Anemone White Spots? Rapid Decline.

[ccombs]

Hey! So I have had an anemone in my tank for about a month now and its been doing great. Unfortunately I go out of town and my wife has told me that the anemone is closed up and has a white spot that has spread from a small spot yesterday to a larger set today.

Here is from yesterday-

And now today it is worse-

Any ideas? This does not look like the normal decline of an anemone when it is dying. The anemone also lives on the backside of the tank where it is very hard to see/photograph.

 

[K95ranger]

What are your tank parameters? Any changes in your tank? How long has the tank been established? I see you have quite a bit of bubble algea, what type of lights are you using? When when was the last time they were changed , if not led?

 

[K95ranger]

An easy way to tell is pull it out and if it smells rancid then it is dying and get rid of it.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I agree with K95Ranger, you could do the smell test and see if it starts falling apart when your lifting it out of the tank. It looks bad to me, I have never seen one look like that without slimming and falling apart. @Amoo has his cipro thread you can check out but by looking at the pic I don't think it would help at this point. Let's see what others have to say, keeping my fingers crossed. #reefsquad

How I Cipro

Many of you have probably already seen this before as it's part of a sticky on another forum, but I'm moving the information over to this site as this is where I spend most of my time and want to link this in my Sig. Amoo's Sick Nem Treatment Protocol: Let me start by saying most of my research...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[mta_morrow]

I agree with K95Ranger, you could do the smell test and see if it starts falling apart when your lifting it out of the tank. It looks bad to me, I have never seen one look like that without slimming and falling apart. @Amoo has his cipro thread you can check out but by looking at the pic I don't think it would help at this point. Let's see what others have to say, keeping my fingers crossed. #reefsquad

How I Cipro

Many of you have probably already seen this before as it's part of a sticky on another forum, but I'm moving the information over to this site as this is where I spend most of my time and want to link this in my Sig. Amoo's Sick Nem Treatment Protocol: Let me start by saying most of my research...

www.reef2reef.com

Agree^^^^^^^^

 

[ccombs]

What are your tank parameters? Any changes in your tank? How long has the tank been established? I see you have quite a bit of bubble algea, what type of lights are you using? When when was the last time they were changed , if not led?

Thanks for the input.

Tank parameters are all within normal ranges except for Nitrates, which are at 40ppm. Obviously this is very high, but without getting into too much detail, I have continually struggled with Nitrates even when I have tried every trick in the book and practiced good husbandry. Up until literally yesterday, the anemone has looked really healthy.

I am using (2) Kessil 160 LEDs.

In regards to the bubble algae, that has been a battle with me working to reduce nitrates and manual removal. The pics are on the backside where the tank is hard to get to, and I didn't even realize I had bubble algae there until she sent me those pics yesterday/this morning.

No major changes recently outside of my 6 month deep clean of pumps and other equipment. All that did was reduce my nitrates and increase my flow.

I am no anemone expert, but with my research I have never seen one get a white spot like this. It almost looks like STN or RTN on an SPS coral. Everything else in the tank looks healthy.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

That's mesenterial filament coming out-- something tore/ripped its foot. Second pic is tear expanded with sand mixed in. Cipro would be of no benefit in this situation.

 

[ccombs]

That's mesenterial filament coming out-- something tore/ripped its foot. Second pic is tear expanded with sand mixed in. Cipro would be of no benefit in this situation.

The goby is always spitting out sand so that makes sense it would have sand in it. That being said, what is the solution in this case?

 

[ccombs]

That's mesenterial filament coming out-- something tore/ripped its foot. Second pic is tear expanded with sand mixed in. Cipro would be of no benefit in this situation.

Also, thanks for identifying the problem. I couldn't tell what was going on there.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Outcome depends on severity of tear and nems overall health before tear. It may heal back up but I suspect it'll either wither away or split. Pristine water would be my goal in it's recovery but I wouldn't be too optimistic based on pics.

 

[ccombs]

My wife pulled it out to check for rancid smell and it basically dissolved in her hand. She also commented that it smelled quite bad.

This really sucks because I worked hard to keep it alive, despite having my nitrate issue.

@Bob Loblaw (nice name/reference) what could have caused the rip in the first place?

 

[NewGoby]

i think you’re thinking of the Rainbow Bottom Anemones. Not just plain old rainbow bubble tips.

My wife pulled it out to check for rancid smell and it basically dissolved in her hand. She also commented that it smelled quite bad.

This really sucks because I worked hard to keep it alive, despite having my nitrate issue.

@Bob Loblaw (nice name/reference) what could have caused the rip in the first place?

Could be a ton of different things, it could have tried to split in the first place (splitting = an anemone ripping itself in half (or tearing a minor part off itself, some people argue if they split when under stress to improve survival chances, or splitting as a way to multiply).

The anemone could've gotten infected mid-split, and passed.

If the anemone dissolved in her hand, make sure nothing fell into the tank, dissolved anemone's are toxic.
Run carbon & do multiple 25% Waterchanges, over a week orso (1 every 2 days), and replace the carbon every day or two, for a week.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I'd suspect a rock shift pinched and tore the foot. Certain fish will also nip at nem- puffers, triggers, angels, and some butterflies are the most common.

 

[ccombs]

Could be a ton of different things, it could have tried to split in the first place (splitting = an anemone ripping itself in half (or tearing a minor part off itself, some people argue if they split when under stress to improve survival chances, or splitting as a way to multiply).

The anemone could've gotten infected mid-split, and passed.

If the anemone dissolved in her hand, make sure nothing fell into the tank, dissolved anemone's are toxic.
Run carbon & do multiple 25% Waterchanges, over a week orso (1 every 2 days), and replace the carbon every day or two, for a week.

Immediately dropped in fresh carbon and upped AWC when that happened. Thanks for the input!