Carpet Anemone - Sick, Stressed, or Satisfied?

[SolusCado]

Hi everyone! I just got a new (very large) carpet Anemone yesterday, and I'm having trouble determining its condition. I know the warnings about anemones with mouths wide open, or with their "guts hanging out", but I'm really not sure what that is supposed to look like. This guy seems content enough - he's twisted himself around a few times but hasn't moved from this spot. I could see part of his foot earlier today, attached to the rockwork - but this DOES look to me like guts spilling out of a mouth. Should I be worried?

For that matter, can others share photos of what these guys look like when healthy, acclimating, stressed, sick, or dying? More clear images of the various states would make it easier to know what we're looking at...

 

[SlugSnorter]

give us a picture otherwise we cannot say for sure

Tank age

Flow

Params

Lights

 

[SolusCado]

give us a picture otherwise we cannot say for sure

Tank age

Flow

Params

Lights

OP updated. My phone crashed while trying to add the photo the first time...

 

[SlugSnorter]

OP updated. My phone crashed while trying to add the photo the first time...

Tank age

Flow

Params

Lights

doesn't look to good IMO

 

[SolusCado]

The tank is fairly new. It’s only had livestock for about 2-3 months, but it’s stable. Nitrates haven been holding steady at around 10ppm (the lowest metric my test strips can register), and phosphates have been hovering above zero. I actually stopped dosing NOPOX about a month ago to increase these levels.

Salinity is a little low for my tastes, at around 31.5 ppt. I’m currently working on raising it through the ATO, as water evaporates (pumping in a saline solution).

I have a single Reefwave mounted vertically on the opposite side of the tank from the anemone. With its position and output setting, I’d say the anemone is getting “light flow”.

I just measured PAR today, and the anemone is getting about 150-200 PAR, from a total of 3 Red Sea ReefLEDs.

PH hovers in the 8.1 - 8.3 range; temp is typically 78, but sometimes drops to 77.

 

[SolusCado]

I should add that when the anemone arrived, the water in its bag was EXTREMELY cloudy, and it had already sloughed off a lot of slime and what I’m guessing is zooxanthelle (brown slimy sludge). I drip acclimated the anemone over an hour or so before emptying its bag into a large bowl, which I held at the top of my tank while I used a gloved hand to kind of lift the anemone out of the bowl and into the tank… It was partially exposed to the air for a couple seconds…

 

[JonezNReef]

If it were me I would be getting everything set up to treat it. Doesn't look too happy with its mouth gapped and protruding like that. And I'm sure many will chime in and say that you tank is probably too young to sustain an anemone.

 

[Miami Reef]

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s unlikely for it to survive without antibiotics. That’s why carpet anemones are targeted as difficult.

They are prone to bacterial infections when they are stressed, and shipping them in an enclosed bag with nothing to circulate other than bacteria-filled water makes it much worse.

 

[SlugSnorter]

The tank is fairly new. It’s only had livestock for about 2-3 months, but it’s stable. Nitrates haven been holding steady at around 10ppm (the lowest metric my test strips can register), and phosphates have been hovering above zero. I actually stopped dosing NOPOX about a month ago to increase these levels.

Salinity is a little low for my tastes, at around 31.5 ppt. I’m currently working on raising it through the ATO, as water evaporates (pumping in a saline solution).

I have a single Reefwave mounted vertically on the opposite side of the tank from the anemone. With its position and output setting, I’d say the anemone is getting “light flow”.

I just measured PAR today, and the anemone is getting about 150-200 PAR, from a total of 3 Red Sea ReefLEDs.

PH hovers in the 8.1 - 8.3 range; temp is typically 78, but sometimes drops to 77.

the air won't really harm it if it was only for a moment. Salinity at that level maybe... what is the composition of the saline solution? might be hard to keep a nem in a tank that young, params are a bit unstable, bacteria hasn't become super diverse and shipping stress are all factors. light flow is fine. Is it anchored? they can get sick if fed before they are anchored.

