FAQs on Bulb, Bubble Tip/Rose Anemone
Social Health
Related Articles:
Bubble Tip, Rose Anemones, Entacmaea quadricolor, Use in Marine Systems by Bob Fenner,
Bubble Tip Anemones by Jim Black,
Recent Experiences with BTA's by Marc Quattromani,
Anemones,
Cnidarians,
Colored/Dyed Anemones,
Related FAQs:
BTA Disease 1,
BTA Disease 2,
BTA Disease 3,
BTA Disease 4,
BTA Health 5,
BTA Health 6,
BTA Health 7,
BTA Health 8,
BTA Health 9,
BTA Health 10,
BTA Health 11,
BTA Health 13,
FAQs on BTA Disease by Category:
Diagnosing,
Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...),
Nutritional,
Trauma,
Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral)
Predatory/Pest,
Treatments
& E. quad. FAQ 1,
E. quad FAQ 2,
E. quad. FAQ 3,
E. quad FAQ 4,
E. quad FAQ 5,
BTA ID,
BTA Compatibility,
BTA Selection,
BTA Behavior,
BTA Systems,
BTA Feeding,
BTA Reproduction/Propagation,
|
Though Entacmaea are the toughest of the symbiotic anemones for aquarium
use; they still need to be gently introduced to systems with other
Cnidarians present. From quarantine, some water poured back and forth
daily for a few weeks.
Do keep your eyes on symbiotic/sharing Clownfishes, and any crabs, large
shrimp... as these can damage your Anemone. |
|
New Print and
eBook on Amazon:
Anemone Success
Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term
by Robert (Bob) Fenner
|
BTA Health\System Overstocked with inappropriate
species\Allelopathy . No surprises unfortunately.
5/4/2009
Hi everyone,
<Hi Sarah>
First off I have to say your website has been an invaluable
resource to me for my all things Salt and Fresh water
related.
<Thank you for the kind words.>
I am writing to you today because I have an issue with a newly
purchased BTA.
<OK>
I acclimated it over a couple of hours and added it to my tank. I
had to go away for a couple of days so I had another friend who
has salt water (whom I thought knew what they were doing) look
after my tank for top ups.
Normally I keep some salt water premixed with a higher alkalinity
to use over the month.
<?? Higher alkalinity?>
Since my place is cold in the winter, I find keeping the water at
the higher alkalinity and then adding hot water to above temp and
to the correct parameters helps as I can let it sit for a few
hours to allow the
salt and water to mix
<I think you are talking about salinity.... very different
than alkalinity.>
Unfortunately, my friend did not read the instructions on my
bucket and decided to add a gallon the mix directly to my tank.
After a couple of days when I came home to find my tank was over
1.032. Yeah.. I wasn't impressed.
<Yikes!>
The BTA was still shriveled up, my branching hammer I had,
developed brown jelly disease ( I have since quarantined it and
took a soft artists paint brush to it to remove as much of the
jelly as possible and then freshwater dipped it and am changing
the water daily to meet the tank specs). The fish were not
affected. nor the other corals.
<From the stocking list, it could have had several causes,
stinging, allelopathy, or attacked. see below.>
Other tank inhabitants in 25g set up for 6 months, ammonia 0,
nitrite 0, nitrate 2, alkalinity now 1.026,
<You mean salinity, not alkalinity. Read here for information
on alkalinity. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/alkalinity.htm and
salinity
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spg_salinity.htm
>
calcium 420, ph 8.2, temp 78 degrees.
130w 24" pc lighting:
AquaClear 70 for fuge
Koralia 1
25lbs live rock
Chemi-pure
- True Perc
- Damsel
- 2 Scissortail Goby
- 1 cleaner shrimp
- 1 peppermint shrimp <Peppermint shrimp are NOT reef
safe.>
- GSP <Green Spotted Puffer? Inappropriate for this tank.
Certainly NOT reef safe. read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i6/lonely_puffer/lonely_puffer.htm
and here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsysfaqs.htm
>
- Suncoral (seemed starved from buyer. I've been segregating
in floating container and target feeding crushed wet pellet food,
brine shrimp, krill and Mysis. polyps now starting to expand)
Only a couple of days old.
