Anemone Doesnt look good

RugglesReef · Oct 20, 2022

The color of the anemone has all but gone & it seems about the same size if not a bit smaller than when we brought it home in Early September. i know the shrimp messes with it. i caught the cleaner shrimp poking its mouth, the anemone spit up the food i had given it a bit earlier & the cleaner shrimp took it. have noticed its mouth open here and there but not all day. the first pic where it looks like its guts are coming out was last night & the darker blue pic is from just now. any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Rtaylor · Oct 20, 2022

It looks fine, especially in the 2nd photo. It doesn’t look bleached either, so not sure what you mean by the color is gone?

RugglesReef · Oct 20, 2022

Rtaylor said:
It looks fine, especially in the 2nd photo. It doesn’t look bleached either, so not sure what you mean by the color is gone?

it used to look like this. Sorry we’re super new to all this

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

RugglesReef said:
it used to look like this. Sorry we’re super new to all this

ok so today back to looking kind of sketchy, it looks like its mouth is open and some black thing is coming out? its tiny compared to yesterday. im sorry for all the questions, just worried this guy isnt doing well and dont want it to suffer. we're still learning! Thanks for the help!

yanetterer · Oct 21, 2022

What are your parameters (salinity, ph, nitrate, phosphate, etc, and brands of test kits used)? Lighting?

Lavey29 · Oct 21, 2022

How old is your system? Nems need a very established stable environment.

Jared Bryant · Oct 21, 2022

I have found that BTA's need zero feeding. When an anemone is still getting settled the last thing to do is start trying to make it eat. Yours looks fine to me as they will inflate and deflate all the time.

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

Lavey29 said:
How old is your system? Nems need a very established stable environment.

unsure how old from the start as we got it used with tons of Coralline algae on the back wall but empty, no live rock or water in it. We started the tank in mid August with new live rock and saltwater from the store. i see typically you want to wait 6 months or more to add an anemone once the tank is more established. i got overruled and we got one.

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

RobertAshby said:
What are your parameters (salinity, ph, nitrate, phosphate, etc, and brands of test kits used)? Lighting?

ALK 133 MG 1217
PH 8.0 AMMO 0.1
PHOS 0.7 NITRITE 0.0
CA 396 NITRATES 28
SALINITY 1.025

Lavey29 · Oct 21, 2022

RugglesReef said:
unsure how old from the start as we got it used with tons of Coralline algae on the back wall but empty, no live rock or water in it. We started the tank in mid August with new live rock and saltwater from the store. i see typically you want to wait 6 months or more to add an anemone once the tank is more established. i got overruled and we got one.

I get overruled a lot also so I know your situation. They are just difficult in a new set up so just try and keep stable parameters and good light for him. Make sure you have appropriate nem covers on your powerheads.

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

Jared Bryant said:
I have found that BTA's need zero feeding. When an anemone is still getting settled the last thing to do is start trying to make it eat. Yours looks fine to me as they will inflate and deflate all the time.

ok good, yea its just strange, one min its big and looking good and next its like tiny and its mouth is open. doesnt happen all the time but just trying to get a handle on whats normal and abnormal with these

KrisReef · Oct 21, 2022

RugglesReef said:
ok good, yea its just strange, one min its big and looking good and next its like tiny and its mouth is open. doesnt happen all the time but just trying to get a handle on whats normal and abnormal with these

They do defecate from the same location as they swallow. Don't feed directly, are there fishes in the tank?

TokenReefer · Oct 21, 2022

Maybe it's just acclimating still? Mine went through many strange faces/phases before it finally stabilized it seems. I also got one too early but somehow made it work (so far). These things can live a really long time (forever maybe?) so thier timeline may be different than ours. Give it some time, good light and stable water and you got a great shot

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

KrisReef said:
They do defecate from the same location as they swallow. Don't feed directly, are there fishes in the tank?

Oh, you know i never even thought of that. makes sense everyone poops. lol. Yea we have 6 fish in there. two clown, small box fish, valentini puffer, diamond goby & a Lawnmower blenny.

RugglesReef · Oct 21, 2022

Token_Reefer said:
Maybe it's just acclimating still? Mine went through many strange faces/phases before it finally stabilized it seems. I also got one too early but somehow made it work (so far). These things can live a really long time (forever maybe?) so thier timeline may be different than ours. Give it some time, good light and stable water and you got a great shot

ok cool, its sounding like all this is relatively normal behavior for them when they are introduced. It probably is still just getting acclimated. really only had it a bit over a month & it has "good" days and "bad" days, i guess just like the rest of us. lol. i appreciate everyone's time & help with our anemone!

KrisReef · Oct 21, 2022

Yes, the anemone will do nicely with food cycled through the fishes. If the clowns are dwelling in the nem they will feed and nuture it, ime. A coral or nem with a tending clown are generally going to live and thrive (if the clownfish don't tend it to death) much better than a solo nem or coral without the care of the fish.

RugglesReef · Oct 28, 2022

KrisReef said:
Yes, the anemone will do nicely with food cycled through the fishes. If the clowns are dwelling in the nem they will feed and nuture it, ime. A coral or nem with a tending clown are generally going to live and thrive (if the clownfish don't tend it to death) much better than a solo nem or coral without the care of the fish.

The clownfish havnt been dwelling in the nem yet. any way to help facilitate this?