[jollopee]

Ok so today is the big day. I get my first fish in the mail from marine depot. I ordered 2 clarki clowns and a bubble tip anemone (E. quadricolor). I hope everything goes well. I am a bit nervous about the quad though as I have never handled an anemone. I dont want to damage it when I remove it from the bag and I really DONT want to get stung. They do sting dont they, does it hurt ? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Todd

[Samper]

It won't hurt you in the least little bit. If you float the bag and cut the top off you can gently pour it from one container to another to do your acclimating in. Make sure not to tear any tissue and don't be hasty about the acclimation. Do it right.

[jollopee]

Ok bags are floating in the aquarium,one of the clowns was floating in the bag and about 5 minutes after I put the bag in the aquarium both clowns started being VERY active. The anemone is just sitting there not sure which side is top or bottom and still trying to figure out how Im supposed to get it out of the bag and into the aquarium. Do I pick this thing up with a net and just set it on the bottom of the tank or what? How do I know if I put it in the tank the right side up can it flip itself onto its feet if I put it in upside down?

Todd

[marxsman]

How long have then been in the bags floating? You need to slowly put water from your tank to these bags. very little at a time!

[BubbaWPB]

Todd,

[BubbaWPB]

I *HATE* when that happens!

Todd,
By now, I'm sure your anemone is out of the bag. Don't be surprised if it occasionally puffs up and floats about your tank. It will do this on and off for a few days unless/until it finds a place it likes. Just be careful to keep an eye on it so it doesn't have a bad interaction with a powerhead or overflow.

Also, don't freak out when it totally deflates and looks like a gnarly little nub. BTA's do that from time to time. It doesn't mean it's dead. They do it sometimes after they eat, too. Here's a nice site that has lots of reading.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/btaselfaqs.htm

[jollopee]

Well its all in the tank now. One of the clownfish bags tipped over and spilled into the tank,the fish is doing great,I hope that the water from the bag wont hurt my tank water. I had trouble with the anemone. I scooped it up with my net and he didnt want to let go for a few minutes but then he finally did and he went for a floating ride around the tank on the current. Latched onto a piece of rock with a small piece of his leg I assume. Both clownfish are doing great and havent faught at all and they are constantly near eachother. I had to leave for a few hours and when I came home the anemone was purched on the other side of the tank on a rock. I am assuming the the nasty looking thing in the middle is its mouth,almost looks like a growth of some sort, for a bit I had thought it might be a small thumb size piece of live rock that mabey it had sucked up while moveing around the tank but I doubt thats what it is but it is an ugly mouth. I fed them some flake food that they ate and QUICKLY spit back out so I gave them some brine shrimp and they really loved that. They havent gone near the anemone yet though. So I guess thats all for now, they are alive and so far so good.

Todd

[showfish]

Just keep a close eye out on that BTA to make sure it doesn't get near a powerhead, for this can spell disaster for your entire tank. Do you have enough lighting for your BTA?

[jollopee]

48" 8 54watt t5 light with fan (3 actinic bulbs and 5 10k bulbs) I hope this is enough..... the anemone put itself about a quarter of the way up in the tank without the lights off and didnt seem to mind where it was with the lights on. But I still dont know about that mouth. I looked at alot of other pictures on the internet and I didnt see any mouth as ugly as this on. I really does look like a giant wart. I couldnt have sucked up a piece of live rock could it have?

Todd

[BubbaWPB]

No, I'm sure it didn't suck up a piece of live rock.

Some cnidaria (corals, anemones and jellyfish), when stressed, exude their digestive tracts out of their oral opening as a defense. It's a sign of stress and should resolve.

[jollopee]

I think its pushing its guts out of its mouth because the warty thing is getting bigger. This thing ....could it be....nooooo....it isnt takein a poo is it. Could that be the large white colored growth comeing out of its mouth area??

Todd

[BubbaWPB]

Well, they don't have openings in both ends... so they do sorta upchuck what we pass out through the rear....

[jollopee]

Hmm, well how would I know what it is. What color and what would the intestines look like. This stuff looks like sort of a darker white creamy colored cottage cheese.

[jollopee]

I was just watching it and one of the clowns was pickin at it.

[BubbaWPB]

Can you get a pic for us, Todd?

[jollopee]

It was a giant golf ball sized turd. Found it this mornin stuck to the intake of a powerhead

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by jollopee

I am a bit nervous about the quad though as I have never handled an anemone. I dont want to damage it when I remove it from the bag and I really DONT want to get stung. They do sting dont they, does it hurt ?

