Treatment Protocol for Sick Anemones

[beolson25]

Anyone want to weigh in on these bad pictures of my anemones? They were added and looked good for a week or two. Now they are deflated but the mouths are not open a ton. They have been moving around a lot since the first/second week.

One of them seemed to have a tear on the foot but recovered to looking great for several days prior to deflating.

Looking for opinions.

 

[Sdot]

Anyone want to weigh in on these bad pictures of my anemones? They were added and looked good for a week or two. Now they are deflated but the mouths are not open a ton. They have been moving around a lot since the first/second week.

One of them seemed to have a tear on the foot but recovered to looking great for several days prior to deflating.

Looking for opinions.

Doesnt look good... but need context. What are your tank parameters? How long has it been setup, what type of lights do you have...etc.

 

[Sdot]

I think the anemone is dead.... This photo was taken this morning:

I updated my own thread, however i will add the latest pix of the anemone. I would say ive been very lucky and completely understand why these are deemed "expert only" anemones. I am just now on the other side of treatment with this anemone and its still not 100%. I think the animal is pretty healthy and at this point just waiting for all of the color to return although most of it is back. Just keep the following in mind, i received the anemone in early March of this year and its almost mid- November.

 

[beolson25]

Doesnt look good... but need context. What are your tank parameters? How long has it been setup, what type of lights do you have...etc.

Yeah .... So that is a bit of a story ... first of all, the tank is about 3 months old(yeah, a little new)

I noticed the one started looking bad so I measured the parameters. I got a reading of .25 ammonia so I did a bunch of water changes in a few days and dosed seachem prime.

Nitrites, nitrate are zero and the local fish store got almost unreadable phosphates. My PH was a bit low (~7.8). The thing they did notice was my salinity was off. I had 1.022-1.023. looks like my refractometer got out of whack. So I fixed that and it is between 1.025 and 1.026 since yesterday.

Worth noting, I think the ammonia reading was a false positive. I got one of those ammonia badges and it has never registered any ammonia. I am using the API marine test which is apparently notorious for for reading small amounts of ammonia when it doesn't exist.


So, since correcting the salinity the anemones(2) have been moving a bit but settled today. I'll see if they move more. I was considering dosing prime more but don't want to do too many things all at once.

They are still very deflated. I'm not sure what the best next step is but I was thinking to wait for a couple days.

I was also wondering if it might be bacterial. Unfortunately I don't have a separate tank to treat them. Technically I have a tank but no extra powerheads or heater.

Thoughts?

 

[Sdot]

Yeah .... So that is a bit of a story ... first of all, the tank is about 3 months old(yeah, a little new)

I noticed the one started looking bad so I measured the parameters. I got a reading of .25 ammonia so I did a bunch of water changes in a few days and dosed seachem prime.

Nitrites, nitrate are zero and the local fish store got almost unreadable phosphates. My PH was a bit low (~7.8). The thing they did notice was my salinity was off. I had 1.022-1.023. looks like my refractometer got out of whack. So I fixed that and it is between 1.025 and 1.026 since yesterday.

Worth noting, I think the ammonia reading was a false positive. I got one of those ammonia badges and it has never registered any ammonia. I am using the API marine test which is apparently notorious for for reading small amounts of ammonia when it doesn't exist.


So, since correcting the salinity the anemones(2) have been moving a bit but settled today. I'll see if they move more. I was considering dosing prime more but don't want to do too many things all at once.

They are still very deflated. I'm not sure what the best next step is but I was thinking to wait for a couple days.

I was also wondering if it might be bacterial. Unfortunately I don't have a separate tank to treat them. Technically I have a tank but no extra powerheads or heater.

Thoughts?

Humans! Ill say this.. Bro these are living animals and before you go out and buy something advanced like a sea anemone....it is your responsible to make sure you are in a position and your tank is as well to support them..........

1. The 1st thing you need to do is get good test kits. i suggest you look at Salifert, nyos, red sea... ext. API test kits are known not to be all that accurate.

