Why is my anmeone tumbling?

[bigj11]

My anemone will sometimes close up into a ball and flip over and over in the water current in one area. He protects his mouth with his tentacles and i have to stick him down onto rocks every-time. This time when i went to out him on a rock i noticed it had some white stuff on the foot (not really sure what part of the anemone it was because it was a ball) the white stuff looked like feta cheese with little green strings in it. Is this poop? What is it? Thanks

 

[garygb]

Pics? How long have you had the anemone and what species of anemone is it? Sometimes an infection can look like what you're describing, since it's on the foot of the anemone. All the information regarding your tank parameters, setup and lighting might help readers make suggestions to you.

 

[tufacody]

as a pic, but sounds like a dying anemone with its mesenterial filaments (guts) coming out.

Does it look like this:

If so, its prolly a goner. Dead nems can kill your whole tank, so be careful.

 

[bigj11]

yeah it kind of looks like that. The foot i noticed was ripped, i have only had it for about a week so is this my LFS's fault that they ripped it off the parent rock and broke the foot when i bought it?

 

[bigj11]

does anyone else have any pictures? I dont have a digital camera

 

[tufacody]

hard to say. Is it a magnifica like the one shown? They have very soft feet and tear easily. Could have happened anywhere from ocean to your tank, and it is very common. Magnificas usually never recover from this type of injury. On the other hand, I had a severely torn BTA anemone and it healed in a few weeks.

Magnificas are extremely hard to keep, for a variety of reasons. In the future, if you must have an anemone, I suggest trying to buy they whole rock it is on if possible.

 

[garygb]

bigj11, in your tag it says "Hobby experience: none" If that is the case, you will want to keep some of the easier animals before trying anemones. All species of host anemones are somewhat demanding and some are very demanding. Also, it's a good idea to research anything you are thinking about getting before adding it to the tank. RC is a good place to start.