- Xenia on a shell
- Mushrooms 4 quarter size or less
- Zoas 4x10polyps frags
- Duncans 4 big heads and 11 babies
- Blasto Wellsi
- Acro frag
- Candycanes 6 heads.
- Toadstool very small
- Halimeda
- Feather Caulerpa
- Branching hammer (in recovery)
- Frogspawn (which has a feathery thing that pumps in and out of
what looks like a mouth. never seen that before.)
<Lots of noxious corals here. Very high potential for
'chemical warfare' with each other. Read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/envdisphysiof.htm
>
(Note: Will be upgrading to 55g with 6x39w Tek T5 lights in a
month)
<Still too small for the fish you have listed.>
So over the last 48hours I have been doing water changes to
reduce the alkalinity. I am now at 1.026. I am checking it every
couple of hours now, watching fish health and watching the other
corals. They all appear to be acting normally.
<1.026 is fine, particularly for invertebrates.>
The BTA has now moved today, from the rock on the back of the
tank to a position towards the front of the tank. The pick I have
included it showing where it is now. The top is still attached to
the rock. It appears to open and close it's mouth.
<Not a good sign.>
There also appears to be some tissue degradation. It also looks
like it was chewed a bit,
<Given a peppermint shrimp, chewed is likely.>
though the area that is attached to the rock look fine. It is
mostly in the middle that it looks a little nasty. There is only
a small little area that appears to look like the same kind of
melt you would see on a hammer, but it isn't brown but
white.
<Dead tissue.>
It is only on 10% of the anemone.
<For now...>
Is there a chance this nem will make it, or should I make my
friend buy me a new one?
<It doesn't look good, but I would not be so quick to
blame your friend.
This system is completely inappropriate for an anemone.>
I have read BTA have made come backs after being chewed up in a
filter etc, so I am hoping I can get this to survive, even if it
is only going to be half or a quarter of the size it was
originally. What can I do to try to save it?
<Get it out of that system to start. Lose the peppermint
shrimp, and a fair number of your corals.>
(i.e., cut off the white area? dip in meds?) I am thinking this guy
is super stressed so I am hoping after a week or so it will
improve.
<Pages have been written on this Start here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/btadisfaqs.htm
>
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
<Please read the above linked articles.>
Thank you.
<My pleasure>
Sarah
<MikeV>
|
|
Re: BTA Health\System Update 5/5/2009
Update:
<Hi Sarah>
Sorry, I always get the names for alkalinity and salinity mixed
up.. you are correct I am referring to salinity. the alkalinity
in the tank has been between 4 and 4.5 mEq/litre. duh.. we all
have our moments.
<Yes we do. I spent two minutes yesterday morning trying to
start my car with the wrong key.>
GSP - Green star polyps. ( no puffers in this tank or future
tanks. don't like them)
<Ahh OK.GSP normally means Green Spotted Puffer Do keep in
mind that Green Star Polyps do spread, and will sting other
invertebrates>
I must also note these corals are small even for colonies. No
larger than 3 inches by 3 inches squared. The others are frags
and yes I know they will grow, but that is why I have purchased
the corals as frags or small
colonies. The toadstool is half the size of an average persons
thumb.
<Understood, but still realize that some of these corals
secrete very toxic substances, even when small. This can and will
have an effect on other livestock, especially in a small
volume.>
I removed and quarantined the BTA in a hospital tank. I will be
observing over the next 24hrs, but prognosis definitely not
good.
<It usually isn't at this point.>
I will need to purchase iodine for any future issues.
All the fish are just fine and other corals are doing very well.
Frogspawn has not developed any issues. I was concerned it might
start to show sign of the brown goopy slime from the hammer, but
I guess I got it out of there in time as soon as I noticed it,
and no issues from the degrading BTA.
Suncoral eating good and more flesh showing from polyps. Fish
eating nicely.
<Very good>
I will ask for your advice now then, when setting up the 55G
(36x18x22) how many fish would you suggest max to put in it?
<See Below.>
I have to say I am rather confused on this subject as I have come
across on information on several sites stating you can have up to
4-5 fish 3.5" max size fish in a 25g with corals, and others
who say it is too much.
<Too much. Conservatively, 1 fish per square foot of tank
surface area.>
In addition to my current stock, I would like to be able to add 2
Firefish goby and 1 other onyx clownfish.