 

[JonezNReef]

I should add that when the anemone arrived, the water in its bag was EXTREMELY cloudy, and it had already sloughed off a lot of slime and what I’m guessing is zooxanthelle (brown slimy sludge). I drip acclimated the anemone over an hour or so before emptying its bag into a large bowl, which I held at the top of my tank while I used a gloved hand to kind of lift the anemone out of the bowl and into the tank… It was partially exposed to the air for a couple seconds…

Personally I don't acclimate my anemones as I don't want to stress them more than they already are from transporting them. I just get a hospital/ observation tank set up and adjust the tank water to the same salinity as the water in came in. Then I slowly adjust the tanks water to the same salinity as my DT over a week. Also don't worry about the anemone being exposed to air as it shouldn't cause harm since there are some that will purge the anemone of water by draining a tank an then letting the anemone push out any remaining water to get all old water out and allow the anemone to purge itself with new water

 

[SolusCado]

This is now, a couple hours after the first picture... You can see how the Anemone is still arranging itself, and now it looks like much more of its "guts" is pulled back inside (though still sticking out)...

 

[SlugSnorter]

Personally I don't acclimate my anemones as I don't want to stress them more than they already are from transporting them. I just get a hospital/ observation tank set up and adjust the tank water to the same salinity as the water in came in. Then I slowly adjust the tanks water to the same salinity as my DT over a week. Also don't worry about the anemone being exposed to air as it shouldn't cause harm since there are some that will purge the anemone of water by draining a tank an then letting the anemone push out any remaining water to get all old water out and allow the anemone to purge itself with new water

thats still acclimation, just done better over a week lol

 

[SolusCado]

If it were me I would be getting everything set up to treat it. Doesn't look too happy with its mouth gapped and protruding like that. And I'm sure many will chime in and say that you tank is probably too young to sustain an anemone.

Yeah, I know that the recommendation is to wait a year, but this was a special find that I couldn't pass up... :/

 

[SolusCado]

the air won't really harm it if it was only for a moment. Salinity at that level maybe... what is the composition of the saline solution? might be hard to keep a nem in a tank that young, params are a bit unstable, bacteria hasn't become super diverse and shipping stress are all factors. light flow is fine. Is it anchored? they can get sick if fed before they are anchored.

Good to know; I won't try feeding it yet. But it does appear to be anchored. I say part of its for earlier today stuck to some rock. And it hasn't tried moving around to a new position, so I think it likes it's location (light, flow, etc.).

 

[SolusCado]

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s unlikely for it to survive without antibiotics. That’s why carpet anemones are targeted as difficult.

They are prone to bacterial infections when they are stressed, and shipping them in an enclosed bag with nothing to circulate other than bacteria-filled water makes it much worse.

:/ Can it be treated in the display tank, or do I need to move it to quarantine?

 

[SlugSnorter]

:/ Can it be treated in the display tank, or do I need to move it to quarantine?

not really a good way of treating it beyond good params. If its safe for a nem its reef safe lol

 

[SolusCado]

:/ Can it be treated in the display tank, or do I need to move it to quarantine?

Scratch that. Dumb question.

 

[dvgyfresh]

:/ Can it be treated in the display tank, or do I need to move it to quarantine?

I’ve done DT cipro treatment for anemones , had no issues and saved nems

 

[Miami Reef]

Cipro (the antibiotic of choice) is being used in reef tanks to treat another condition in LPS corals (Brown Jelly Disease).

I do not know the doses required for display vs hospital tank. Somebody will need to come on for that advice.

Until then, can you source Cipro?

 

[Jekyl]

Let's get some of the nem experts in here to assist. For treatment a separate tank would be best. Allows for complete water changes. 10g tank with I believe a 500mg dose of cipro daily? Carpet nems are very finicky and require a mature tank and strict parameters. A new tank will not accommodate that.

@Eagle_Steve @Lost in the Sauce @OrionN @F i s h y