First passing

[Greg Clayton]

My first ever purchased nem has died on me. It was doing well, I thought. I bought it about 2 months ago. After I brought it home everything seemed normal. It anchored to a rock and moved to the sand. About a week later I received my shipment of rocks. I pieced the rocks together and put it in the tank. It was dry live rock. Water parameters were good before and after adding the dry live rock except the calcium spiked a bit up from 450 to 650-700. Alkalinity stayed consistently. After the rock was added/rearranged the nem would not anchor to anything. Would not bury the foot in sand or get on a rock. I kept checking the parameters daily and there were no other spikes. I tried to just leave it alone and see what happens. Everyday it would just fall on its side and sometimes close up then it would broadly flower out like normal the next day. That kept happening. Fast forward to today and this morning it was on its side against a live rock. Came home from work and cleaned the glass like I do daily and found the nem almost fully inside out. Checked parameters everything normal, luckily caught before it could poison the water column. Pulled it out of the tank and the smell I've heard described was faint but it was there. I could smell death similar to a mexican turbo snail dying.

I know they're finicky but I was really hoping it would recover from the addition of new rocks to the tank. Just wanted to share with others who know the sadness and the SMELL!

 

[Nano_Man]

Bta are hardy if water conditions are stable and good like a well matured tank . Sorry for your loss and this can be a part of the hobby.
Other members would like to know how old your tank has been running and your water tests.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don;t think it was the addition of a few rocks that killed the anemone. Looking at some of your previous posts, folks did previously warn you that nems don't do well in new tanks.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

How new is your tank? Generally if your tank is not mature, anemones will struggle due to fluctuating parameters. I agree that added rock isn’t going to kill the anemone

 

[gabelex14]

I don;t think it was the addition of a few rocks that killed the anemone. Looking at some of your previous posts, folks did previously warn you that nems don't do well in new tanks.

What purpose does this serve?

 

[Greg Clayton]

Bta are hardy if water conditions are stable and good like a well matured tank . Sorry for your loss and this can be a part of the hobby.
Other members would like to know how old your tank has been running and your water tests.

Tank is 1.5 years old. Water parameters are consistently as follows
Temp 76-78
Alkalinity 9.3
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Calcium 500
Phosphorus .5
Phosphate 0
Magnesium 1350

 

[Greg Clayton]

How new is your tank? Generally if your tank is not mature, anemones will struggle due to fluctuating parameters. I agree that added rock isn’t going to kill the anemone

It's 1.5 years old.

 

[Nano_Man]

I had a look you have no nitrate on your readings .

 

[Greg Clayton]

I had a look you have no nitrate on your readings .

I'm ordering new testing kits because I do not trust the one I have for the moment for my nitrate and ammonia readings.

 

[Nano_Man]

I'm ordering new testing kits because I do not trust the one I have for the moment for my nitrate and ammonia readings.

Hannah or salfert test kits are the best at this moment imo
If you're tank is 1 and a half years old it is well matured for bta . Your tank after this amount of time should be well dialled in .
We all get losses at some point its hard but happens. Good luck going forward my friend

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What purpose does this serve?

Did you read the entire original post? OP clearly communicates he think the nem died because he added new rocks and the purpose of his post - if you read it - was to warn others that the same might happen if they add new rocks. So I comment that I don't think its the rock and pointed out another very viable option that has been pointed out previously by several others.

So now what purpose does your comment serve?

 

[cet98]

What type of anemone was it? I ask because you mentioned that it went from anchoring the rocks to the sand.

Also, what type of lighting do you have and have you checked your par values by chance?

I would not presume the additional of dry rock would be the issue but anemones can certainly be sensitive to significant parameter shifts. Some more so than others.

Sorry for your loss

 

[BryanM]

Tank is 1.5 years old. Water parameters are consistently as follows
Temp 76-78
Alkalinity 9.3
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Calcium 500
Phosphorus .5
Phosphate 0
Magnesium 1350

No nitrates basically indicates you unfortunately starved it.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

When you say "found it inside out", can you explain further? May be too late now, but some nems do this occasionally. If it looked like a big bubble, may not be too concerning, but if it had mucus and filaments everywhere, then yes, time to pull out.

Don't get me wrong, sounds like it was not happy, just want to pass the knowledge.