Yes, all anemones have nematocysts in their tentacles but the potency of the nematocysts varies greatly from one species to the next. In this particular species, I doubt that you would experience more than mild irritation. Some anemones have nematocysts strong enough to incapacitate a medium-sized fish, while in others only slight irritation will occur. The nematocysts of the "hells-fire" anemones (Actinodendriidae) are very toxic and have been known to ruin a careless diver's day.

You can read about Entacmaea quadricolor and its care requirements in this article by Dr. Ron Shimek in Reefland's magazine, Reef Hobbyist Online.

Originally Posted by jollopee

I think its pushing its guts out of its mouth because the warty thing is getting bigger. This thing ....could it be....nooooo....it isnt takein a poo is it. Could that be the large white colored growth comeing out of its mouth area??

This doesn't sound good at all! Yes, it's true that there is only one opening to the gut, so anything that goes in that is not fully digested will be regurgitated through the same opening. However, your description of a "large white colored growth coming out of it's mouth" doesn't sound right to me.

I sent at PM to zhenya, our resident expert on E. quadricolor to ask his opinion. He's sunning himself on the Jersey shore today but hopefully he will take time to check his computer.

Originally Posted by jollopee

It was a giant golf ball sized turd. Found it this mornin stuck to the intake of a powerhead.

This is not good at all. Sorry. Let's see what zhenya thinks, he keeps several of these anemones, but unless your anemone is exceptionally large, I don't like the sound of that.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

He's sunning himself on the Jersey shore today but hopefully he will take time to check his computer.

I wish that was the case, weather turn for the worse here and it got cold and rainy so I'll be leaving shortly...as soon as my granddaughter wakes up.

Todd,
In the future, it is a good practice to turn all pumps off while you are releasing new animals into the tank, that way your anemone will not float around and will have a chance to settle down a bit. Pumps can be turned back on after 10-15 minutes. As far as anemone stinging you, it can happen and effect could be various, from mild irritation to dizzines and severe burn and itching. Mine never stung me as yet after all the times I handle them but good practice is to wear gloves and simply scoop it out of the bag and place it on the rock near the bottom of the reef structure.

Originally Posted by jollopie

It was a giant golf ball sized turd. Found it this mornin stuck to the intake of a powerhead

I agree with Ninong, this doesn't sound good to me at all. Can you describe a bit more composition of what you found stuck to the overflow? Maybe a picture? Also, you talked about piece of live rock stuck to its mouth, this is highly unlikely to happen that anything can stuck to the mouth of anemone. Tentacles could be sticky and so is its pedal disk but not the mouth.
I also agree with Bubba that puffy, turned out mouth is a sign of stress and not uncommon in newly aquired anemones.

All in all, my advice would be to give it some time to acclimate and see if it attaches permanently. At that time, if it looks good and openes up fully, try feeding it small pieces of silversides or uncoocked table shrimp from supermarket. If it accepts food it should recover from the stress of shipping.

Keep us posted!

[jollopee]

The anemone moved about 2 inches in the night and has found a nice little hole in the rock scape just large enough that the only thing sticking above the rock is its tentacles. The clown fish have been rolling around in it all day long and it seems that they both want to be submissive because they were both doing the little jiggy dance. The bigger of the 2 was the first one to squirm around and then later the little one did it. Then they were both doing it. As far as the whit stuff on the anemone it was a little bit bigger round than a dime and it was an off white. The clowns were picking it off and fanning it with their tails when I went to bed and this morning it was gone and pieces of it stuck in the intake of the powerhead. It really kind of had the same color and texture as ricotta cheese if that helps any but I dont have any pictures of it. It looked like regurgitated shrimp as far as the smaller pieces looked like after they were picked off. Ok im back I had to watch my fish again they were both doing the little jiggy dance.......I think I might have some boy love fish here. Everything seems to be doing fine though and Ill keep you posted. Sorry to hear about the rainy sunday at the beach, look on the bright side now you wont have to worry about a sun burn

Todd

[jollopee]

The anemone has only moved once since I put it in the tank. Its been the hole of the same rock about quarter of the way up from the bottom and hasnt moved. The clarki's seem to like it...well one of them does anyways. The other doesnt let one of em play or sleep in it. I noticed it will inflate its bubble tips at night and at feeding time. It has defintely opened up since when I got it there was barely enough room for one fish to sit in it and now one fish has all the room it needs plus some. I did notice also that 2 of the tips of the anemone were very light colored almost white. I didnt notice this yesterday either because I overlooked it or because it wasnt there I dont know. When someone sais to feed the anemome when its open,what exactly is this meaning, will I see its mouth? How will I know when he is looking for food? Im gonna try and give him some raw shrimp and or scallops tonight. Not sure but do they generally prefer to be fed at night? He definetly doesnt want any brine shrimp but the clowns sure do .


Todd