Upside Down Anemone

Zenchi

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
51
Reaction score
28
Location
Rockford
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi. I'm helping a friend with a new BTA he got from a local reefer. Its a tank split and hasn't split itself in several months. It looks like it may have had a split fail in the past but I'm not sure.

Was drip and temp acclimated. Parameters on a 3 month post cycle tank is the following.
Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0. Nitrate 10. Calcium 400. Alkalinity 9dkh. Temp 78. Salinity 1.025. Yes I know its a bit early to introduce a nem.

It was placed near a rock with a nice cave in it, given an hour with no powerhead. By morning it had completely detached and was sitting facedown in the sandbed. Attempted to re-place it on a lower rock of which it stayed for 3 hours and then again detached facedown in the sand.

After giving it 24 hours to try to get to let it attach to something on its own and it continually ending up with its foot in the air, the BTA was moved to a quarantine tank with matching parameters and a large piece of live rock to attach to. It attached seemly throughout the night with minor movements. About an hour after lights were on, it detached and is again lying upside down. Foot is sticky and seems to have no issue with adhering to the rock surface. It purposely lifts its foot to detach. Mouth is closed as well.

Any recommendations or suggestions are appreciated. He's trying to minimize handling it due to stress but leaving it to die on its back seems cruel.

First picture was its original placement. Second is when it detached and for a while after. Third is this morning. Fourth is current.
20200702_083437.jpg
20200702_123404.jpg
20200703_084426.jpg
20200703_090719.jpg
 
Last edited:

ludnix

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,282
Reaction score
1,643
Location
Fortuna, California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would try to flip it over and give it a chance to attach. I'm sure it will flip itself back over since it sounds like that keeps happening, but once it's attached it should not be an issue. I would not advocate detaching the anemone once placed, but in this situation I think it would be helpful to flip it over.

I agree with not trying to stress it and handle it too much, but in my experience these anemones are perfectly content picking a terrible location and dying there. They are not very intelligent animals and it really shows.
 

High pressure shells: Do you look for signs of stress in the invertebrates in your reef tank?

  • I regularly look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 36 31.3%
  • I occasionally look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 28 24.3%
  • I rarely look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 21 18.3%
  • I never look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 30 26.1%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top