Help Please! Anemone stuck in overflow

[LVE]

I woke up this morning and found my green bta stuck in the overflow grates of my solana. I tried to see if I could pull him out, but he seems wrapped around the grates completely and won't budge. What should I do? Is there a way to get it out without damaging it? Should I just leave it there and hope it works it's way out? I've included some pics, but be warned, they aren't for the faint of heart.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I would turn off all flow and wait for the nem to release itself. Once it releases, I would devise a way to cover the overflow to avoid it happening again.

 

[LVE]

Thank you so much for the quick response. I have turned off all powerheads and the return pump. So apparently it's a waiting game at this point huh? I just got it last night and was planning to go buy some sort of mesh to make a overflow cover today, go figure it would decide to get stuck so quick.

 

[rworegon]

Nems are finiky creatures. They will usually wander till they fins where THEY want to be instead of where we want them to be. I've never seen one stuck quite like that before. They will usually keep moving tille they are happy. Hopefully it will free itself. Good lick.

 

[LVE]

Thanks rworegon, I'm trying to stay hopeful that it will pull through some how. Hopefully sooner rather than later, I'm starting to freak out about the rest of the fish since there is no flow in the tank at all while I wait for the nem to move itself.

 

[rworegon]

I can usually get a nem to move by directing a powerhead directly at it, especially if the flow is directed at the foot. Thats how I've got them off rocks when its time to sell or trade them. It would be hard to do that in this case though. You might try to turn off your return pump and plug your downpipe, fill the overflow with water and get the flow in the display going again. At least there will be flow in the display and the nem won't dry out. Let us know how this turns out.

 

[Liquid360]

This exact same thing happened at my LFS to a bubble tip. They did as you've been advised. Turn all off. It slowly backed its way out and split but survived. Good luck!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coralreefing]

It should be ok to turn your power heads back on. You just don't want the return pump on, sucking the nem into the overflow. I agree with rworegon, it would also help if you can plug the drain and let the overflow fill with water so the nem stays wet and has some support in the overflow. Otherwise it's working against gravity to pull itself out.