anemone problem

[karun]

I have had a bubble tip anemone, H. Magnifica and a carpet anemone in my tank for about 4 months. They all were doing quite well. In the last month the bubble tip and H. Magnifica have stopped eating. I feed them a shrimp or piece of squid every 2-3 days. They would grab the food and after a while just drop the food. They have also diminished in size. The H. Magnifica has shrunk from 12 inches to 5 inches. The bubble tip has gone from 6 inches to 2 inches. today the bubble tip ate the shrimp and after a few minutes spat it out. The carpet seems okay-- about 9 inches. I have a pair of ocellaris clown in the H. Magnifica and a Clarkii in the carpet.

What is going on? any ideas?

120 G tank running for 9 months.
The water parameters are PH 8.4, Alk 3.6, NH4 0.0, NO2 0.0, NO3 5.0
The other inhabitants are: 1 regal tang, 1 scopas tang, 1 foxface and one lion fish.

Karun

[FishKid]

lion fish might have irritated it, all it has to do is brush up against the anenome...

mark

[srgtkoons]

Id also be curious if there is some chemical battling going on between the anemones. It is usually not a good idea to have more then one anemone within a tank. It is also a good idea to not have them at all as your experiences are the common fate of most anemones that are in captivity.

[Steve]

Try feeding them smaller pieces. What type of lighting do you have? What color are the anemones? Have they turned white?

[karun]

Steve,
The colours are good. BTA is green, H. Magnifica base is brown and the tentacle are white with yelllow tips. The carpet is brignt green. I tried smaller pieces and the BTA ate but spat it out. I don't think the problem is with swallowing the food. Either there is something wrong with the food or something that is unsettling the anemones. The chemical battle may be the thing but how do I check?
I also realise that 3 anemones is a bad idea but I don't want to give them up now.

Karun

[RudeBoy]

If anything, PLEASE DO NOT listen to advice that suggests that you shouldn't own an anemone at all. Because the fact of the matter is... the origin of ALL of these animals we keep in our tanks is the ocean and they ALL would strive greater in that environment. I've learned that most of the bad advice I've gotten concerning anemones was from people who hadn't successfully kept one themselves . It is possible to keep these successfully but having multiple ones in a single tank can definitely pose a problem. Check out this article when you get a chance.... http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/...s/1/default.asp . Good luck with your anemones.

[petpoor]

I also am wondering if there might be a little chemical warfare going on between the anemones. Out of the 3 anemones the bubbletip should be the hardiest and most forgiving of conditions, I have had all three before and still have 3 huge bubbletips that started as one several years ago and the bubbletips are much easier to care for in my experience. Anemones can be very much a mystery some folks can keep them forever and others with almost duplicate setups have theirs perish without a cause that can be pinpointed. What lights do you have on your tank? If it is a chemical battle you may be able to diminish it by running carbon to remove any irritating chemicals. Being 2 are failing and the carpet seems fine I would suspect it as the offending party, Carpets do have a potent sting which is why I traded mine to a friend, it liked to wander and leave what looked like a tornado path where ever it went with lots of damage.
Tom

[Callie]

One more thing to try is different foods. Maybe they don't like the shrimp or maybe it is missing some nutrient they need. I feed my anemones silversides soaked in selcon. They grow like weeds. The LTA went from 7" to 18" in 5 months, and the BTA from 3" to 8" in 5 months then split and I now have 2 BTA's that are 5" each.
Kathy

[RudeBoy]

I would agree with that 100%. BTW, welcome to Reefland Callie!!! I have a question about your BTA splitting. When it split, did you notice that the new piece took a while to extend it's tenacles? Was it considerably smaller than the piece that it spawned from?

[karun]

Rudeboy, Callie, Tom,
Thanks for the encouragement. My LTA collapled into itself today so I had to remove it from the tank. Very upsetting considering it went from 6 inches to 12 in four months and then down to nothing in one month. Possibly the lion did bother it. My two ocellaris clowns were left hanging around looking very sad. The lion got very interested in then once the were out of the anemone and spent 4 hours chasing them. I just returned them to the LFS for safekeeping. The LFS has a huge H. Magnifica and they moved right in.

