Sebae Anemone help, is it dying/dead?

firstsalttank91011 · Dec 30, 2021

Hello All,

We have been struggling with a sebae anemone for a little while and concerned (based on research) that the anemone is basically dead and want to prevent any poisoning to our system.

In short, my question is, is this sebae dead or going to die and should we get it out of the tank now?

Currently the anemone is under a rock we moved looking for it to ensure it hasn't already starting falling apart and poisoning our tank.

Tank is 6 months old, we've had the anemone for 2 months. All parameters look in check and have been dosing and testing for iodine based on guidance from our LFS.

As always appreciate everyone's advice and quick replies.

Thank you!

Andresnyc93 · Dec 30, 2021

Need some more info… do you test your cal-alk and mag? Also what type of lighting do you use

DeniseAndy · Dec 30, 2021

Can you isolate the nem and undergo a treatment of cipro? This might enable you to save the nem, but also not risk any issues to your display.

firstsalttank91011 · Dec 30, 2021

@Andresnyc93
Tank 120 gallons. Lighting 2 - AI Hydra 32HD (blues set at around 67-72% based on BulkReef guidance).
Parameters As of 12/28/2021 (last 10% water change, 12/24)
Calcium - 450
Alk - 7.9
mag - 1395
Ph - 8.6
Temp - 79
Salinity - 1.023

@DeniseAndy - I do have a QT tank but currently running really high nitrates and don't have "reef" lighting for it. Would you still recommend I put the anemone in there (after I get the nitrates down of course)

Andresnyc93 · Dec 30, 2021

your parameters looks fine, was the nem white-ish when you got it? Looks like it bleached.

DeniseAndy · Dec 30, 2021

I have treated carpets in just a 5gallon tub for days with minimal light (eventually using a PAR38 bulb to do the light cycle of the treatment). Should work if you have a tank that is cycled. Can you do huge water change to get nitrates down? Otherwise, just use a large bucket to begin with. Do you have cipro? The thread here is great for treating them:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/protocol-for-using-antibiotics-to-treat-infected-anemones.758495/

firstsalttank91011 · Dec 30, 2021

@DeniseAndy - Thank you for the quick reply and I will look to follow the link and suggestions you have made.
@Andresnyc93 - Yes, the anemone was basically all white (bleached) when we got it. Pictures below on the day we got it and then 2 weeks later.
October 31

November 13

Andresnyc93 · Dec 30, 2021

firstsalttank91011 said:
@DeniseAndy - Thank you for the quick reply and I will look to follow the link and suggestions you have made.
@Andresnyc93 - Yes, the anemone was basically all white (bleached) when we got it. Pictures below on the day we got it and then 2 weeks later.
October 31

November 13

Agreed with taking the nem out, when they bleach is hard to bring them back to life since they’ve lost their zooxanthellae so there’s no photosynthesis happening.

firstsalttank91011 · Dec 30, 2021

@Andresnyc93 - Makes sense of what's currently happening since it moves under rocks and appears to want to stay out of light. What doesn't make sense is why the LFS would keep them this way and why in their tanks they continue to look awesome (as I go to my LFS about every other week) though there's no real way of me knowing if I'm looking at the same ones each time.
@DeniseAndy - Is there any Cipro you recommend? When I look up online i mostly only find information around UTIs.

Andresnyc93 · Dec 30, 2021

firstsalttank91011 said:
@Andresnyc93 - Makes sense of what's currently happening since it moves under rocks and appears to want to stay out of light. What doesn't make sense is why the LFS would keep them this way and why in their tanks they continue to look awesome (as I go to my LFS about every other week) though there's no real way of me knowing if I'm looking at the same ones each time.
@DeniseAndy - Is there any Cipro you recommend? When I look up online i mostly only find information around UTIs.

Your LFS at the end of the day doesn’t want to end up losing money so they’ll sell you anything they have in stock.
a bleached anemone is not the end of them but it does take lots of work to bring coloration back

DeniseAndy · Dec 30, 2021

Cipro is a human antibiotic, but works great for the nems. Try this one (or similar):
https://fishmoxfishflex.com/collections/ciprofloxacin-fish-flox-fish-antibiotic

Jdadams · Dec 30, 2021

Have you been feeding it at all?

GoReefin · Dec 30, 2021

Andresnyc93 said:
Your LFS at the end of the day doesn’t want to end up losing money so they’ll sell you anything they have in stock.
a bleached anemone is not the end of them but it does take lots of work to bring coloration back

Correct hard to do but not impossible. Possible to do a zooxanthellae transplant I've heard good results.
Keep the tank stable. Do you have any other anemones in the tank? Have heard you use a tentacle from a different anemone of the same species and feed it to the sick anemone. I have never attempted this.

I had a bunch of bleached BTAs and kept parameters stable they all regained color after a few months. Although they were not nearly as bleached as yours.

First picture very bleached not looking good at all.

Second picture has some color back took several months.

Here they are now.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 30, 2021

Salinity a little low- Increase to 1.024-1.025. Mag a little high - 1300 ideal range
Moderate water flow and Medium lightings. Increase blues to 80-85% and white to 18-20%

These nems must have adequate light to produce zooxanthellae which produces energy for its cells and colors. These also appreciate an occasional feeding of brine or mysis shrimp

Dolphin2409 · Dec 30, 2021

Have you tried feeding it to see if you get a response?

firstsalttank91011 · Dec 31, 2021

Hello All!
Thank you all so very much for your responses. I was able to get cipro from my LFS and am in the process of setting up a spot to put the anemone in and add the cipro.

We do feed it a few different things (2-3x per week). We feed our tank mysis shrimp and flake food. We also spot feed the anemone silver sides and phyto feast. Our last feeding yesterday nothing appeared to "stick". We're holding off feeding again for a few days.

We've tried to keep our salinity to match our LFS (which keeps it around 1.022-1.023). We are currently raising it slowly by replacing some of the evaporated water with salt water.

We do not have any other anemones in the tank to try the transplant but sounds very interesting.

Will try and keep updated with any success or failures we encounter.

Thank you all again!