I just got a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (I'm assuming that's what RBTA in posts stands for?) on Friday, and I'm fairly certain tragedy struck, but the evidence doesn't all add up. I'm hoping to hear more about others' experiences and see what "survey says."
I have a relatively new 125 gallon set up, but fully cycled and all inhabitants happy and healthy. 2 clowns have been in there for over a month (also have lawnmower blenny, coral beauty angel, ~15 hermit crabs, and a cleaner shrimp), and I wanted to get them an anemone. I picked up a nice, healthy looking RBTA at a fish shop 90 minutes from where I live, spent an hour+ acclimating it to my water, and put it in the tank (also picked up a blue-green chromis, blue tang, 4 peppermint shrimp, and emerald crab on the trip). It immediately started roving (I was surprised by how quick they move, relatively speaking), but tentacles were out and showed no apparent signs of stress.
About an hour to 90 minutes later, my son checked in on it on his way to brush his teeth and saw it on some rocks down at the end of the tank, which was close to the last place I had seen it. After brushing his teeth, he came back and couldn't see it and came to get me. We started searching together, and couldn't see it anywhere, but we did see about a dozen little, half- to one-centimeter long pink things floating around - presumably deflated tentacles.
I had read about anemones getting sucked into power heads, and knocked mine back to 10% max (I have 1 Vortech MP40D at either side of the tank), assuming that between the lower power and no rocks near the fans, it'd be safe. My working assumption is that the nem must've detached shortly after my son saw it, floated up into the fan, and got obliterated. I've mentally prepared myself for that inevitability; however, I'm holding out some hope due to the following:
1) There was no sign of any other part of the anemone wedged in the fan grill or floating in the tank - no chunks, no cloudiness, nothing.
2) All of the other creatures in the tank show no signs of illness/poisoning; I've read some posts where the toxins in a pureed nem wind up killing off the entire tank.
3) No extra output from my skimmer - I assume the organic material in the water would've caused some extra foam collection.
4) The number of tentacle bits we could see (assuming one bit per tentacle) is nowhere near the number it had, and probably closer to a quarter or less.
So, my alternate theory is that the anemone shed a handful of tentacles that got damaged in the process of moving between tanks, and went into hiding somewhere in a crevice that we can't see. One more tidbit in support of that is that shortly after we put the nem in the tank, my daughter asked if they shed tentacles because she thought she saw something that looked like one, but I never saw what she was talking about at the time.
My questions to the community:
1) Could a large anemone get shredded so completely it essentially dissolves into nothingness in a matter of 5 minutes - no haze, no chunks, no sign of anything but a few bits of tentacle?
2) How regularly DO nems shed tentacles?
3) For those that have had nems wind up in the power head, what has been your experience as far as what was found, how the tank looked, how the fish were impacted, protein skimmer output, etc.?
4) If the nem is in hiding, how long might it stay there? And how much time should I allow to elapse before I give up hope - 1 day, 1 week, 1 month?
5) Any other thoughts or experiences to add?
The photo I posted is a shot of the anemone from the last time I saw it, and about one hour to 90 minutes before it disappeared.
Thanks in advance for any input, advice, etc.!
I have a relatively new 125 gallon set up, but fully cycled and all inhabitants happy and healthy. 2 clowns have been in there for over a month (also have lawnmower blenny, coral beauty angel, ~15 hermit crabs, and a cleaner shrimp), and I wanted to get them an anemone. I picked up a nice, healthy looking RBTA at a fish shop 90 minutes from where I live, spent an hour+ acclimating it to my water, and put it in the tank (also picked up a blue-green chromis, blue tang, 4 peppermint shrimp, and emerald crab on the trip). It immediately started roving (I was surprised by how quick they move, relatively speaking), but tentacles were out and showed no apparent signs of stress.
About an hour to 90 minutes later, my son checked in on it on his way to brush his teeth and saw it on some rocks down at the end of the tank, which was close to the last place I had seen it. After brushing his teeth, he came back and couldn't see it and came to get me. We started searching together, and couldn't see it anywhere, but we did see about a dozen little, half- to one-centimeter long pink things floating around - presumably deflated tentacles.
I had read about anemones getting sucked into power heads, and knocked mine back to 10% max (I have 1 Vortech MP40D at either side of the tank), assuming that between the lower power and no rocks near the fans, it'd be safe. My working assumption is that the nem must've detached shortly after my son saw it, floated up into the fan, and got obliterated. I've mentally prepared myself for that inevitability; however, I'm holding out some hope due to the following:
1) There was no sign of any other part of the anemone wedged in the fan grill or floating in the tank - no chunks, no cloudiness, nothing.
2) All of the other creatures in the tank show no signs of illness/poisoning; I've read some posts where the toxins in a pureed nem wind up killing off the entire tank.
3) No extra output from my skimmer - I assume the organic material in the water would've caused some extra foam collection.
4) The number of tentacle bits we could see (assuming one bit per tentacle) is nowhere near the number it had, and probably closer to a quarter or less.
So, my alternate theory is that the anemone shed a handful of tentacles that got damaged in the process of moving between tanks, and went into hiding somewhere in a crevice that we can't see. One more tidbit in support of that is that shortly after we put the nem in the tank, my daughter asked if they shed tentacles because she thought she saw something that looked like one, but I never saw what she was talking about at the time.
My questions to the community:
1) Could a large anemone get shredded so completely it essentially dissolves into nothingness in a matter of 5 minutes - no haze, no chunks, no sign of anything but a few bits of tentacle?
2) How regularly DO nems shed tentacles?
3) For those that have had nems wind up in the power head, what has been your experience as far as what was found, how the tank looked, how the fish were impacted, protein skimmer output, etc.?
4) If the nem is in hiding, how long might it stay there? And how much time should I allow to elapse before I give up hope - 1 day, 1 week, 1 month?
5) Any other thoughts or experiences to add?
The photo I posted is a shot of the anemone from the last time I saw it, and about one hour to 90 minutes before it disappeared.
Thanks in advance for any input, advice, etc.!