Sick anemone? Not sure...

[hackman238]

Hello All, Hackman238 here.

I have a bubble tip anemone I've had for almost a month. He acclimated well, and opened beautifully pretty much every day. Open size is bigger then a catalope mellon.

Anyway, this morning he looks a bit ill. Sort of like he's turning inside out and pushing some type of stuff out of his mouth. He hasnt lost any color, and tenticals all look healthy. Is this normal? Could my coral banded shrimp be attacking him at night, or is this just unlikely?

I'll post a picture later tonight. Thanks!

Tank Parameters:
Temp:76 F
Salinity:0.0235
NO2:<0.1mg/L
NO3:<5mg/L
NH4:<0.1mg/L
Copper:0.0 (electronic probe)
Iron:0.0 (electronic probe)
PO4:<0.25mg/L
PH:8.45
Calcium:475mg/L
Lights: 2xAntic 25 watt each; 1x250 watt metalhilide - 8.75 hr light/day

[hackman238]

Correction, my Salinity is 1.0235. Darn typos!

Thanks!

[Samper]

I'm no anemone expert but I assume what are coming out of the mouth are mesenteries. This is generally not a good sign IME but given the proper conditions might be able to recover from whatever is causing this behavior. Are you feeding it regularly?

Are you noticing any algae outbreaks in the display? The reason that I ask is because I've never seen PO4 that high in a healthy reef before. I test 6 different systems around here for PO4 and have never seen levels that high with one exception and it was in serious need of TLC.

Also how are you measuring your salinity and why do you feel the need to be running probes for Fe and Cu?

I assume you mean specific gravity but I've never seen an instrument that would read out to 4 decimal places used in the hobby. Every refractometer I've seen measures out to three decimal places.

[hackman238]

I'm no anemone expert but I assume what are coming out of the mouth are mesenteries. This is generally not a good sign IME but given the proper conditions might be able to recover from whatever is causing this behavior. Are you feeding it regularly?

Are you noticing any algae outbreaks in the display? The reason that I ask is because I've never seen PO4 that high in a healthy reef before. I test 6 different systems around here for PO4 and have never seen levels that high with one exception and it was in serious need of TLC.

Also how are you measuring your salinity and why do you feel the need to be running probes for Fe and Cu?

I assume you mean specific gravity but I've never seen an instrument that would read out to 4 decimal places used in the hobby. Every refractometer I've seen measures out to three decimal places.

Samper,

I test my PO4 and Cu using probes because I've had trouble with Copper and Iron in my source water in the past. I use RODI water now that I have a unit to produce it. My PO4 is high because I've been promoting macro alge growth in my sump. Its working well so far. My Sea mats and torch corals all look good and the bubble tip anemone in question looks much better today, almost normal. You're correct, I meant specific gravity. The meter is analoge and reads to 3 decimal places and I estimate the forth.

I've been feeding it about once a week small pieces of shrimp. It'll usually take them, as well as passing fish food and to my surprise cyclopeez plankton when I put it in. It also ate one of my crabs *I think*.

Let me know if you have any other thoughts on it!

Thank you for your time Samper!
--HM

[Samper]

Not a problem at all. I don't have anything further to add but hopefully someone else can chime in. Good luck to you.

[marxsman]

I really do not think the coral banded is messing with it. I had a coral banded for 2 years and I found a brittle star eating him. But mine never messed with my anemones.
Is the anemone any better? My anemones will do this about 2 times a month, depending on how much I feed them. You said you feed them a shrimp a week and what goes in must come out. Anemones will excreet waste throught the same hole.
I actually only feed mine about once every two months. The clowns keep them well fed and so do the lights (micro algae).

[hackman238]

Turns out he's back to looking fantastic again. No water adjustments and no perceivable chemical differences. Should I feed it less often? It's humongous when fully open - almost the size of a volley ball.

Thanks Again everyone!