New Anemone Help

[boonreefer]

Hi everyone,

new reefer here 2-3 months and I just placed my first green bubble tipped anemone. I put it in last night and it moved around eventually detaching and floating then getting stuck by its bubbles to the back of my tank. I woke up this morning and it was stuck in the same spot so I tried to move it. A few bubbles were broken and floating around in the tank.

I checked my tank parameters with my store and they said everything was good.

Any help is appreciated or do I have anything to worry about.

 

[j.falk]

Don't mess with it. If you try to move it and tear the foot, it's as good as dead. Just leave it alone and see if it will find it's own happy spot.

It is also very bleached which means it wasn't getting the right lighting/care at the fish store. The zooxanthellae is dying inside of the tentacles which can lead to the anemone dying if it is not given the proper lighting to bring the color back.

 

[LxHowler]

I'd try to avoid moving it if possible. If it keeps detaching quickly and damaged you can turn off all flow in your tank and place it on a rock foot side dowbn and leave it for a little while to make sure it has a good grip for when the flow returns. I've had to do this a few times in the past. If it is attached by it's foot i would try to move it, they are very delicate and will tear which will more than likely kill it. They will constantly move around until they are happy and even then they can move again, just make sure it doesn't get stuck in your overflow or anything, happened to one of mine once.
Also it's hard to tell from the picture but your powerhead doesn't look like it had an anemone guard in it (sorry if it had and I'm being blind) I would strongly recommend getting one or protecting the powerhead from the nem as they have a habit of climbing into them and getting chopped up.

 

[boonreefer]

Thanks both of you very much. I turned on the flow later in the day today and it slowly moved a little bit. This evening I decided to try to move it a little and it did detach, but over the course of the movement I now have a bunch of bubbles that have fallen off. I did a 20% water change to the tank and added reef builder.

When I moved him I put him up on the top rock and over the last hour or so he has moved under in "the big cave".

His coloring seems to be fine to j.falks point... the earlier pictures I took were after I moved him. I see green tips and some white inside. I will send an update picture in the morning so you guys can see.

Thanks for the note on the powerhead. I figured for now until he gets settled ill leave the powerhead off to avoid any further issues.

Do you guys think the bubbles falling off is a problem... quite a few fell off. This was my main reasoning for doing the water change to get them off the floor and from around the tank.

I don't think I ripped the foot... he wasn't hanging on by much and it didn't take much effort to move him. He was just hanging on by the bubbles.

 

[LxHowler]

Thanks both of you very much. I turned on the flow later in the day today and it slowly moved a little bit. This evening I decided to try to move it a little and it did detach, but over the course of the movement I now have a bunch of bubbles that have fallen off. I did a 20% water change to the tank and added reef builder.

When I moved him I put him up on the top rock and over the last hour or so he has moved under in "the big cave".

His coloring seems to be fine to j.falks point... the earlier pictures I took were after I moved him. I see green tips and some white inside. I will send an update picture in the morning so you guys can see.

Thanks for the note on the powerhead. I figured for now until he gets settled ill leave the powerhead off to avoid any further issues.

Do you guys think the bubbles falling off is a problem... quite a few fell off. This was my main reasoning for doing the water change to get them off the floor and from around the tank.

I don't think I ripped the foot... he wasn't hanging on by much and it didn't take much effort to move him. He was just hanging on by the bubbles.

The bubbles falling off is probably a sign of stress and maybe damage. Do you own a test kit? If so what are your perameters?

They often do go into a cave or cracks in rock, they do this to both acclimate to the light and often like mine, they will attach under a ledge or cave and then reach out to face the light. The cave might have a good hole that it likes to hold onto.

My biggest suggestion would be to stop trying to move it and just leave it be, if it is in a cave and attached just leave it there, if it is happy that's where it will stay, moving it only stresses it and will cause damage and more bubble loss. You want to avoid touching them unless it is an emergency.

As for the nem guard even when it is settles I would recommend getting one or something to cover the powerhead like some net material, the last thing you want is for it to go for a walk in the night and get chopped up, if this happened it can easily cause a tank crash or at the very least pollute the tank.

 

[ItsJustLPS]

try finding a crevice in your rock & set it there for a couple min, always works for me they tend to move a couple inches or so but always close to where i place them

 

[boonreefer]

Here is my BTA today seems to be in much better shape but looking for y’alls thoughts.

 

[LxHowler]

Here is my BTA today seems to be in much better shape but looking for y’alls thoughts.

Definitely looks better than yesterday. Looks like it's found a spot to settle, don't be surprised if it moves in the next few days after its acclimated to your light, but it looks good.
Best of luck with the anemone. Enjoy it

 

[boonreefer]

Thanks and I really appreciate your help. Once it moves ill post an updated picture to show some progress for anyone else who might have this problem in the future.

 

[boonreefer]

So just a little update.... it’s been looking just fine for the last couple of days. It’s stayed in the same spot under the rock and it hasn’t moved. I woke up this morning and it looked great once again.... then this afternoon for no reason it just pulled up and retreated no bubbles out and all you see is “the foot”? I think things may be going south here but I could also be over reacting.... thoughts?

