This does not look good

[jmrents]

It's been exactly 24 hrs. since I introduced a small
RBTA in my 135 gallon tank.
604 watts of pcs and VHO lighting...
Over 2000 gph
Ph 8.2
Calcium 450
tank has been up for going on 7 months and has been
very stable with no problems.
I also have a frogspawn and a torch coral, and they look
great with no problems for about a month now.
7 fish and mushroom have been in tank for over 5 months.
This morning the anemone had moved in between two rocks,
which I have approx 150 lbs. live and 75 lbs aragonite sand,
figuring no prob. just acclimating from the lights and to the new tank.
Now, the anemone is definately being picked on by my two
false perculas, which showed no interest in the anemone when I placed it in the tank yesterday afternoon. They are picking pieces off the anemone, like snacking from what I can see.
What gives, I thought, even if the percs dont host this anemone, they wouldn't bother it.
Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions that would be great.
I sure would hate to see my new addition become fish food.
Thanks, David

 

[jmrents]

I was very worried about the anemone so I decided to
take the anemone off the rock it was attatched to and placed
it into a container with a couple of pieces of rock rubble....
still in the tank but at least I can moniter it and see if it will bounce back from appears to be some sort of attack from the
false perculas.
The anemone has gone from looking really great only 3 hours ago to very stressed and shriveled up with the mouth exposed.
Any ideas or advice for care at this point?
Thanks, David

 

[thomas712]

I think at this point you have done all you can do for now. Not sure why your ocellaris have decided to be unfriendly, perhaps its because they don't host in E. Quads in nature, but I can't really say for sure.
keep an eye on the anemone, give it just a little bit of food if you like, but just a little and see if it percs up (sorry no pun intended).

 

[jmrents]

Well, the anemone seems better so far.....
Since I have removed the RBTA from the main tank and
placed it in a small floating box it seems to be looking
much better.
The tentacles have regained their swollen shape again
and I fed it tonight and it seems to be taking a small piece
of shrimp.
Now, I still dont have any ideas why the percs I have
started their aggression towards this anemone nor am
I sure they wont again if and when I place the anemone back
into the main tank.
Anyone, please give info or ideas about such behavior from
false percs towards this and any other anemones?
Thanks, and I will keep with posted info as it merits.
David

 

[zanoshano]

looks fine in that picture.

 

[zanoshano]

are u sure they werent picking something off of it? well, im sure if it looked agressive neough for u to remove it, then they muth have been picking at the anenome itself, i think u did the right thing.

 

[jmrents]

The clowns were definately picking at the tentacles of the
RBTA and picking small pieces off.
There are a couple of small nicks in two or three of the
anemones tentacles, but at least the anemone does
seem to be recuperating and in a place where it will not
suffer any more harm.
This is strange though and I have done plenty of research
before buying any corals and in this case this anemone....
If I have too, I am not attatched to these clowns and I could
trade them if I have to for another pair down the road.
For now it's wait and see for this RBTA, I am hopeful that
their hardiness will prevail and it will indeed make a swift
recovery.
These percs are aquacultured and I believe have never hosted with an anemone, not sure if that is anything or not, but it's all I have for now.
Thanks for any advice, David

 

[xnikki118x]

A little off topic...where'd you get that box? It seems like it would come in extremely handy to keep an aggressor in for a period of time while you rearrange the landscape and let a new tankmate get used to it.

 

[22caddy]

My false percs have never shown aggression towards my rbta. One of them hosts but will not allow the other one in it. I really haven't seen or read of many people having problems like this with false percs. Other clowns yes, but these are usually the less aggresive ones.

 

[murph145]

when i first put my RBTA in my tank my clownfish was bitting at the tentacles as well i thought he was guna rip them off but after a couple hours he was hosting in the anemone i think its an acclimation thing where they check it out and see what it is. cuz i was really worried at first but they r doing great together now maybe u just need to give it some more time

 

[jmrents]

Hello,
Thanks for your replies...Unfortunately the anemone didn't
make it and I am quite bummed about the whole situation.
Live and learn I guess...not sure what to make of the
reasoning behind why the anemone didn't last more than
a couple of days.
The tanks doing well beyond the loss of my anemone and
both my torch and frogspawn coral look great and the yellow
polyps along with my mushroom are doing just fine.
All in all, my tank is a positive experience for me on a daily basis. I love to read about keeping reefs along with gaining more experience every day keeping the tank and its mini ecosystem working harmoniously.
Down the road I may attempt another anemone.
By the way xNikki, that box in the pic I posted is a home made one using an old power filter box I drilled holes in. Works well
when acclimating or keeping aggression down.
Well, time for a water change...yea!

 

[bjgwilliam]

JM,
I had the same thing happen with my RBTA a couple of weeks ago. The only difference is I did not have any fish that were picking on him. He lasted about 4 days and then he started to do what yours did, his mouth turned inside out and he shrivled up.
I woke up the next morning to find my tank extremely cloudy and he was nowhere to be found

.
Anyway, I think I know what happen in my tank. Being new at this hobby I let the Salinity level get to low and the RBTA did not like it.
You might want to check your water conditions. Maybe you already have.
Just thought I would share.

 

[myfishkids]

There might be one thing that happened that you have not considered. If the foot was damaged at all when the lfs took it out, that may have been the cause of its death and the clowns just knew he was on his way out. Normally when they expell their stomach, that is a last ditch survival technique that rarely works. At that point you may want to remove it as you can see how fast a dead anenome can "goo" up a tank. I had a sebae that was damaged when it was removed from the rock it was on at the lfs and died within a couple of days.