM profile http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/totm/index.php to the section titled "Filtration", you'll see that a very large blue carpet anemone died in this tank while the owner was away on business. The skimmer was able to handle the toxins and other waste left behind.

I think I would run a large amount of carbon for a few weeks to help take care of anything that would be left over if this happened to me. If you're going to keep anemones with other precious livestock (which I'm sure you are) then it's probably wise to

1. Oversize your skimmer a bit and buy the best one your pocket can afford
2. Always run a high quality carbon and change it regularly
3. Do everything you can to keep the anemone from moving
a. Feed it often so it doesn't roam looking for food
b. Protect powerheads and pump intakes from shredding the anemone
should it detach
c. Try to isolate it as much as possible from other corals and animals
that may sting it or get within reach of its' tentacles.

I successfully kept a bubble tip anemone with me for over 5 years in an SPS dominated tank. When the maroon clownfish that called the anemone home died, I gave it away. I kept it isolated toward the side of the tank on its' own rock. From its' perch it could not reach another rock or coral when extended. I fed it once a week and never had an issue.

HTH
 
well, when an anemone dies, it goes to the big ocean in the sky...

No really though, keep an eye on it and you should be fine. If something happens to it and it dies, you WILL need to take quick action with water changes etc. but in a larger system you shouldnt have instant death of everything else.

HOWEVER, if it decides to wander around your tank and high five all its coral buddies along the way, it can/will kill your corals. Putting the nem on its own island of rock can help keep it from getting to other corals, but its not a sure thing.
 
Your friend is probably thinking of others supposed "tank killers". Boxfish, cucumbers, etc.. An anemone won't necessarily nuke a tank through toxic release (although the stinging cells may be scattered around if it hits a powerhead).

That said, anything dying in a tank has the potential to nuke the tank if the filtration can't handle it. Anemones are not unique in that regard. Even a small fish can nuke a tank if it can manage to start a domino effect that the filtration system can't stop.
 
I had one die about a week ago - nothing else died but my nitrates went through the roof up to 80ppm.... Still fighting to get them down :(
 
corsm80 said:
While others have said this is rubbish and that when an anemone dies, it's like with anything else that dies in a tank (such as a fish), it will release "some toxins" such as ammonia, and should be removed asap... but a dead Anemone is not going to kill everything in your tank.
Click to expand...
That is the truth.

Of course, if you are keeping a large anemone in a relatively small tank (e.g., 40 gallons) and you allow it to remain for several hours, then you're going to have a much bigger problem than someone with a much larger tank or someone who manages to remove it before it completely comes apart.

I wouldn't be concerned with a single RBTA in a 70-gal tank. I have a friend who had as many as 40 RBTA's in a 110-gal tank and he never had any problems, other than having to constantly remove them every few months. He started out with a single little RBTA but it kept splitting and over a period of about 7 or 8 years it produced more than 100 clones. His only problem was that it took over his tank.:twitch:

:)
 
Ninong said:
That is the truth.

Of course, if you are keeping a large anemone in a relatively small tank (e.g., 40 gallons) and you allow it to remain for several hours, then you're going to have a much bigger problem than someone with a much larger tank or someone who manages to remove it before it completely comes apart.

I wouldn't be concerned with a single RBTA in a 70-gal tank. I have a friend who had as many as 40 RBTA's in a 110-gal tank and he never had any problems, other than having to constantly remove them every few months. He started out with a single little RBTA but it kept splitting and over a period of about 7 or 8 years it produced more than 100 clones. His only problem was that it took over his tank.:twitch:

:)
Click to expand...

Wow.
 
How to tell if your anemone is dead or dying

How to tell if your anemone is dead or dying

Hi i have an anemone in my reef tank this is my first reef tank and my anemone is doing fine last night but once i checked it earlier i shrunk and someflesh i think is at its buttom, it still responde to light though
 
I missed that this was a Golden Shovel posting.

Jhayzin - Are you feeding your anemone? Anemones are not solely photosynthetic and should be fed weekly. Otherwise, check your parameters and consider if you changed anything.
 
Last edited:
I had one die in June when I was gone for 3 days. It killed everything in the tank except 8 fish or so. I’m sure the fact I was gone for 3 days didn’t help at all. But it did wipe out my whole tank of sps and inverts as well as fish.

Corey
 
If they die, they shred into horrid-smelling bits and pollute the tank. Get it out, put it in a bucket, light it and feed it. If it dies in there, it dies. But the tank will be safe.
 
Ninong said:
That is the truth.

Of course, if you are keeping a large anemone in a relatively small tank (e.g., 40 gallons) and you allow it to remain for several hours, then you're going to have a much bigger problem than someone with a much larger tank or someone who manages to remove it before it completely comes apart.

I wouldn't be concerned with a single RBTA in a 70-gal tank. I have a friend who had as many as 40 RBTA's in a 110-gal tank and he never had any problems, other than having to constantly remove them every few months. He started out with a single little RBTA but it kept splitting and over a period of about 7 or 8 years it produced more than 100 clones. His only problem was that it took over his tank.:twitch:

:)
Click to expand...

Sounds like my tank. I have them all over including sump and refugium.
 
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