 

[LxHowler]

So just a little update.... it’s been looking just fine for the last couple of days. It’s stayed in the same spot under the rock and it hasn’t moved. I woke up this morning and it looked great once again.... then this afternoon for no reason it just pulled up and retreated no bubbles out and all you see is “the foot”? I think things may be going south here but I could also be over reacting.... thoughts?

Its hard to tell from what can see of the pictures. How have your perameters been? Any noticeable swings that would make it unhappy.
Does it look like it had folded in on its self. Sometimes they look like this if they have got hold of something to eat. But if it looks like it is melting then it could be a sign it's going south

 

[boonreefer]

Its hard to tell from what can see of the pictures. How have your perameters been? Any noticeable swings that would make it unhappy.
Does it look like it had folded in on its self. Sometimes they look like this if they have got hold of something to eat. But if it looks like it is melting then it could be a sign it's going south

So it came back out later tonight and looks fine.... it clamped up you couldn’t see anything. It didn’t look like it was melting it looked like it was eating itself lol

 

[LxHowler]

So it came back out later tonight and looks fine.... it clamped up you couldn’t see anything. It didn’t look like it was melting it looked like it was eating itself lol

That's good would guess it caught something to eat. They do close up when they find food because the food sticks to their tentacles.

 

[laverda]

It definitely looks bleached. Happy anemones do not detach and float around. That is a survival technique used when condition are not right in nature. Drift off in the current in hopes of possible finding a more suitable spot. What are your tank perameters? Specifically salinity, PH, ALK, nitrate and phosphate?
BTAs like a lot of light and nitrates which is a food source. It is very common for anemones to not do well in a tank so new. A healthy BTA will have very sticky tenticals, and will attach readily when held under a rock. They like to have their foot attached in a ceviche, hole in a rock or under a rock. That way they can retract when threatened and extend out to get light and nutrients. You should not be able to easily move a healthy anemone once it attaches itself. If it sold get stuck in the overflow teeth again turn off the flow and let it get itself out will do less damage to it. Same applies if one gets into a power head.
I have over 30 BTAs in my tank and some surround two large Tunze power heads without guards and they never get in them. They are litterly right next to them.
Why are you adding Reef Builder?

 

[j.falk]

BTAs ball up when they are in rest mode. They pull all of their tentacles in and look like a round ball shape. All of mine did it every day when the tank lights would turn off and they'd opened back up the next morning.

 

[boonreefer]

So it came back out later tonight and looks fine.... it clamped up you couldn’t see anything. It didn’t look like it was melting it looked like it was eating itself lol

alright so I think I figured out what happened. It seems my little dude was taking a poop. The tank had a bunch of junk floating around after my last picture.
He has now moved around... come back out... colors look good it seems.... thoughts on his health?

 

[boonreefer]

Just saw a few questions.... I checked all my parameters at the LFS the other day and they said everything was good salinity slightly up and alk was a little low. They said throw a scoop of reef builder in with my next top off.

 

[laverda]

Your anemone looks better, but it is clearly bleached. Give it time and stable conditiond with plenty of light and it should regain its true colors.
Your fish store telling everything is ok is not enough. What do they consider "OK"? What is acceptable of a fish only, softy and SPS tank are not the same. Numbers give a reference for the next time you test, so you can see what's changing or not. Especially when things change in your tank, hood or bad. So the told you you ALK is low but with out knowing how low you can not accurately dose to adjust it. You need to be able to test after making adjustments to determine if you need to dose more or not.
If you serious about keeping a reef tank you need to get decent test kits. I suggest Salifert. The work well, are pretty accurate, consistent and reasonably priced.

 

[rapid]

i would not trust that LFS lol if they sold you that BTA and said this is what a healthy "GREEN" BTA looks like they are wrong !

thats a very bleach Green bubble tip the color is not okay and the stuff it POOPED was probably the anemone expelling its zooxanthellae. which is not good !

What kind of lighting is this nem under ? what brand and intensity.

going to need some time for it to heal make sure your lighting is capable of supporting a nem !

 

[boonreefer]

Hey Rapid,

The lighting combined with my camera 100% makes it look more bleached than it is in the pictures. I havent found a good way to get a more accurate picture yet. It has pooped once but since then it hasnt that ive noticed and ive had it about a month now. He has moved around quite a bit but settled down about 2-3 weeks ago in the middle of the cave. He does retract once a day but besides that he seems to be ok based on my limited understanding of the corals.

My Nitrate levels are less than 5PPM and my ALk 8-10.8 dkh. My salinity was hovering around 1.030 but i brought that down to 1.026 over the last day or so. I dont test any other parameters currently should I be?

Ill send an updated picture today once he comes back out.

I did notice today I have a retracted Polyp, who has never retracted before for more than overnight... hes been retracted for about 24 hours. I did put in a clown goby last week who died due to my hawk fish I think that may be the issue with my polyp.

Lastly--- lighting---- im using the original light that came with my aquatop... im 100% no expert on lighting. I talked with my LFS- these guys are well known, have good reputation, and seems to have a good knowledge. They told me to hold off on upgrading my light until I had SPS or something wasnt growing correctly. I was trying to buy one of the nicer upgraded $400 units too they said no and to wait lol.

Thanks,
Boon