Can a Rock Flower Anemone Kill a Fish?

[RobertN]

Hi All--
I've had my Melanurus Wrasse for 5-6 years. I got it when it was not an adult-size fish. I just recently (within the past few weeks) got a Rock Flower Anemone. It moved about 4-5 inches from where I first placed it at the bottom of the tank, between a rock and the sand. I found my Melanurus Wrasse dead this morning, about 2 inches from the Anemone, on some Zoas just above the Anemone. I don't know how long Melanurus Wrasses should live, so I suppose it might not be related to the Anemone. But it seems WAY too coincidental that shortly after I get the Anemone, I find a fish dead just a couple of inches away from it. I wonder if either the Wrasse was curious and nosing around (like I have seen it do around the tank many times) and ended up sticking it's nose into the Anemone and getting stung to the point where it was too much for it. Or, it's possible that the Wrasse swam into it when it got spooked (that Wrasse does exhibit that behavior--of easily being spooked--on a regular basis),
Has anyone ever had the experience of losing a fish to a Rock Flower Anemone? I know folks have said numerous times that they lost fish to a Maxi Mini Carpet Anemone.

 

[DLHDesign]

I've had two rock nems in my tank for a year+ now. No issues with any of my fish, but that's just my experience.

Did you QT the nem before placing it into the tank?
What other fish do you have in the tank, and how are they looking and acting?

 

[RobertN]

I'll add that the Wrasse was healthy, looking like it always has and eating and swimming around as usual yesterday and lately, in general. Again, I don't know how old they typically get in captivity.....though I would think I would have seen some gradual decline in its behavior and appearance if it was gradually dying of old age. And I don't know what the difference is between a Rock Flower Anemone and a Maxi Mini Carpet Anemone. Size-wise, they don't look very different from what I've seen. I don't whose sting is worse, but I do know that the Rock Flower Anemone definitely has a sting.

 

[RobertN]

I didn't QT the Anemone before putting it in. All of the other fish look fine. I have a male and female clown, 5 Pajama Cardinals, 2 Scissortail Gobies, 2 Rainford Gobies, a Solorensis Wrasse, a Mottled Filefish, a Cherub Angelfish, a Hippo Tang and a Yellow Tang, a Green Chromis and a Blue Reef Chromis.

 

[tankstudy]

Has anyone ever had the experience of losing a fish to a Rock Flower Anemone? I know folks have said numerous times that they lost fish to a Maxi Mini Carpet Anemone.

I've lost a few fish to Rock Flower Anemones but its mostly because the fish gets greedy or nose dives in to them. Most fish are pretty wary of them. If your Rock Flower Anemone did kill it, a lot of time you'll see a dead digested looking fish spat back.

 

[RobertN]

Hmmm....he might have stuck his nose into it, as I was mentioning he had a tendency to do. He didn't really look digested. The thing is, I don't think he was familiar with Anemones of any kind, so I don't know that he would be aware of needing to be careful around it. And I have to wonder how many of my other fish may not have that awareness too. Maybe I need to take the Anemone to a local LFS. I don't want to lose other fish and I only paid $10 for it, because it wasn't particularly colorful and I got it through an auction process. I really just wanted to try it in my tank without having to put out a lot of money initially, to see if it would do ok. I thought, if it did well, then I might consider putting out the money for a nicer-looking one.

 

[saltyhog]

I don't think there is any way any of my RFA's could kill a fish and some of them are almost 6" across. Mine at least are just not that "sticky". My wrasses steal food from them all the time with no ill effects.

 

[ncaldwell]

My Achilles tang accidentally smacks into it all the time and has never showed any stings on him. So much so the the rfa doesn't even react to a 6 inch fish accidentally diving into it anymore

 

[Docpayne82]

I have a watchman goby that’s regularly messes with a larger one I have in my tank since his den is right next to it. He’s never shown any ill effects and a number of crabs and shrimp regularly crawl on it to steal food.

 

[RobertN]

I suppose it may have just been the Wrasse's time. Again, seems odd that I didn't notice any decline in the few days prior to it dying. And it really seems odd that I should find it just a couple of inches from the Anemone.

 

[Untapped]

Well, I have a rock flower anemone and HAD a spotted dragonette - now I will admit I was having trouble fattening up the little guy - but was planning on moving my greedy clown fish pair to my 46 gal and keeping the dragonette in the nano reef tank, so he could chow down without competition....just now came home after being out n about for a couple of hours (4 hrs) n couldn't find my dragonette anywhere.

Noticed my anemone had some bulging lips like he'd been been hosting a kissing booth at a county fair... I poked him a bit and yup - there peaking from those bloated lips was the poor bleached carcass of my little spotted friend.



So yes they can catch n feed on unwary or perhaps weakened tank mates....if I could figure out how to post pix I would

 

[blaxsun]

I’ve got some really small fish and probably 8-10 RFA’s (some close to 3.5” in diameter), and I’ve yet to lose a single fish to one.