2. Make sure you have the lighting, water movement, and stable parameters to keep a sea anemone.

3. Your tank is too new for a sea anemone imo. Unless its a transfer you need much more time and bio diversity to support it. Sea anemones... even bubbletips I would consider on the advanced side of the spectrum.


You need a little Phos and a little Nitrates.

Not in stone but a goal, with that said all tanks are different.

PH peak: 8.1- 8.5 (PH fluctuates through the day, peaking just before lights out)
ALK: 7-9Dkh (Stick to a solid number...really important if you plan keep stoney corals)
Salinity: Natural Sea Water levels (1.025 - 1.026)
Phosphate: .04 - .09
Nitrate: 5-15ppm
You should not have detectable levels of ammonia or nitrite...period.

With that said.... before you change anything understand what's wrong (Test, test, test). But make sure you have the life support systems and the skills and/or research to support what ever you decide to keep.

 

[beolson25]

Humans! Ill say this.. Bro these are living animals and before you go out and buy something advanced like a sea anemone....it is your responsible to make sure you are in a position and your tank is as well to support them..........

1. The 1st thing you need to do is get good test kits. i suggest you look at Salifert, nyos, red sea... ext. API test kits are known not to be all that accurate.

2. Make sure you have the lighting, water movement, and stable parameters to keep a sea anemone.

3. Your tank is too new for a sea anemone imo. Unless its a transfer you need much more time and bio diversity to support it. Sea anemones... even bubbletips I would consider on the advanced side of the spectrum.


You need a little Phos and a little Nitrates.

Not in stone but a goal, with that said all tanks are different.

PH peak: 8.1- 8.5 (PH fluctuates through the day, peaking just before lights out)
ALK: 7-9Dkh (Stick to a solid number...really important if you plan keep stoney corals)
Salinity: Natural Sea Water levels (1.025 - 1.026)
Phosphate: .04 - .09
Nitrate: 5-15ppm
You should not have detectable levels of ammonia or nitrite...period.

With that said.... before you change anything understand what's wrong (Test, test, test). But make sure you have the life support systems and the skills and/or research to support what ever you decide to keep.

I do appreciate you taking the time to respond. Although this tank is new I've kept anemones on several occasions and have never had a problem adding them on the third month. I used to have a beautiful Sherman RBTA that would split and I'd sell the extras 5-10 a year. I don't really consider them to be ADVANCED since they have been so easy in my own personal experience.

I do agree I need to get a better test kit. I'll work on that this week. I also agree my parameters were off(salinity) in a significant way. That said, I was trying to see if others in the community had specific ideas about what could be wrong. Things like bacterial infection or coral warfare. I realize it's hard to know over the internet but wanted to try to get some advice from others who may have experienced it.

Looks like I'm on my own for a bit and I'll do my best to bring them to LFS if they look really bad and detach from the rock again. All my rock is cemented together so taking it out is more stress than it's worth.

Hoping they will pull through since they didn't move last night and look SLIGHTLY better this morning. Maybe it was just the salinity.

 

[Sdot]

Perhaps this says alot about your ability to keep them. I would say sea anemones, especially those that host clowns are advanced. BTA are the easier of the bunch, but i wouldnt recommend them for beginners

 

[Stv]

I have a sick nem and he has looked this way for a few weeks. The other two in my tank and everything else is thriving. I want to try this protocol to save him as he’s so beautiful but I can’t find any of these products for sale anywhere without a prescription. HELP. Thanks guys. Also I’m assuming this protocol is done in anQT tank and I can’t treat the entire DT with it correct.

 

[Cbt]

I've noticed several threads where people were asking about how to treat their sick anemone. I know first hand how helpless it feels to have one go down. I wanted to post a thread were maybe people can refer back to for treatment info.

I didn't see a sticky and maybe you guys already have a thread. I don't know because I'm new here. My apologies if there is one already.

