Magnifica Anemone Slowly Dying

[kapnkush608]

Ebay

I called all the vets in my area (Northern California) and none will give me antibiotics of any kind. One who specializes in aquatic creatures even said that using cipro would be "irresponsible" because it is too harsh and leads to poor outcomes for anemones. Any thoughts on that or other ways to get cipro?

 

[MikeyA]

I think that aquatic vet is being cautious and rightfully so, but there is a lot of evidence on this forum that states that if cipro is used appropriately it can be very beneficial to the nem.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Follow this. It’s the best thing you can do to try and save besides having someone else care for it.

How I Cipro

Many of you have probably already seen this before as it's part of a sticky on another forum, but I'm moving the information over to this site as this is where I spend most of my time and want to link this in my Sig. Amoo's Sick Nem Treatment Protocol: Let me start by saying most of my research...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[tehmadreefer]

I called all the vets in my area (Northern California) and none will give me antibiotics of any kind. One who specializes in aquatic creatures even said that using cipro would be "irresponsible" because it is too harsh and leads to poor outcomes for anemones. Any thoughts on that or other ways to get cipro?

fish flox from Walmart

 

[D-Nak]

Looks like @gig 'em provided a great assessment. A few additional comments:

I want to be very clear that Cipro is not a cure-all. It's great when used to treat a newly imported anemone that has a bacterial infection, but I don't think this is the case, especially since you've had it for almost a month and it hasn't exhibited the typically deflate-inflate cycle of a sick anemone.

Even if you were to treat your mag successfully outside of the DT, assuming you add it back to the DT after a week, or even two weeks, it may go back to looking and behaving as it currently does, primarily because I think it's not happy due to the fact that your tank is not stabilized (I'm not going to belabor the point). Do you have any coralline growing in your tank? For me it's one of the indicators that a tank could be ready for an anemone.

I've seen magnifica go through a process where their tentacles deflate in patches around the mouth, in a defined pattern where the deflation essentially circles the mouth. This process needs to stop, or the magnifica's health will continue to decline.

I am currently rehabbing a magnifica, and getting it back to a point where it's eating well and growing has taken several months. Here's a photo:

When I first received it, it looked a lot like yours--bleached with intermittent deflation. I treated it with Cipro, and kept it in a QT tank for a few weeks. It's now in a DT and eats well, but still hasn't gotten bigger.

I'm in the Bay Area. I'll PM you a few additional options.

 

[EngineerRock]

Thank you so much! Getting it this quickly was a mistake. I really want to save though because it is such an incredible creature. If that means hospital tank or rehoming or something else I am open to all suggestions.

 

[gig 'em]

Looks like @gig 'em provided a great assessment. A few additional comments:

I want to be very clear that Cipro is not a cure-all. It's great when used to treat a newly imported anemone that has a bacterial infection, but I don't think this is the case, especially since you've had it for almost a month and it hasn't exhibited the typically deflate-inflate cycle of a sick anemone.

Even if you were to treat your mag successfully outside of the DT, assuming you add it back to the DT after a week, or even two weeks, it may go back to looking and behaving as it currently does, primarily because I think it's not happy due to the fact that your tank is not stabilized (I'm not going to belabor the point). Do you have any coralline growing in your tank? For me it's one of the indicators that a tank could be ready for an anemone.

I've seen magnifica go through a process where their tentacles deflate in patches around the mouth, in a defined pattern where the deflation essentially circles the mouth. This process needs to stop, or the magnifica's health will continue to decline.

I am currently rehabbing a magnifica, and getting it back to a point where it's eating well and growing has taken several months. Here's a photo:

When I first received it, it looked a lot like yours--bleached with intermittent deflation. I treated it with Cipro, and kept it in a QT tank for a few weeks. It's now in a DT and eats well, but still hasn't gotten bigger.

I'm in the Bay Area. I'll PM you a few additional options.

That looks like a stunning magnifica you have there @D-Nak! I hope the best for you and getting it back to health. I've been looking for a mag with that coloration and purple tips for years. Fingers crossed

 

[D-Nak]

That looks like a stunning magnifica you have there @D-Nak! I hope the best for you and getting it back to health. I've been looking for a mag with that coloration and purple tips for years. Fingers crossed

It's been a long journey to get it to this point. It's small too, only about 3" (for reference the PVC pipe it's attached to is 3" diameter). If it gets bigger and eventually splits, I'll ship the clone to you.

 

[D-Nak]

UPDATE: EngineerRock dropped off the magnifica last night and I placed it in a QT tank. Unfortunately, it’s in bad shape:

I administered Cipro but since the anemone is deflated I’m worried that it won’t ingest the medication. Hopefully at lights on it’ll expand.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I hope you can get it back to healthy. Good call by OP to give it up. Happy Reefing.

 

[EngineerRock]

UPDATE: EngineerRock dropped off the magnifica last night and I placed it in a QT tank. Unfortunately, it’s in bad shape:

I administered Cipro but since the anemone is deflated I’m worried that it won’t ingest the medication. Hopefully at lights on it’ll expand.

Thank you so much for the help.

 

[D-Nak]

Thank you so much for the help.

Happy to assist!

Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to return a healthy anemone back to you, and your tank will be ready to house it.

 

[Hydrored]

Thank you so much for the help.

Thank you for doing the right thing and getting some help.

@D-Nak It's awesome for you helping out

 

[MikeyA]

That's great to hear. I hope it recovers cause it looks to be a gorgeous coloration.

That's what I love about this hobby and it's community. People are willing to help others and cudos to you @EngineerRock for doing what you can and have to to help this animal recover.

 

[gig 'em]

Good move @EngineerRock, I know it’s hard to pass along a beautiful animal that you’re excited about, but you did the most ethical thing. Best of luck @D-Nak!

 

[bknope]

You all have made my night.

This is my favorite anemone! Good luck to you both. I’ll be following along

 

[D-Nak]

End of day 1.

I periodically removed some waste that the nem expelled throughout the day:

It began inflating towards the end of the day. Here’s how it looks now:

It's looking a lot better. I'll do a water change and add another dose of Cipro before lights out.

If it expands tomorrow, I'll increase the current in the QT tank. This will make it easier to the nem to expel any additional waste on its own (and I'll collect it as I see it using a turket baster). Note that what's coming out is not dead zoox (it's not a dark color, nor is it solidified), so I don't think it has an infection. Adding Cipro typically doesn't make things worse, so I may continue the regimen a for few more days.

 

[MikeyA]

That's a promising sign. @D-Nak Thank you for the update!

This thread is going to drive me to add another one to the tank lol.

 

[D-Nak]

That's a promising sign. @D-Nak Thank you for the update!

This thread is going to drive me to add another one to the tank lol.

I completely understand -- it's addictive. Just make sure to fully QT your new one to make sure that you don't spread any ailments to your healthy magnifica.

For me, the challenge is to get them fully acclimated and then I give or sell them to other hobbyists in the area. I've re-homed about 10 so far. I have one in my DT that I plan to keep.

 

[ca1ore]

Quite remarkable how even a mag that looks like hammered dog &$*$ can recover under the right circumstances. Once you get them past the initial acclimation (not an easy task) they are quite hardy and will get HUGE. I have literally never intentionally fed mine ....