My anemone is sick

alexfevery · 02-04-2007, 12:26 AM

Hi, I got this anemone and I had him for a few days, and all of a sudden he got real sick. He turned completely inside out and theres a clam attached to his guts. Its pretty gross, but sad. Ive had anemones alot of times but ive never seen one this sick. What can I do to fix him?

You can see hes inside out with his tentacles on the outside and that white bulge is the guts or somthing you can see the clam attached by a bunch of strings near the botom by the glass thermometers lowest reading.

Another view

After looking further, the clam shell is empty, so the clam cant be eating him.

Loman · 02-04-2007, 01:38 AM

Alex,
I hope someone can help with a decent reply. My experiance with an anemone that looked like this one was not good.

It was after my star fish found it and it did not survive but I too had no idea what to do to help it though.

rayjay · 02-04-2007, 12:24 PM

I'm no expert but I do know that a healthy anemone will expell anything it isn't still feeding on. It may be that it's attempting to do this, but as I've never heard of anyone feeding a clam to an anemone, this is pure conjecture.
It's hard to tell from the pictures, but has the anemone expelled it's zoexanthellae? Is the anemone still "sticky" to touch the tentacles? Can the "clam" be moved withing the anemone, with possibly removing it without damge to the anemone?

alexfevery · 02-04-2007, 12:59 PM

It dropped the clam, but it still wont close, its been about a day now. hes still turned inside out and is still sticky. What does this mean?

rayjay · 02-04-2007, 03:18 PM

If it is still sticky then you probably still have a chance with it. Because this is a new addition to your tank, many things come into play. Acclimation proceedures, differences in conditions from where it came from to the tank it is now in, stresses in shipping to the LFS to name a few.
Anemones have a dismal survival rate that many in the know say not 1 in 1,000 will survive long term. (In the ocean, they can live for centuries)
Survival chances are improved by having best water conditions possible starting with ocean s.g. of 1.026.
Many stores keep lower s.g. levels so the anemone has gone from the ocean to holding tanks that could be gosh knows what, to the lfs which is most likely different again, to whatever you have in your tank.
If it is healthy it has a decent chance of survival, especially when it is sticky and if it hasn't expelled the zoexanthellae. If it has expelled the symbiotic algae, then you have to feed him, and small pieces like brine shrimp, mysis/mysids, krill are most appropriate sizes. While many feed large shrimp meant for the table, it takes a lot of energy for the anemone just to process large pieces like that.
Changes for the good are probably not going to happen overnight but it is possible.
If he comes back, be prepared for him to move to a spot he prefers in the tank and watch for his passage over corals which can kill them.
Wishing it all the best,
rayjay

WhoDey · 02-05-2007, 10:50 PM

alex,

Keep a close watch on your anemone. He is not looking good at all. Anemones are amazing creatures and can come back from almost anything. But I would have to say yours looks like he is on his last leg. Keep a close watch on him. See if his mouth closes at all over the next couple hours. If you see him start to "melt" then remove him from your tank. I'd give him a 5% chance of survival at this point. Is he responding to anything?? Has he attached to anything or lost color? It's usually a good sign if they still have their color. Honestly, looking at your picture again(kind of hard to tell) I think he is done for. If he hasn't moved at all and he's been like that for a day I would remove him from your main tank. Place him in a 10 gallon or something similar if you want to see if he will make it. Sorry! (I would see if he smells also)

-Nate

alexfevery · 02-06-2007, 12:18 AM

Arron the anemone
RIP
01/28/07-02/05/07

he melted and turned white

i think he at least deserved a name

edit:
I thot I would be sad because of the lost money, but im only sad because I failed him.

rayjay · 02-06-2007, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexfevery

I thot I would be sad because of the lost money, but im only sad because I failed him.

That's what will make you a better reefer in the long run.
It's my opinion that people that don't care and don't have feelings for their inhabitants, shouldn't be in the hobby.
Sorry about the loss!

Chitown1 · 02-06-2007, 11:14 AM

Sorry for your loss.

WhoDey · 02-06-2007, 11:43 AM

Sorry! Next time you get one, make sure the LFS has had him for a week or more so that you know he will have a better chance.

-Nate