Anemone hiding in tiny hole? Should I get it out?

[rusty shackleford yes]

Hello, a couple of days ago I got a huge green BTA from Petco for just 15$ (it’s usually 50$), I drip acclimated it and then put it on my rock work. When I woke up the next morning it was GONE. Until I realized it probably is hiding in a tiny hole that the fluval 13.5 has on the back that connects to the sump. Today I saw some green tentacles coming out of the hole. I believe it’s hanging out in my sump filter lol. I let it be for a couple days since my condy also hid when I first added it, but it just hid under the rock work. But now I’m getting scared as I don’t want it to get comfortable in there. Should I take it out when I get home? I can just pull out the sump filter and plop him back in the tank, but I don’t want to stress or injure the anemone. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Saltyreef]

Hello, a couple of days ago I got a huge green BTA from Petco for just 15$ (it’s usually 50$), I drip acclimated it and then put it on my rock work. When I woke up the next morning it was GONE. Until I realized it probably is hiding in a tiny hole that the fluval 13.5 has on the back that connects to the sump. Today I saw some green tentacles coming out of the hole. I believe it’s hanging out in my sump filter lol. I let it be for a couple days since my condy also hid when I first added it, but it just hid under the rock work. But now I’m getting scared as I don’t want it to get comfortable in there. Should I take it out when I get home? I can just pull out the sump filter and plop him back in the tank, but I don’t want to stress or injure the anemone. Any help is appreciated!

If its on a smooth surface then I would say go for it. Use your thumb nail and scrape horizontially against the surface its on and its foot to pop it off gently( Dont pry it free) But.... you might want to do some investigative analysis why it hid in the first place.

My first guess would be your lights are way too strong compared to petcos holding tanks. You'll want to lower them substantially for an acclamation period of 7 days or gradually increasing 10% per day. but be sure to bring them back to original intensity on the 7th day.

Another issue could be water quality difference, alk or salinity. Mainly i would focus on the alkalinity as thats the main water issue for nems being placed into another tank.
Be sure you macros are in order and most importantly, stable.

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

If its on a smooth surface then I would say go for it. Use your thumb nail and scrape horizontially against the surface its on and its foot to pop it off gently( Dont pry it free) But.... you might want to do some investigative analysis why it hid in the first place.

My first guess would be your lights are way too strong compared to petcos holding tanks. You'll want to lower them substantially for an acclamation period of 7 days or gradually increasing 10% per day. but be sure to bring them back to original intensity on the 7th day.

Another issue could be water quality difference, alk or salinity. Mainly i would focus on the alkalinity as thats the main water issue for nems being placed into another tank.
Be sure you macros are in order and most importantly, stable.

Makes a lot of sense actually! Yeah the lights are really bright compared to petco’s, so I might put it in that rockwork cave I mentioned that my condy used. Thank you so much for the information:)

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Generally, moving an anemone will stress it out even more. I'm also wondering if it's due to your lights being too strong or if your parameters aren't what the anemone wants.

What lights are you using and what does the intensity look like?
What about your parameters?

 

[BryanM]

Agreed with Gumbies above... trying to force nems to move will stress them.

The nem will move around until it finds a suitable home, and there's no real timeframe for that to happen.

While I love nems, this issue is why I won't buy another one. They just do their own thing, like a cat.

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

Generally, moving an anemone will stress it out even more. I'm also wondering if it's due to your lights being too strong or if your parameters aren't what the anemone wants.

What lights are you using and what does the intensity look like?
What about your parameters?

The light is the stock light that came with the fluval 13.5, the condy seems to like it! And I tested the water yesterday, little to no ammonia and nitrites but the nitrates are still a bit higher but still on the lower side. I may just let it be, since his tentacles are poking out now I think he’s starting to explore more. There’s not much he can do in my sump filter

 

[Gumbies R Us]

How old is the tank? (sorry i keep asking questions, just trying to get a better understanding of your tank)

Do you have a way to test phosphates or any of your other parameters?

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

Also an update: it’s a long tentacle anemone I think. Here’s a picture for reference: (at the Petco, it opened up a lot more in the tank before hiding)

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

How old is the tank? (sorry i keep asking questions, just trying to get a better understanding of your tank)

Do you have a way to test phosphates or any of your other parameters?

The tank is reaching 5 months now! A lot of hitchhikers like copepods, tube worms, and little serpent stars have made their home there. Coraline algae is starting to grow more. The condy is growing like crazy and my parameters as I can tell are quite stable. I only have one little fish lol. And I will see if I can buy a test kit that can!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

The tank is reaching 5 months now! A lot of hitchhikers like copepods, tube worms, and little serpent stars have made their home there. Coraline algae is starting to grow more. The condy is growing like crazy and my parameters as I can tell are quite stable. I only have one little fish lol. And I will see if I can buy a test kit that can!

Try and buy Salifert, Hannas, or RedSea. Api has a tendency to be inaccurate with numbers!

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

Try and buy Salifert, Hannas, or RedSea. Api has a tendency to be inaccurate with numbers!

Thanks for the information! I will buy them soon, I believe I have the funds to now.

 

[Saltyreef]

The only reason I would say move it is because it sounds like it made its way into a filter. If there is any suction there it could mean trouble. If its not on a smooth surface or theres nowhere for it to potentially get injured being in there then I would leave it alone.
I had a CSB find its way into a HOB filter intake overnight and half of it got turned into about 30 pieces. The other half held its foot tight to the intake tubing which was astonishing.

 

[rusty shackleford yes]

The only reason I would say move it is because it sounds like it made its way into a filter. If there is any suction there it could mean trouble. If its not on a smooth surface or theres nowhere for it to potentially get injured being in there then I would leave it alone.
I had a CSB find its way into a HOB filter intake overnight and half of it got turned into about 30 pieces. The other half held its foot tight to the intake tubing which was astonishing.

I think it just put itself In there lol. It’s also in an area it could easily get itself out of and can’t go anywhere else but out of the little hole. But thanks so much for the help!

 

[winxp_man]

The only reason I would say move it is because it sounds like it made its way into a filter. If there is any suction there it could mean trouble. If its not on a smooth surface or theres nowhere for it to potentially get injured being in there then I would leave it alone.
I had a CSB find its way into a HOB filter intake overnight and half of it got turned into about 30 pieces. The other half held its foot tight to the intake tubing which was astonishing.

Same!! It was in a QT tank. Now it does not know it needs light, been fighting too keep it alive for a few months now!!! So ticked. Last day of QT and the beauty of a nem decided to go floating in the QT tank. I’m also realizing that there are times where you have to intervene. If not they will die. A isolation box is a good thing. After all these things don’t have brains to think with. Had a green along side my CSB and I let it do its thing ended up going under a rock and died like a dummy! The CSB did the same! I kept bringing it up into the light from under rocks. It’s not doing better! And even eating! There are times where a persons intervention is a must!

Mind you mine was a 4-5” CSB! I was so ticked when it happened! I got it for a steal at $200! And it was doing real good! Until my dummy head decided to run a HOB in the QT that didn’t have the filter near the blades. Learned a lot since then! Now I’m in the processes of brining it back from the dead literally haha! It was gapping its mouth, almost rotting away! Until I manually starting putting in areas with light. What a mess! Along side having had a velvet breakout! Running 4 qt systems. 3 20 gals and 1 10 gal. And my two DT systems bottoming out on nitrates and almost killing everything in them. Yea it’s been a mess for the past two months!