I am such an idiot. Anemone disaster.

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Yesterday I purchased a beatiful big and healthy rainbow BTA. Got it in the tank and it was looking great. Right before bed it started walking so I stayed up a while to make sure it was safe. It seemed to settle for a while so I called it a night.... but I totally forgot to turn my power heads off. So yes, you guessed it, my beautiful big rainbow BTA got sucked up into my the only power head that stays on 24/7 (behind the rocks to clear detritus). Woke up to a cloudy tank and the nem basically destroyed into the power head. I tried to remove him but he’s really tangled in there so right now I have the power head off just sittin gin the tank with the return pump running and that’s it. I’m reheating aged water I have on hand for a ~25% water change and prepping for another.

Is there anything else I can do at this point? I’m scared to move the nem into a QT tank because it is acclimated to my main tank’s water and in such a fragile state I’m worried it won’t make the transition.

The foot is still completely in tact and I can see some of its tentacles kind of wrapped around the enclosure for the power head so I think I have a chance here at saving it.

Fish are unaffected and the corals seem ok, but the light hasn’t come on yet.

I have the skimmer running wet and will change out for fresh carbon now.

Feel free to call me an idiot.

 

[davocean]

Many people have gone through this, call it a learning experience.

I have seen horribly chewed up BTA's survive such a deal, yours can too, but I would probably qt and isolate for now, don't worry about acclimation, nems are not as fragile as you may think.

WC's as you are doing, carbon.

 

[Gonebad395]

Wow chance are he’s a goner but get him out of that tank ASAP. If it’s tangled up in there it’s over I would think you don’t need it to start rotting in your tank. I’ve seen some come back but all tangled up idk

 

[reef lover]

Place him in his own tank and let him untangle himself. If u try youll just injure him further...and yea wc asap and lots of carbon...gl

 

[vetteguy53081]

Place it in a container with tank water and let it untangle itself. If it can free itself up- it has half a chance. I suggest also either a foam or screen wrap around the powerhead intake to prevent this in the future. vinyl screen can be secured with mini zip ties

 

[jzw]

;Cat

https://www.google.com/search?q=ebay+anenome+gurad&oq=ebay+anenome+guard

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Thanks everyone. I’m working on getting something together to isolate him now.

Here’s a picture :/

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

I think the easiest way to isolate will be to put him in a bucket with a heater. I don’t have enough SW to get a QT running right now if I want to do a decently sized WC which I feel is more important so I will set up the bucket with tank water and a heater and monitor closely... should I be worried about oxygenation? I can stir the water every while if necessary.

I’ve done so much research into this hobby but still managed to do something pretty stupid. I feel awful but I’m also glad for my research is I was able to spring into action this morning, and be prepared enough in advance for a decent water change.

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Tank water is almost completely cleared up. Thankful to have a manifold and reactors.

I loosened the power head and got a side view... not looking as good as I had thought. Looks like his foot is in tact but the disk itself is entangled and torn, which as I understand, greatly reduces chance of survival. I was originally thinking the the tentacles were torn.

I’m purchasing a new QT tank as my existing one had to be moved to the garage temporarily and is too large for me to move back in myself...sigh. It’s my fault I made this mess though and my responsibility to fix it.

 

[davocean]

While I understand feeling bad about it, don't beat yourself up over it.

Yes, it looks terrible at this time, but I've seen worse survive, most likely a split occurs when this happens, maybe something of it will survive.

I would do same as you did, protect tank first, isolate nem however, and it will probably be fine as is in bucket w/ heater(blocked off from touching) and try to get some flow when you can, but it could be ok for a day to get something together to give it a chance to heal

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Working on a solution now. Pet smart had a sale and I got lucky and got a tank and stand and am using old heaters etc. even found an old ATO. Perhaps this will become the nem tank in the future (trying to find some silver lining here lol).

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

New tank is 50/50 new and old water. Running a hang on filter with 50/50 old and new floss and some carbon. Temp matches display tank but the kh is about 1.5 higher so drop acclimating the nem now. Reallly hoping I can save the little guy.

 

[Captain Quint]

While I understand feeling bad about it, don't beat yourself up over it.

Yes, it looks terrible at this time, but I've seen worse survive, most likely a split occurs when this happens, maybe something of it will survive.

I would do same as you did, protect tank first, isolate nem however, and it will probably be fine as is in bucket w/ heater(blocked off from touching) and try to get some flow when you can, but it could be ok for a day to get something together to give it a chance to heal

+1 with davocean

AND... you're not stupid.

Most if not all of us have been there.

You were decisive and acted quickly. Not all can say that.

I'm sorry this happened to you and the anemone.

Please keep us updated and fingers crossed for you.

 

[davocean]

Agree, while most don't like to admit it, most long term nem keepers have dealt w/ this at some level at some point.
Even well thought out plans and safetys don't eliminate potential for this type of circumstance 100%
Don't ask how I know this...

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

Thanks for the help and encouragement guys. I just added him to the new tank. I have to say it looks really lifeless... no reaction to being in new water, just totally drooped hanging off the power head. I feel like if it had a chance at survival it would still look more...alive....

 

[davocean]

Never say die, until you see it mush, it still has a fair chance

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

The tentacles have inflated! I’m just going to keep it hanging there off the power head until it splits/frees itself/dies, hoping that gravity will help it out. I’ll probably do small w/c every other day to keep the tank stable. I’m already researching and planning to turn this tank into an anemone tank. I think there’s just way too much flow in my big tank for a BTA anyways. My green BTA in the big tank is pretty unhappy after all this nonsense so it will hopefully have a better place to go in the future too. I’m cycling old rock in the sump now but still need to figure out how I will cycle the tang (with bacteria in a bottle but still).

Anyways, just wanted to update that there’s a sign of hope.

 

[reef lover]

Yay!!!

 

[i_declare_bankruptcy]

A new challenge. The nem has almost freed itself. It looks like either the foot or a string of guts is still stuck on th piwehead and maybe twisted around a bunch? Should I keep letting it hang there? Poor thing looks pretty bad now that the chewed up side is out of the power head

 

[davocean]

Wow it really got wound up.
You could try to help free it up or let it go on it's own.