The damsel may be removed as it gets older if it's
territorial behavior becomes a real issue and causes stress to
the other fish.
<Given your current and future tank size, I would lose the
damsel, lost the peppermint shrimp, and add the Firefish. You
should not add another clown.>
I will also be adding the following
- 25lbs live rock (in addition to what I have)
- 40lbs aragonite sand wet
- skimmer (eventually)
<Skimmer sooner rather than later, especially with
corals.>
- additional Aquaclear filter to use for Just polyfill and weekly
carbon filter changes, in addition to the AC70 currently in use
as a fuge with live
rock and Chemi-pure. Purigen will also be added.
- Maxi-jet 1200 for flow from the opposite side of the tank with
one of those wavemaker things on it.
<OK>
I hope to create a scape where I can create a border in the
middle by about 6-8 inches to break up linear water flow. I also
hope to separate different types of corals to either side. such
as Zoas, GSP, xenia and leather on one side, and Hammer and
frogspawn on the other side, with a couple Acro frags (maybe 4
favorites max) secure on the top of the stacked rock.
<Not enough light for Acropora, not really enough light for
anemones either.>
The BTA will move where it wants,
<Stinging all of your other corals in the process. Anemones
really should not be kept with corals.>
but I hope I can create a foothold somewhere it will live.
<Better to skip the anemone altogether.>
I have added a couple of pics to give you an idea of my current
tank size.... note the water is filled past the black line
now.
<No pictures attached.>
That was just a quick shot. I have tried to keep the corals
separated so they are not touching. In the 55g. they will be
given a lot of space to grow out.
Your advice is much appreciated. I want to ensure I give the best
home to my fish and corals that I can provide (on my limited
budget).
-- Sarah
<Mike>
|
Sick Anemone / Possible unknown toxic
conditions... Allelopathy, light, lack of HPO4... --
03/13/08 Hello WetWebMedia Crew, <Brad> First of all your
website is amazing. The wealth of information is so useful. I have
been struggling to find the cause of my problems for weeks now and
I'm finally just going to ask your help. First of all my 75
gallon SW tank w/ a 20 gallon sump underneath has been set up for
about 11 months. Currently in my sump i have: about 10 lbs of
rubble Chaetomorpha macro algae 8 mangroves floating (have had for
month and a half...just starting to grow new roots) <... Mmm,
these may prove problematical with time, growth...> 700 GPH Mag
Drive return pump w/ 500 GPH actual Whisper 20-40 gallon hang on
mechanical filter which i use to run phosphate resin pads <...
these may be an issue> and Chemi-Pure 18' 10,000k Daylight
bulb 6500 k long lasting bulb from Wal-mart <... this as
well> Also my sump is connected to a 5 gallon bucket <What is
this made/composed of?> with filled w/ a deep sand bed probably
3/4 of the way full In the 75 gallon tank i have: about 60lbs of
live rock an inch of live sand 2 Hydro Koralia 1's at 400 GPH 1
Hydro Koralia 3 at 850 GPH SeaClone Protein Skimmer rated for up to
100 gal <Uh, no... I'd upgrade here> Whisper 20-40 gallon
hang on mechanical filter which i use to run phosphate resin pads
and Chemi-Pure 4 46.5' VHO Two Super Actinic R's, 1 Actinic
white 50/50 12,000K, and 1 Aqua sun 10,000K replaced about 5.5
months ago <I'd replace, get rid, cycle out anything called
actinic... see WWM re.> My inhabitants include 1 Green/Brown
bubble Tip anemone Mushroom Coral A few Green button polyps A
couple of clusters of Zoanthids 1 Ocellaris Clown 1 Yellow Tang 1
Engineer goby 2 Peppermint Shrimp 2 Cleaner Shrimp 2 Emerald Crabs
4 blue legged hermit crabs 2 electric blue hermit crabs 2 unknown
small hermit crabs 1 unknown large hermit crab 2 Turbo snails 4
Cerith snails 4 Astrea snails 2 more snails (i can't remember
what their called) Water Quality on average for the last 4 months:
Ammonia (API) 0 Nitrite (Tetratest) 0 Nitrate (API) 10-12.5 Calcium
(API) 400-420 KH (Tetratest) 12-14 PH 8.3 Salinity 1.024-1.025 My
water is RO/DI free from a friend. I do 10 gallon water change
every 3 weeks and top off water every 3 days which i also add
iodine 8 drops (Kent Marine), Iron 8 drops (Kent Marine), Trace
Elements 8 drops (Kent Marine), check my alkalinity (Seachem reef
builder supplement), check my pH, and check my calcium (Kent Marine
supplement). <I'd switch to SeaChem> All this started a
couple of weeks ago when i noticed that my 3 stripped damsels where
too aggressive for the newly added ocellaris pair. I decided that i
needed to give the damsels back to the fish shop where i bought
them and had to take out most of my live rock to do this. I finally
got them out and my clowns started hosting my BTA (I have had him a
month and a half at this point) immediately and all seemed well.
