Large anemone sucked through powerhead, what to do?

[hocky]

My beautiful RBTA was sucked through a power head last night.... I woke up to extremely cloudy water and turned on a light and couldn't find him until I saw pieces of him all over a power head. I am in the process of doing a ~50 gallon water change. Is there anything else that I need to do? At this point, no water values have spiked and everything is looking normal, the water is just still very cloudy.
Additionally, how do most people keep their anemones out of power heads? I have filters for them, but they're HUGE. I never see people with huge power head filters hanging on the back of their tanks....

 

[perfectdark]

A fine mesh screen to cover the intake holes usually prevents any part of them being sucked into the impeller. Keep up on your water changes every 2 to 3 days and when you syphon out the water try to get any of the particles of the animal you can. Make sure you run carbon bags to help eliminate any toxicity that might of been let off.

 

[lexluethar]

The only suggestion i would say is to maybe run some carbon on your system for a few days - to clean up any toxins that may be in the water because of the anemone.
Is(was) this a new anemone? Usually when first introduced they move around a lot - this is when i would turn off all PH or closely monitor the anemone until it settles down. I realize they get up and move when they want, but it would lessen the change of them wondering into a PH. Another idea would be to place all your PH higher than the few inches the anemone reaches - again i realize they still might find the PH.
I haven't seen people w/ huge PH protectors either - hope someone else can shed some light.
Good luck.

 

[lexluethar]

Beat me to it dark...

 

[porky puff]

I have rapped women's pantyhose around the filters before and found it helpful but dirt seems to cover it up, therefore you'll have to clean it. it is annoying but i've had anemonies get sucked up and killed my fish.

 

[groupergenius]

I really don't think your supposed to frag anemones. LOL
Sorry, couldn't help it. Reminded me of ReefkeeperZ blender experiment.

 

[hocky]

Yes, it was a new anemone, just a few days old. I'll run out and get some carbon right now and get it into the system. Hopefully I caught it soon enough and changed enough water so that nothing dies. Water test levels are all still ok, so we'll see.

 

[perfectdark]

IMO you'll be ok. I had one die in my tank and it took 2 weeks worth of water changes to get my trates down from 50+ and nothing died, but Im sure they were stressed out.

 

[1journeyman]

If you have an anemone you MUST have prefilters on all powerheads.
Do water changes, test for ammonia, run carbon, and watch your livestock closely.

 

[cooqie]

same thing happened to me but mine was a smallt lta got sucked in my powerhead his body was inside i put him in my fuge to heal and he has like 7 long tentecles and now he is growing the rest they are pretty small but he has his color and everything and hes gettin way bigger he was pretty fat yesteray i thought he ate one of my fish he is now in my dt

 

[butters]

i had my GBTA get sucked into my super skimmer pump(only got tangled in the screen, didnt make it to the impeller) i put him in a tupperware in the tank and he got himself out.... so i put a mag 5 prefilter on the SS pump.
2 weeks later he got suck onto the side of my Hydor PH, which is about 18in from the bottom of the tank..... a couple tentacles were cought by the impeller, but was ok. so i put pany hose on the PH's. and they do get very dirty very quicky(needs cleaned about every 2 days)
he hid for about a week to heal, and found a hole in a rock he likes and has stayed in that general area since.

 

[uberlink]

I've had this happen a couple of times, and both times the anemones actually survived and healed. Both are healthy now and growing. Are you certain that what's left of your anemone isn't somewhere in the tank?
Even if he is, that wouldn't change how you proceed. Water changes, testing, carbon, etc...as the others have recommended.

 

[sepulatian]

You MUST have pre-filters on all powerheads even in a FO tank. Fish, and obviously others, can get seriously hurt or die with an uncovered powerhead.

 

[hocky]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
You MUST have pre-filters on all powerheads even in a FO tank. Fish, and obviously others, can get seriously hurt or die with an uncovered powerhead.
Can I just cut some foam to fit over the inlet? Will the screen method not work? The pre filters that came with my powerhead and really, really big. I would have to rearrange all of my rock to make them fit.
The tank is doing well today. I've seen no spike in ammonias and the water is now very clear. While I was at it yesterday, I replaced my old sump pump and upgraded skimmers.

 

[1journeyman]

Be careful. Cutting a small piece of foam could end up getting all clogged up. This could overheat your powerhead.