I have added carbon to the filter.
The bubble tip is also doing much better. Amazing in one day it has opened up to 4 inches.
I have a 150 W metal halide, 80 W of Actinic light and 80 W of NO light.

My bubble tip seens very nervous. Whenever I try to feed it just closes up and spits out the food. I have tried shrimp, squid, silversides. He has not eaten in the last month. Before that he ate all of this food. What can I do? I have some liquid marine food for filter feeders. Should I spray some near the bubble tip.

The carpet continues to do well. Probably because the clarks clown feeds it. The clown even grabbed a guppy and took it to the carpet.

Karun

[Callie]

Rudeboy,
When my BTA split, they extended tentacles that same day and both were equal in size. They are still doing great.
Kathy

[petpoor]

Karun,
I wouldn't worry about the Bubbletip not eating, if it is below the MH it may be getting all it needs from the light. I feed my 3 BT's probably less than once every 3 months or so and they do fine, they are directly under my 175's and off to the side of my 400 watt halides. I would just let it be awhile and see how it acts, I don't think the liquid food would do it much good either. I seriously would doubt if the Lionfish had anything to do with the LTA's demise it is not their nature to mess with an anemone.
Tom

[ravenmore]

Ok, a couple of points.

- Anemones and corals can live for quite a while on energy stored from in the wild. They have very slow metabolisms so problems present themselves slowly. Once they become apparent it's usually too late. Your description of your problem is pretty typical. They do good for so many months and then die.

-Anemones have to be fed. They can't get all their energy from light.

-Anemones are being pulled from the wild faster than they can reproduce. I've heard measurments on the number of anemones shipped to the US for the aquarium trade measured in TONS!!!! Care to guess the percentage of those that make it?

-Long tentacle anemones require a sandy substate to bury their foot in and a lot of light. Mine is a voracious eater and eats large chunks of squid, shrimp, fish, ect.... 3 times a week. If I don't feed him well he shrinks. If the above conditions are met they are fairly hardy.

-As mentioned, probably not a good idea to keep more than one species in the same tank.

-Mike

[petpoor]

If Anemones have to be fed to get the majority of their energy, then why do so many of them perish due to substandard lighting? If that is the case it seems that you could keep them under much lower lighting conditions with no problem as long as they were well fed.


Tom

[Trapper]

I have a rose bubble tip that I've had for a year and a half. I ve only fed about six times, and in the last month, hoping that it might divide. It's doubled in size from 5-6 inches to 12-14 inches. I'll get a photo up later.

[ravenmore]

Petpoor - whether or not they get the "majority" of their energy stores from direct feeding depends probably on quite a few variables(just one being the density and types of zooxanthellea present in the coral/anemone's tissues), but they do depend on direct feeding for quite a bit of it regardless. Why would something evolve to the point where over 60% of it's body is dedicated to gathering food? Nematocysts, for example, are biologically very expensive...they're there for a reason....to sting and collect food.

Actually, bubble tips don't necessarily require that much light and often live in lower light levels on a reef.

Sorry I can't provide more detailed information than this. Eric Borneman could probably answer this better than I could. His forum's over at reef central.

-Mike

[RudeBoy]

Can anyone verify what type of Anemone this is????

[srgtkoons]

Rudeboy i believe that is a beaded anemone or something to that sort. I have seen a pic similiar in Wilkersons clownfish book, but the book is in my car and im a little lazy so i will check back the next time i venture towards my car.

[ravenmore]

could be a bunch of different possibilities. Looks like a bleached anemonia majano (Totally butchered the spelling there). Probably couldn't narrow it down without dissecting it....er, I mean having someone who knows what to look for on the inside dissect it. There are a lot of little rock anemones that look identical but are different on the inside.

Some can be pests, so you'll want to keep an eye on it. If it starts multiplying quickly you may want to get rid of them.

-Mike

[Callie]

Looks to me like a bleached BTA.
I have some anemone majomo sp? (yes they are pests) One is in a hitchhiker tank with extremely low lighting, been there for about 5 months, no signs of bleaching, makes me think that is just their color and they don't bleach, but I could be wrong.

Kathy