Then about a week later the clown pair stopped hosting the anemone,
they just ignored it for a few days then mysteriously one of the
clown fish started mouth breathing and i noticed one white lump on
his head. Within 12 hours he was dead (i had him for two weeks
exactly). Shortly after (a couple of days) the clown's death i
noticed the BTA's tentacles where changing shape (pic: anemone
health). I watched the anemone closely and he did not really get in
better or any worse. Then a few days later my tank developed an
algae bloom. My friend told me it was b/c i stirred up my sand and
probably had a little die off from removing most of my rock from
the tank. I started learning about Diatom algae and how to control
it and found that it is more of a silicate problem <Unlikely>
then a phosphate problem and that it needs plenty of Nitrate and
plenty of red light. By this time my anemone had moved to
underneath his rock and was acting like he was uncomfortable. I
noticed that he had little nodules on his tentacles (anemone health
1-5) <I see these> and was not inflating like usual. My
Zoanthids and button polyps where all closed up with little strings
of diatom algae hanging of them. <A clue...> I did a 10
gallon water change and scraped the algae off of everything. The
polyps and Zoanthids opened up a little but soon closed right back
up. So i started searching around on your site to see if i could
find anything about the condition of the anemone and possibly to
see if high phosphates or silicates could cause such this burning
scaring on his tentacles. I searched Google as well and even for
pictures but could not find any information on anemone diseases or
toxic reactions except that their is not much known and no way to
really treat them. The anemone has plenty of circulation, decent
light, <Mmm, maybe> and before he showed signs of stress i
was feeding him about 2 times a week (brine shrimp mostly-I know
not very nutritious-have switched to Mysis Shrimp-will buy Selcon).
So i decided to run Chemi-Pure to my tank in case some toxin had
gotten into the water and to do a 20 gallon water change. After the
water change the anemone looked a little better but since then (5
days ago) he has gotten much worse. I read online that if the
anemone has any openings or tears in their tentacles they are
decaying. So i picked up the rock out of my tank and smelled him
but he does not smell bad and he still inflates a little during the
light hours. I noticed that he has been puckering his lips a lot
too. I did another 10 gallon water change today with some distilled
water i bought for Wal-mart thinking that maybe my friends RO/DI
unit needs new cartridges. I also replaced the Chemi-Pure which had
a bad odor as well as my phosphate resin pads. I also stopped
adding supplements into the tank except for iodine, calcium and reefbuilder. I took some advice from your site and bought an
iodine/iodide test kit. Tested it yesterday and found that it is
.01 mg/L which is low so I'm slowly bringing the concentration
back up. Also something i forgot to mention probably about 4 weeks
ago i noticed my shrimp had all developed little black dots on
them. I read that this is commonly due to either high or low
concentration of iodine? <Can be related or not> All the
livestock is perfectly fine right now. The ocellaris is a little
stressed and i noticed he is a little reluctant to eat spectrum
Thera pellets (he has eaten in the past) i have been feeding the
past two days. <Also possibly related> Also i have little
micro bubbles coming into the water from my Whisper 20-40 hang on
filter recently as well as my protein skimmer. Is this ok? Is their
any potential threats to the livestock from tiny air bubbles being
blown all around the tank by power heads. <Likely not an issue,
factor> I'm wondering if my whole problem is iodine in
regards to my anemone? <Mmm, no> Would a combination of low
iodine levels, high nitrate levels, and the presence of phosphate /
silicate cause these kinds of symptoms?. <Actually, the lack of
presence of soluble HPO4 is likely a contributing cause...>
Could the tiny little air bubbles be hurting the anemones
tentacles? From what you see in the pictures is my anemone decaying
alive? If this was your aquarium what would you do next? Thank you
so much for taking your time to read through this and helping me
out. I'm really at a loss right now as far as what to do. Let
me know if you can't open the pictures i attached with this
email? brad <Likely the root issue here is allelopathy. Read
here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm but the phosphate
pads should be removed... and you should do a bit of reading re
Entacmaea on WWM... measure the quantity, quality of light... The
best short/er term solution is to move the Actinarian elsewhere...
