Is my nem stressed, splitting, or dying?

[lobsterfan228]

Hello R2R!

About a day ago, my BTA suddenly started looking like this. There had been a temperature spike on Wednesday as my air conditioner had stopped working, causing the temperature in the tank to jump from 75 to 80 Fahrenheit. It looked to be doing fine through this spike as I worked to slowly bring the temperature back down, but then it started suddenly shriveling up. I know it’s not expelling zooxanthellae, as it has been like this for about a day so far.

I’ve been dosing Ruby Reef Rally into the tank for about 5-6 days in order to treat my Clownfish of what I assumed to be some kind of parasite, but I stopped as soon as I noticed the anemone acting like this (the clownfish has made a recovery, so I should have stopped there anyways). Mentioning this as I’ve heard stories of this medication harming inverts.

Is there anything I can do to help this nem out?

Params:
pH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 5.4
Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 77.7°F (working to bring down)
Alkalinity: 180.0

 

[tbrown]

His foot is attached, that's a good thing.

He could be irritated or pooping.

Usually when mine split they go hide for a day or two, then reemerge.

 

[lobsterfan228]

His foot is attached, that's a good thing.

He could be irritated or pooping.

Usually when mine split they go hide for a day or two, then reemerge.

Thanks for your help! I started feeding him a bit more recently, so it definitely could just be pooping. If it is irritation, I’ll try my best not to disturb the tank with any more medication.

I had expected him to split some time soon because of how big he was getting, so that’s why I suspected it. I’ll keep this thread updated if he starts detaching, bleaching, or anything like that.

 

[tbrown]

If the temperature crept up slowly and creeps back down it's not a huge worry usually. 80 isn't a bad temperature - in fact a lot of successful reefers keep their tanks at 80 normally. Once you hit that 83-85+ is when is start worrying some.

Next time you have something happen like that try adding some surface agitation and aeration to help cool the water back down through evaporation.