If not, here's the Protocol that's been very effective for me personally. A good friend of mine (Dr. Minh) put it together a while back. I've kinda tweaked it for what seems to work the best for me. Most of my experience is with S. Gigantea & H. Magnifica's. So this protocol is primarily for those two anemones. IMO, these are the two most difficult to keep and stablize. I have treated lots of S. Haddoni with it too. Also a couple of RBTA's and Sebae's. It works for just about all Nems that are infected.

So as many of you know, Ciprofloxacin is the main drug of choice. This is a very broad spectrum antibiotic. It has very good gram-negative coverage. The recommended dose is 250/mg per 10/G of water. When you dose the tank, it's best if you crush the antibiotic to a fine powder, or let it dissolve by rubbing it in front of a powerhead. I personally use a silent knight pill crusher. Dosing in the evening at the end of the daytime cycle is recommended. However, I've dosed at all different times of the day and find no difference. The main thing is to dose about every 24 hrs. After the initial dose, it's best to do a 50% WC before dosing again. All the subsequent doses are still 250/mg per 10/G.

Hi I’m new and need help bad with my haddoni!!! I believe I poisoned it with nitrates and he’s barely hanging in there. I have read millions of everything everywhere to do this an do that don’t do this and he’s just barely hanging in there now he seemed stressed to the max in tank last few days (there’s been so much going on in short amount of time) I’m not sure where to start I just don’t want him to die and I feel like I’m killing him stressing him more then anything

 

[Reef2317]

Hi I was just wondering what different antibiotics you can use? and are dosage rates for those the same as cipro?

I have a bundle of forest fires in my tank and they need my help. I live in Australia and have only what I have available in my cupboard.

Planning to start treatment asap will continue reading but i have penicillin available to me.

 

[airsence]

I've noticed several threads where people were asking about how to treat their sick anemone. I know first hand how helpless it feels to have one go down. I wanted to post a thread were maybe people can refer back to for treatment info.

I didn't see a sticky and maybe you guys already have a thread. I don't know because I'm new here. My apologies if there is one already.

If not, here's the Protocol that's been very effective for me personally. A good friend of mine (Dr. Minh) put it together a while back. I've kinda tweaked it for what seems to work the best for me. Most of my experience is with S. Gigantea & H. Magnifica's. So this protocol is primarily for those two anemones. IMO, these are the two most difficult to keep and stablize. I have treated lots of S. Haddoni with it too. Also a couple of RBTA's and Sebae's. It works for just about all Nems that are infected.

So as many of you know, Ciprofloxacin is the main drug of choice. This is a very broad spectrum antibiotic. It has very good gram-negative coverage. The recommended dose is 250/mg per 10/G of water. When you dose the tank, it's best if you crush the antibiotic to a fine powder, or let it dissolve by rubbing it in front of a powerhead. I personally use a silent knight pill crusher. Dosing in the evening at the end of the daytime cycle is recommended. However, I've dosed at all different times of the day and find no difference. The main thing is to dose about every 24 hrs. After the initial dose, it's best to do a 50% WC before dosing again. All the subsequent doses are still 250/mg per 10/G.

I would like to know, for all the time I have had a lot of anemones, about 50, possibly more, and only neon or transparent anemones constantly get sick and die. The rest, such as rainbow ones, with white stripes, or ordinary ones, never got sick. It turns out that there are species that have stronger immunity than others?

 

[Reefahholic]

I would like to know, for all the time I have had a lot of anemones, about 50, possibly more, and only neon or transparent anemones constantly get sick and die. The rest, such as rainbow ones, with white stripes, or ordinary ones, never got sick. It turns out that there are species that have stronger immunity than others?

A lot of the anemones are being treated these days before you get them. If they’ve already seen antibiotics a few times, and get sick in your care, they usually won’t survive. Some of these wholesalers and even LFS are not treating at therapeutic levels in their holding tanks. The bacteria builds up immunity to the antibiotics. I caught Live Aquaria doing this years ago. You can only imagine what’s going on today. Everybody and their mom is dumping Cipro into their systems and everything else.