as you'll see by reading. Bob Fenner> |
|
Bleached E. Quadricolor, Zooxanthellae,
Inadequate Environment -- 1/6/08 Hello, my name is David.
<Hello David, Brenda here> I have just started my saltwater
adventure and am running into a little problem. I have an 8 gallon
tank, everything is running very smoothly. I have one false Percula
clown, 5 snails and a peppermint shrimp. <An Ocellaris needs at
least a 20 gallon aquarium.> I also have one grape frogspawn. I
recently bought a white anemone from my LFS. I need help
identifying the anemone. I can't find any pictures that
resemble it. <It is a bleached E. quadricolor (Bubble Tip
Anemone / BTA). Your anemone is white because it has expelled its zooxanthellae. This is an unhealthy anemone, and should not be kept
in an 8 gallon tank. It needs to be kept in an established (6 -- 12
months old) tank of approximately 50 gallons or more. Some people
have kept anemones in smaller tanks (20 -- 25 gallons). However
those that are successful at it have been in the hobby for a while,
and are knowledgeable in the care and requirements of an
anemone.> Also I keep placing it in a little hole in the rock
and it keeps floating down onto my frogspawn and they seem to bind
tentacles, I think they may be fighting. <They are stinging the
heck out of each other. The anemone is unhealthy, and will not be
the winner.> This is going on quite consistently and it has me
worried. I bought the anemone as a host for my clown; will this
provide a good host? <No, this anemone will not survive long
term in an 8 gallon tank.> How can I stop these attacks? <You
can't. The anemone is stressed, unhealthy, and in an inadequate
environment. It will continue to roam until its death. I recommend
taking it back to the place that you bought it from and researching
before your purchase.> Thank you so much. <You're
welcome! I wish I had better news for you. Brenda> |
Going, going...
|
Success! BTA... health, clown
symb. 12/17/06 Hello To All.
I just wanted to take a moment
to thank all you. Your informative sight has given me the
ability to successfully mate a pair of wonderful
animals that belong together. Took me a couple tries. I had a
percula clown who was not interested in my BTA. So, the poor
guy went from a 150 gal tank to a 10 gal hospital tank.
He's fine, but the tomato would of beat him up. <Oh
yes> That and my son wanted him. :-) I have
browsed your sight left and right and continue to do so. All
the articles i read and some personal attention through emails
are all greatly appreciated. Please see enclosed pic of
my tomato clown fish 2 days old and a 3 week old BTA. <This
last badly bleached...> Not even 24 hours in the tank, well
as you can see he's having a blast. Although, i feel the
clown is a bit large for the size on the anemone but
he doesn't seem to mind. <Do keep a close eye here...
Clowns can be too exuberant... for their hosts>
Right now i am running 2 150w MH bulbs. Is that
enough light or do you think i should upgrade to 2 x 250w
MH bulbs? <Mmm, not necessarily, no> Just
wondering. All I can do to make him grow is make sure my water
is in check, and feed him. In time, he'll grow. It
seems like the BTA accepted him. My clown has been cleaning
him. All good stuff. Thanks again. I really love your
web site. <Ah, good... Your Anemone needs to re-incorporate
useful endosymbiotic algae... Do a bit of searching re this issue
please... and thank you for sharing your success, enthusiasm. Bob
Fenner> |
|
Re: Success!
12/17/06 Thank - you so much bob! <Welcome> I am not
really sure what you meant by your comment here: <This last
badly bleached...> <Please see, read on WWM re... the
indices, search tool...> In regards to this comment: <Do keep
a close eye here... Clowns can be too exuberant... for their
hosts> What do I do in this case? <Again... reading> I am
a bit worried about that. He seems to be a but rough with him.
