Anemone on a suicide mission

kat79

kat79

New Member
After a lot of consideration and research, I picked up a BTA for my 10g nano tank last week. I wanted to be sure that I could properly care for an anemone before I brought any fish into the mix (i.e. clownfish). I didn't want to run the risk of having the BTA die on me and losing all the fish as well. So, I'm giving it a tentative "go." My water parameters are pretty good, and I'm running a Sunpod 150W MH fixture for approximately 10 hours/day (is this too much?). I religiously perform water changes every 2 weeks (at least 20%).
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = less than 1
pH = 8.3
Salinity = 1.024
Temp = ranges from 79-82
The first few days went well. The nem attached to a rock and then proceeded to fully extend -- it was HUGE! But fortunately it returned to a "normal" size the day after. It ate well the first few days with no difficulty. However, two nights ago I noticed that it was no longer on the rock..... Upon closer inspection, I realized it was stuck in my Koralia Nano powerhead! UGH! Really?!?!
I quickly turned off the power and gentle helped the nemo out of the grating. He/she was pretty banged up, but was definitely still alive. There are some missing tentacles and small tear on the underside; the foot looked OK. As soon as I placed the nem on the sand, it retreated under a rock. While still under the rock, it has extended again and SEEMS to be doing OK. The color is still good and it is firmly attached to the rock. But I can't clearly see the mouth to tell if it's hanging open or not - I don't THINK it is, but I'm can't tell for sure. However, it doesn't seem to want to eat. I've tried feeding it a piece of shrimp soaked in zeocon, but it's not showing much interest. I tried to touch the tentacles to see if they are "sticky" but I can't really tell. The tentacles do retract from my touch though. Any other suggestions? I added a chemi-pure bag to my filter just in case the nem released any toxins in the water. And speaking of, will the toxins from a dead nem kill inverts and corals as well, or just fish?
Attached are some photos of the tank. Enjoy!





 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
If the anemone in the pic is AFTER the powerhead inceident, it doesn't look bad at all
Leave it alone, it will find it's own place to hang out....Eventually it may outgrow your tank though....and in such a small tank it is adviseable to COVER your powerheads....you can put net on them, or nylon....or anything that the flow will go thru
 
kat79

kat79

New Member
Yup, the pic was taken after the incident. And yea, you're right, I should have covered the powerheads. I was hoping that the nano Koralia powerheads wouldn't be that much of a threat to the BTA considering their design..... A hard lesson learned.

I totally agree that the BTA will eventually outgrow the nano. The nano tank is actually my own little experiment; my husband is actually the aquarist of the family. But, he's deployed overseas and I'm now in charge of his 55g as well. I would have put the BTA in the 55g, but we haven't upgraded the light on the big tank due to $$$ reasons. However, once he gets home, we're hoping to upgrade to a 110 and combine the critters from both tanks. In the meantime, I'm using the nano to cultivate some corals and experiment around a little. I've still got tons to learn though.
I hope he's going to make it! I don't want to let the little guy down!
Any suggestions on feeding him? Should I just keep trying and hope that he'll eventually have an appetite?
Thanks Meowzer!
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
yeah, nems are pretty resiliant, just keep the water good, keep an eye on ammo, and let him heal.
and +1 on covering PH's
he'll be fine. and I doube enough toxins will be released to hurt much
 
lmecher

lmecher

Member
Sorry to hear about your anemone. With a tank that small, and 2 powerheads, it is very likely to happen again, glad you are going to cover the intakes. Anemones don't release toxins, it is the amonia spike the dying/dead anemones create that can kill everything in your tank. After a trauma such as yours has just gone through, I would wait at least a week to offer food again, it needs time to heal. The most important thing you need to heed healing is good flow to ward off bacterial infection. Bacteria is attracted to mucus which will build up around the wounds. I would keep a close eye on your all your parameters while it is healing. Performing extra water changes will be a good measure. Watch it and remove it if you see it melting or disintergrating. Good luck, hope it makes it.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Lmecher
http:///forum/post/3217917
Sorry to hear about your anemone. With a tank that small, and 2 powerheads, it is very likely to happen again, glad you are going to cover the intakes. Anemones don't release toxins, it is the amonia spike the dying/dead anemones create that can kill everything in your tank. After a trauma such as yours has just gone through, I would wait at least a week to offer food again, it needs time to heal. The most important thing you need to heed healing is good flow to ward off bacterial infection. Bacteria is attracted to mucus which will build up around the wounds. I would keep a close eye on your all your parameters while it is healing. Performing extra water changes will be a good measure. Watch it and remove it if you see it melting or disintergrating. Good luck, hope it makes it.
LOL...I was gonna say the same thing
 
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