Sebae anemone help

Cappagli82 · Jan 15, 2018

We just purchased our anemone a few days ago, and I noticed some tentacles look thin and greenish. Is he dying? Should i take him out and put him in QT, or is this normal from stress, since we just got him? These are the best pictures I could get...

videosilva · Jan 15, 2018

Its so hard to say with Anemones. They are so touch and go. Could look better being just a few days in your tank.

Tahoe61 · Jan 15, 2018

Sebae Anemones are one of the harder more sensitive anemones to acclimate. If it was mine I would just make sure water chemistry including SG, Nitrates,.. are in line.
Many expert anemone keepers would probably recommend the Cipro treatment. See link below.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-i-cipro.211822/

Cappagli82 · Jan 15, 2018

That's what I thought, but my LFS said not to get the BTA and to get the sebae. He said the BTA is not easy but the sebae is and not to believe what I hear online. I'm starting to think he set me up for failure! All of my parameters are checking out fine, but I just red an article that said anemones need iodine, is this true? Should I go pick up and iodine test kit as well?

Cappagli82 · Jan 15, 2018

Okay, update.....now the anemone looks fine. All the shribbled up tenticles look normal again. Not sure if this is normal behavior for a new anemone or not. Guess all I can do I keep an eye on water parameters and a close eye on the nem.

ca1ore · Jan 15, 2018

What you were seeing was just a few deflated tentacles. Pretty much expected during the acclimation process. It's full body deflation that raises the red flag. BTW, sebae is not 'easy' necessarily, but much less difficult than the magnifica. One of the prettier heteractis anemones IMO, especially with the blue/purple tips.

Cappagli82 · Feb 3, 2018

Okay, now the nem looks like this....
He is not slimey and is hard but has shribbled up a lot. I don't want to pull him out if he is not dying. I have heard that it is "normal" for them to shribble up but he has been like this for a day now.

My question is, should I just take him out and cut my losses or leave him in there and wait to see if he fills back out?

Here is my BTA, he is doing fine.
Water Params are:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
PH 8.2
Ca 420
Mg 1280
Kh 10.6
And I'm running t5 with leds.

View attachment 20180203_134051.jpg

EmdeReef · Feb 3, 2018

Is it attached?
Hard to tell from pics what’s the situation but in general deflated+detached is a very bad sign.

I wouldn’t give up for as long as it’s attached or responsive. Have you tried feeding it and does it respond to touch?

demonspeedn · Feb 3, 2018

Are the tentacles "sticky"? If so, try feeding it a small piece of shrimp.

Cappagli82 · Feb 3, 2018

He is not attached. But not blowing around the tank either. The tentacles are a little sticky and I gave him food, but he didn't seem to want it. But if hes dying shouldnt he be soft? Hes hard.

EmdeReef · Feb 3, 2018

It doesn’t look bleached in that pic. It’s new so I’d give it a few days. Any foot damage that you noticed? Is it getting enough light? Maybe could try moving it higher up.

Unless it starts decomposing which should be pretty visible it can’t really hurt your tank. Good luck! Hope it pulls through!

Cappagli82 · Feb 3, 2018

Higher up? I thought sebaes prefer a sand bed? His foot looks fine, would it be safe to put him up in the rock?

corey01 · Feb 3, 2018

Anemones are really odd, at least in my exp. I cannot keep any BTA alive longer than a few months. no matter what I do they always shrivel away to nothing and vanish.
however I have a purple Sabea anemone ive had for something like 5 years now and hes just a beast. never gives a crap about anything in the world. its kinda funny. just goes to show what general consensus means.
but yes with the tentacles he does that sometimes. I vote for give it a few days and see what happens. as much as it could foul your water I have seen some of the life we keep make amazing comebacks.
would be a shame to pull him out if there was a chance.

Edit. mine dosent burrow into sand but he likes being lower. hes attached to a rock that's on the sandbed.

azreeftank · Feb 3, 2018

I Have several Anemones from Rose, Black Widow to Large Maginifica and a Sunburst. My Maginifca and Black Widow have one day a week they deflate and look like death and the next morning they are fine and look beautiful for a week. It has been this way for years. The magnifica is the worst at it and it’s over 16” across. I think they just like to occasionally take a good old dump and deflate. So I would not worry unless you see them inside out. Keep tank stable and it should be fine. Make sure it gets plenty of light and don’t feed for a while until it’s all acclimated.

EmdeReef · Feb 3, 2018

Cappagli82 said:
Higher up? I thought sebaes prefer a sand bed? His foot looks fine, would it be safe to put him up in the rock?

It would do fine on a rock but now that I think of it it would’ve moved if it didn’t like the light/flow...the fact it’s sticky is a good sign. I don’t really think there’s much for you to do but wait and see...they are difficult to keep but hopefully it’s just an acclimation issue.