Before I had this clown, my BTA would be fully open! Not he has
parts of him open and certain parts covered. I just thought it may
take some time for the BTA to get used to its host. Last night the
clown was doing allot of moving around here. 3 weeks later the BTA
has not moved. Only once the first day after that he seemed to be
happy. in regards to this comment: <useful endosymbiotic
algae> I most definitely will and thanks again for the advice.
<Ah, good. BobF> |
Re: Success! Bleached BTA
12/18/06 In regards to: <This last badly bleached...>
<Please see, read on WWM re... the indices, search tool...>
Just to clarify, you want me to do some more reading on an
article title " This last badly bleached"? or did you
want me to search for an article titled the indices <The
article, FAQs on BTAs...: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/bubbletipanemones.htm
and the linked files above...> Also what article should I
search for in regards to the exuberant clown? <Please... learn
to/use the indices, search tool on WWM> Should I type that or
is there a title or link you can recommend? I have read almost
every FAQ on Anemones and clown fish. Most clown and anemone
behaviors. Sorry, hope I am not a bother. <Please make known
what process you've employed to find this information...
specifically. Am desirous of amending what we have in the way of
"instructions", examples of how to find what folks are
looking for. BobF>
Re: bleached? 12/18/06 Hi Bob,
You saying that my BTA looks bleached. Now I
understand. Please note that when that photo you saw was taken,
it was taken at night, w/ no light on or anything. What ever
color you see in the pic came from the camera's flash. Can
that be the reason? <Mmm, no> I never really thought it was
a problem because he does have some color. His tip when they are
bubbled up during the day are white, but he was always a cream
color. <Read my friend... Don't write, read. RMF>
|
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone... mixed with a H. crispa...
7/19/06 I have had a rose bubble tip for about 2 months now, Today
I noticed that it doesn't extend out, it is in a little ball and
the clown who is actually too big for it has pretty much moved out and
into another, a sebae anemone, <... not in the same system?>
along with my other clown. The bubble tip will it krill and clams, but
is staying pretty much closed. Is there anything that I should be doing
or looking for?? Salinity 1.024 ; nitrate 20 <A bit high>
;Ammonia 0 Lighting 2-65watt power compacts 10K ;2-65watt Actinic
<Insufficient for this size/depth tank, these anemone species> 75
gallon Tank Is the clown buffing it to death?? <Might be... but
doubtful. You have a case of allelopathy... mis-mixed actinarians>
Thanks for your time Bob <Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anemcompfaqs.htm and
the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
BTA all balled up Good afternoon, <Hi there> Yesterday,
I did an extensive search through the bubble tip anemones, only to not
find exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully someone out there could
shed some light on the subject, or at least put me at ease. Here goes:
First the basic info - 37 gallon Fish: (2) ocellaris clowns, (1)
3 stripe (which will be on his way out soon enough), and a lawnmower
blenny. Inverts: (1) peppermint shrimp, (1) emerald crab,
various red & blue leg hermits, Mexican turbo snails, Astrea,
Cerith and Nassarius snails. Corals: a few yellow polyps, brown
buttons, white and green striped Palythoa, various colored zoanthids,
Ricordea, and mushrooms. Lighting: (3) 65 watt pc lighting (12
hrs on, 12 off) Filtration: (1) AquaClear 50 - sponge cleaned
weekly, and carbon replaced every single month without exception.
Skimmer: Excalibur hang-on Water movement: (1) Maxijet
1200, and the outputs from the skimmer (powered by a Rio 800) and the
AquaClear keep things moving pretty good - I'm looking to add
another Maxijet in the near future. All together, probably
60 lbs live rock, and a shallow sand bed. my BTA has been in the tank
for almost a month, and the tank itself went through a cycle that
seemed like no other! It has been stable for about the last 6 to 7
months. The tank is fed once a day with a mixture of Nori, raw shrimp,
freeze dried brine, and formula 1 flake, (all soaked in Selcon), along
with DT's phyto every other day. over the past weekend, I decided
to add about another 10 lbs of base rock. <This is a small
tank/volume, a bunch of life to be moving about, adding so much in such
a short time span...> Of course when adding the rock, other things
had to be moved around and re-stacked. I also looked at it as
re-arranging things a bit to break up territorial issues between my
clowns and my 3-stripe. <This aggression will only get worse in
time...> Anyway, after adding the new base rock, and doing some
scraping and cleaning, and so forth, I did my weekly water change. I
specifically waited to the very end to do the water change. The rock my
BTA attached itself to happens to be the back of the rock with all my
Palythoa and zoanthids. <Oh oh...> I had to move this rock up a
little, and off to the side a little. The new location appears to have
similar water movement, but it happens to be exposed more to the light.
