Whats wrong with the S. Handdoni?

[Reefing Newbie]

I am would like to know why my carpet anemone is not closing its mouth tightly like it should be. It has been in my tank now for around four weeks with the purchase of the complete reef setup. There are two bleached BTAs in the tank with it(they were bleached when I got the tank) if that matters. The carpet has moved maybe 6" from its original spot and has stayed put since then. Water chemistry has been stable with these readings from tests:
Temp- 78-79
SG-1.024
pH-8.4
Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-5ppm
Phosphate-0ppm
Alk-12dKH
Calc-460ppm

I haven't been feeding it as I don't think you are supposed to feed until the mouth is closed tightly. I do feed PhytoMax to the tank every two days, to supplement feedings for the bleached BTA's and to feed the filter feeding inverts in the tank(feather dusters, several corals...) I was planning on trading this nem into my lfs as I don't want a carpet nem, my original plan was for BTA's with my mixed reef. Any suggestions, I don't want to give it to the lfs unhappy as people seem to say that they have unsuitable lighting long term for the nems.

 

[Reef1589]

it might not be getting along with the BTA's.. in my experience, when i had BTA/haddoni combo it didnt work well, the haddoni never stayed put,and didnt really open up to its fully potential, it wasnt till after i removed the BTA's it stayed put and really opened up, it never really opened his mouth though so it could also be something different going on as well.....

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Were your BTA's moving close to the handdoni? As far as I know my BTAs have been staying on the upper part of the rock work. I want to see if there are any other issues because if there something else then I will do what is needed to treat before trade in. Otherwise I will trade this weekend with BTAs being the problem.

 

[Reef1589]

Nah my BTA's actually stayed put and thrived... (if you look on this page 1 in this forums, my New Haddoni thread, you can see it there) ...

my Haddoni actually seemed to walk towards/in the direction the BTA's were at...
and literally the day i took out the BTA's.. my haddoni didnt move a single centimeter... from that spot... and really started to open up.

but im also not saying that there isnt something else wrong, as i dont know..

by "purchase of a complete reef setup" ..do you mean you just recently bought someones old setup? Tank/filter/rock and all?

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Yep everything in my sig was someone's 1.5 year old setup. It was turned into a reef about 6-8 months before I got it, and everything is looking better than it did when I looked at it before purchase.

 

[Reef1589]

so.. in the move... im assuming the haddoni was taken out of the tank ... and then put back into the tank... ?

is there anyway to check the foot? (view from under the tank) ... maybe the previous owner did a small tear in the foot ... and its stressing it out a litte bit..

or its just re-adjusting to the move still..

has his mouth been like this for the whole 4 weeks?

inflate/deflate alot?

 

[Reefing Newbie]

It's mouth has not been closed very much. The whole four weeks since the move it has had the mouth open. It seems like the mouth is closed tighter in the morning then opens up during the day. The foot is 100% attatched and looking healthy as of the last time it was checked. Will look when I get home and take a pic. After lights out the nem shrinks up a bit so it isn't as wide, then goes back to normal during the day. I will take a pic of that as well if I can. I have not noticed deflation or inflation of the nem. Maybe Todd could help me out.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Here are some pics, sorry for bad quality and not zoomed in. I was trying to get the pics of the oral disk before it started changing because the lights came on. The pics of the foot were the best I could do as it is a little cramped fitting under the stand with a 55 gallon tank under there... But here we go

Right after lights were turned on

A few minutes later...

The foot

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Does anyone have anythoughts on what could be wrong with this S. Handdoni? Needing some input as I don't want it to die. Proffesionals, would you recommend feeding, running carbon, or anything of the sort? I did test stickiness today, and the mysis stuck for a bit, but then came off. Not sure if it was the current(about 10" under a 1200gph Koralia) or if he just let it go. He was showing some more white in the mouth today than he did yesterday.

 

[GSMguy]

It's mouth looks fine, what are you thinking it should look like?

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I did not think that there should be any white showing from the mouth. It doesn't eat any of the mysis that I feed it. Like I said, it is sticky but I think it is just letting the mysis go or the powerhead that is close to it is too close and the current takes it away. Is there a certain spot that I should place the mysis? As close to the mouth as possible?

 

[125mph]

He looks fine, maybe not fully settled in yet though. I wouldn't try to feed him if he doesnt want to eat yet. Try running carbons and water changes.

Does he inflate/deflate a lot or stays that way? Is his stomach protruding outside?

 

[jam05pr]

It also looks fine to me as well. I have a blue hadonni that sometimes looks like that. As long as it's not protruding then you should be fine.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

The first two pictures on my last picture post are as protuding as he gets. Doesn't deflate or inflate, or at least not when I am looking. I had a magnetic frag rack in the corner near him, until today when it feel down. He started wrapping his oral disk around his mouth when a candy cane frag was on top of his mouth. Maybe if I put the shrimp right near his mouth? Not sure if I should or not, but I was going to trade in my corals this weekend at the lfs, would it be okay to take him in(rather have BTA's as this is my first reef). Or would you wait until he settles in?