Do I need to pull this Nem?

[Reefer M4dness]

Last night our BTA was shriveled up and I could not see a mouth. Today After work it has not changed. Is he Toast?

Our tank has been set up for about 14 months and he has been alive and well since spring. About 2 weeks ago he left his rock and went up on the glass and his foot was nicked by the Mag Scraper. A few days later we did a massive tank cleaning and rearranged the entire aquascape, he was not happy about it, but he eventually settled back onto his original rock. It seemed a bit stressed because it would come out fully and than retract more frequently than normal but its color remained vibrant.

I tested my tank levels and they are all normal with the exception of a small nitrate increase (Currently at about 5 ppm.

Do i need to get this thing out of my tank before he does damage to the rest of the inhabitants?

Edit: I have pulled the rock and placed it into a bucket filled with tank water in the meantime. If there is still any hope left I can quickly set up a small tank and throw an old T5 setup over it, but if he is already gone than I will not bother.

 

[jayjigga]

How big is the system? Sometimes that big a change (new tank) will completely destroy any hope of survival. The color on the tips looks nice still, so if it were me, I would definitely take a chance and leave it in, but I also have a system that can handle a nem of decent size to melt and not notice the load.

 

[Tahoe61]

Yes, that looks like decay.

 

[Reefer M4dness]

The nem is currently about the size of a nickle and the system is a 60g Display with an additional 20g in the sump.

 

[jayjigga]

The nem is currently about the size of a nickle and the system is a 60g Display with an additional 20g in the sump.

Regardless what I say, if @Tahoe61 says pull it, pull it. For a nickle-sized nem, I wouldn't even flinch. I've made nem soup (what happens with a gyre + Labor Day weekend away) out of an RBTA the size of a medium dinner plate, and everyone said "Meh, he was a nice color, but not long for this tank". Again, only risk that if you have the filtration to handle it.

 

[Reefer M4dness]

While I hate the idea of giving up on it, I am going to exercise caution and keep him out of my display.

 

[Tahoe61]

What I see when I look at the image is the presence of mesenterial filaments, the internal structures that are basically muscular, they provide structure.

Not my image or illustration.



Decay begins and bacterial infection destroy the tissue allowing for internal structures to protrude.

If it were my anemone I would remove it without a second thought.

 

[Amoo]

Agree 100% with Tahoe, Keep it out of display, if you want to take a shot at Cipro treatment that would be your best best at this point, but it's chances aren't very good.

 

[Reefer M4dness]

Thanks for the speedy feedback everyone. With a tank upgrade looming I thing we are going to hold off on replacing this critter for a couple months.

For future reference, does the size of the animal have any bearing on its survivability or heartiness?

 

[Tahoe61]

If you have large clowns that you intend or hope will reside in the anemone, get a larger anemone.

If water chemistry, lighting and filtration are appropriate the size does not really matter. Keep in mind though passionate larger clowns will stress a smaller anemone.

 

[20LogR]

When BTA decline in size to something that small it's really hard to turn them around IMO. They can’t seem to get enough light or food to turn it around and rebound. I had a new BTA split into thirds when I received it. The two smaller ones were about an inch after they healed. Took a really long time but they kept getting smaller and smaller until one day they are gone.