I specifically did not try to move the anemone itself, as I didn't
want to tear it or stress it any further than what I had to.
<Good> After the whole cloud of crap finally started to settle /
filter out, I cleaned the sponge in the filter to remove excess
garbage, and changed my carbon. All water parameters appear to be in
good standing: pH - 8.2- 8.3, alk - normal (Red Sea
"generalized" test), temp 79? - 80?, specific gravity -
1.025, Ca - 460 (a little high), ammonia - 0, nitrites - 0, nitrates -
<10. I don't test for anything else, and rarely test the
amount shown here. usually only sg, pH and alk. Now, the BTA has only
opened up maybe halfway, but usually stays tightly balled up (looks
like a purplish red onion). It still has all of its coloration
(purple- maroonish colored base, very green tentacles with pink tips).
When it is partly open, the mouth looks to be very tight, and I
can't see any signs of decomposing. It's not expelling any
waste that I can see. I know that they will move wherever they want to
go when they want to, but this is the second day, and it appears that
it hasn't moved an inch. Hopefully I'm right and everything
will be ok within a couple of days. Should I attempt to feed it, or
should I wait until it is fully open? <I'd definitely wait>
Right now, my intentions are to just leave it alone. Any comments,
suggestions, constructive criticisms? Hopefully I'm over-reacting.
Sorry for the long winded message, but I wanted to put as much info out
there as possible. Thanks. <IMO you are not over-reacting... There
is a potential disaster brewing here... with the small volume, so much
chemical change going on and trying to keep this anemone in the
presence of the zoanthids... Please read re these animals: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm
particularly their chemical incompatibility, danger to humans... In
this tiny tank you will either have to be super-diligent in making
water changes, checks on quality, use of chemical filtrants... perhaps
add volume, filtration, other mediating influences through the addition
of a refugium... or get rid of the zoanthids... possibly the anemone in
time. Small volumes are just inherently too unstable... to house mixed
cnidarian populations, particularly some groups. Bob Fenner>
Grr.. Sick BTA <Did these anemones feed regularly in the
first month?> However for the past 5 days or so one of them has
never inflated beyond half way, and the tentacles have remained all
straggly. It will open a bit more at night, but the
tentacles never inflate. It will not accept food,
either. The second BTA is doing great, eating, growing, etc.
<Many possibilities here... not the least of which (no worries) is
if it came form a tank with much lower light. Its not an issue of light
shock, per se... but under aged lamps, weaker lamps, dirty/dusty lights
and canopies/lenses... anemones and corals will swell up and pan for
light (giving the appearance of being healthy ironically). Then when
they get into better light, they do not need to pan so severely. It is
that simple at times.> I did find a small Aiptasia anemone (the
bastards) near the BTA. I'm not sure if it was close
enough to have stung it or not, but the possibility is definitely
there. If it was stung, would it be behaving like this?
<Nope... they are much tougher than that.> Any way to get it
eating and healthy again if so? <Try feeding small amounts of meaty
"juice" to the tank at the same time every night. You can
condition a feeding response in just a week or two this way. Do it at
the end of the day or after the lights go out for zooplankton feeders
like this.> My water quality is excellent as of yesterday (0
ammonia, nitrites, less than 5 ppm nitrates, pH 8.3, temp 80F, SG
1.025). <You may want to double check the accuracy of your
hydrometer. If this is a plastic job (or handheld refractometer...
crap), then I definitely would consider keeping at least one other
meter (glass hydrometers are excellent... sparing the need for tabletop
refractometers) for periodic calibration.> Lighting is a 150w metal
halide and 2 55w PCs (10,000k and actinic). Water changes
are performed at least twice weekly of about 4 gallons <Hmmm...
