I’m curious to know what happened…

[timmyrules]

So, I had these 2 anemone a while ago….I’m just wondering what happened and why. I had them both for 8 months and they lived on the same rock right next to each other. The only livestock in the tank at that time were: 2 small pincushion urchins, 1 blue tip hermit crab, and 1 very small clownfish. The tank, at that time was a year old, and all parameters were stable. Both anemones were doing great, until one day they randomly turned into mush.

 

[KrisReef]

They look to be very small, which isn't necessarily a problem but if they were 8 months old, they should have grown a lot if they were healthy and eating regularly. Inverts that are tiny are possibly severely stunted and if they are not growing they are likely sick and dying, ime. They will turn to mush when they die, so I would guess this is what happened?

 

[littlefoxx]

So, I had these 2 anemone a while ago….I’m just wondering what happened and why. I had them both for 8 months and they lived on the same rock right next to each other. The only livestock in the tank at that time were: 2 small pincushion urchins, 1 blue tip hermit crab, and 1 very small clownfish. The tank, at that time was a year old, and all parameters were stable. Both anemones were doing great, until one day they randomly turned into mush.

Whats your parameters? This happened to me, found out my nitrites and nitrates had spiked and I wasnt detecting this on the test kit I used. Took to a LFS and thats how I found out and bought new test kits. Reactants were really old and expired in my case

 

[timmyrules]

They look to be very small, which isn't necessarily a problem but if they were 8 months old, they should have grown a lot if they were healthy and eating regularly. Inverts that are tiny are possibly severely stunted and if they are not growing they are likely sick and dying, ime. They will turn to mush when they die, so I would guess this is what happened?

They weren’t that small to begin with…here is what they originally looked like.

 

[timmyrules]

Whats your parameters? This happened to me, found out my nitrites and nitrates had spiked and I wasnt detecting this on the test kit I used. Took to a LFS and thats how I found out and bought new test kits. Reactants were really old and expired in my case

Sorry to hear this happened to you as well. Thats a good possibility that my tests were expired. One time the ammonia tested 5ppm in a well established tank I have, I was SUPER confused but all the fish and coral were totally fine.

 

[KrisReef]

They weren’t that small to begin with…here is what they originally looked like.

Failure to thrive, they wasted away. Sometimes this just happens, often either light or food needs were not met.

 

[timmyrules]

Failure to thrive, they wasted away. Sometimes this just happens, often either light or food needs were not met.

Does it take 8 months for them to waste away if absolutely nothing in the environment changed and they were being fed regularly?

 

[KrisReef]

Does it take 8 months for them to waste away if absolutely nothing in the environment changed and they were being fed regularly?

If they started out large and slowly went to miniature nems and then mush then they were being starved of something they needed. If they were nice sized one day and tiny, then dead later in the week then something else happened other than wasting away. Corals and nems can take months to waste away if lighting and nutrition are not adequate.

 

[timmyrules]

If they started out large and slowly went to miniature nems and then mush then they were being starved of something they needed. If they were nice sized one day and tiny, then dead later in the week then something else happened other than wasting away. Corals and nems can take months to waste away if lighting and nutrition are not adequate.

Oh ok, that makes sense. thank you for the input

 

[James M]

They slowly writhed away because you do not have a proper set up for anemones

 

[timmyrules]

Ok, I was feeding coralife microvert filter feeder food a few times a week…I have good flow in the tank. But, when I got the light I had a tight budget, so it’s kinda a cheap light…would it have withered away just due to inadequate light? What could I have done better?

They slowly writhed away because you do not have a proper set up for anemones

 

[OrionN]

The anemone you have are Condylactis gigantea, one of the easiest anemone to keep. I am sorry that they did not do well for you. Normally this anemone tolerate a wide range of conditions. You do need to keep the water clean and stable. Reasonably low in nutrients.they don’t really need food, just good clean water and light.

 

[timmyrules]

Do those anemones tolerate lower light levels? I understand that they are one of the easiest anemones to keep, they were the very first invertebrates I got when I got into this hobby. so, without knowing, I made a lot of mistakes.

The anemone you have are Condylactis gigantea, one of the easiest anemone to keep. I am sorry that they did not do well for you. Normally this anemone tolerate a wide range of conditions. You do need to keep the water clean and stable. Reasonably low in nutrients.they don’t really need food, just good clean water and light.