great that you're doing twice weekly water changes but the amount
is rather modest/tiny... this will not adequately dilute the
undesirables. It would be better to do much larger exchanges.> Also
in the tank is a yellow headed Jawfish, ~2" maroon clown, a few
xenia bunches, a few patches of green star polyps, a Ricordea
(partially shadowed by the LR), and a few gorgonians. <Likely not
the issue, but star polyp and gorgonians are very noxious... two of the
worst (re: allelopathy) > Anyone have any ideas? The BTA
still has a firm grip on the rock it came on, hasn't move more than
an inch, but it's looked half dead for about 5 days
now. It's stressing ME out. <Be patient my friend...
and above all - DO NOT move this anemone. A surefire way to kill it :(
> Anthony
Sea anemone hi <cheers, Marc!>
I have an odd situation going on with my large solitary cloning
variety rose bubble-tipped anemone which appears to be healthy. it eats
when fed and will expand by day and contract at night yet over the past
month it has been dropping tentacles at @ 1- 2 a day followed by days
when it does not loose any . To look at the anemone it seems o.k. the
lost tentacles are not even missed , it almost looks as if they are
being replaced by new ones although I can not be& sure as the
smaller ones may just be contracted but perhaps not because they are
shaped and lack the "flat tire deflated look" .
<understood.. I have seen this before. Not uncommon at all. Not
clearly understood either. Often ascribed to allelopathic duress
(chemical poisoning of the self or from other cnidarians in the
display)> the dropped tentacles are all intact and usually somewhat
inflated looking and look to have had a tunicate tied around the base (
point of detachment ) . The anemone does not appear to be torn& or
show scaring . The tank does contain H. crispa which is fine and has a
A. nigripes clownfish which would not use the E. quadricolor when I
isolated the H. crispa in a basket at the other end of the six foot
long aquarium ( 72"x18"x18" ) . when I had met you in
Lancaster at the that fish place seminar we discussed my system and you
recommended that I remove the H .crispa as the E . quad. may eventually
kill it could this or the opposite be what is happening ? <I
would have to agree that it is possible. At the very least the anemone
seems to be responding to the presence of its competitor by sending our
aggressive noxious aborted tentacles (powerful stinging
"weapons" sent out into the drift upon the sensation of a
competitive neighbor)> I have read of other's who keep the two
together ( the latest being an article in f.a.m.a. on bubble tips and
another on the web . ) <not exactly, my friend... while it is
true that many people do mix species together for a year or two... it
is extremely rare to find someone that succeeds in doing it for more
than two years. And are you/we willing to play the odds that you will
be the one person in a hundred that succeeds while 99 others own dead
anemones <G>? Ha!> The only other fish is a springeri
Pseudochromis . It would not appear to be a predator as the dropped
tentacles do not get consumed by anything , not even by the small
bristle worms . <understood and agreed... they are noxious and
potent for having been imparted with stinging mechanisms.. a defensive
strategy most likely> Someone had suggested that this may be a
normal part of E. quad's lifecycle. <I strongly
disagree... few reef animals abort viable tissue on a nutrient starved
reef. They only abort when necessary (necrosis, defense,
reproduction)... the contrary is RARE. If the tissue was unnecessary it
would likely be reabsorbed or eaten (as arthropods do with molts). >
The only thing different to my set-up since we met and before
this started was that I reassumed use of the protein skimmer and add
another 2-2.5" of sand ( @ 4.5" total depth. <both
excellent moves :) > Thanks for the sand tip I found it
packaged as Caribbean play sand. <quite welcome!>
Every thing else in the tank is doing fine ( tank does not contain soft
corals ) . I am wondering what you think , any info would be of
interest . thanks <indeed... the tank is maturing and noxious
compounds accumulate inevitably. Any way you slice it, it sounds
defensive to me. Have you noticed that the people that acknowledge
shedding of tentacles from anemones commonly (always!) have other
anemones or aggressive corals in the tank ;) There's a common
thread here <G>. I'd pull one anemone on the assumption and
for the greater good of both and watch to see if the shedding
doesn't slow down or stop. Do extra water changes and skim/carbon
to dilute the noxious elements. I'll be back at That Fish Place
(Lancaster) April 6th by the way! Best regards, Anthony>
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