The bleached BTA

Jason Briggs · Aug 10, 2015

so I (probably against better judgement) moved the BTA that wasn't looking so good. All is fine with him attaching, but I have a few observances that I have questions about.. It's wierd. It almost seems like it doesn't like the light. When I turn the light on in the AM, the anemone closes up, but in the evening when I ramp down and turn it off, it seems to open more. Now he's seems to slide under the branch of rock that he attached to last night like putting his rear to the light. Does anyone have any information that might be helpful as to why this is? He's eating just fine and seems perky otherwise. The clowns like to keep it company (sort of) but other than that being new, I have no ideas what's going on or if this is even abnormal behavior.

Jason Briggs · Aug 10, 2015

I resized the images, I didn't realize they were that big.

Trex · Aug 10, 2015

What lights do you have?
What size tank?

Did you/are you acclimating the anemone to your lights?

How long have you had the anemone?
Current water parameters? (( with numbers please ))

It is bleached, and starting to consume itself for energy -- the short/missing tentacles.

Have you tried feeding it at all? Nothing larger than some Mysis.

Jason Briggs · Aug 11, 2015

Trex said:
What lights do you have?
What size tank?

40G BR with a 40G BR sump and 2 Fluval Marine Reef LED Strips (27W ea)

Did you/are you acclimating the anemone to your lights?

I guess I'm not sure about this topic. My lighting is nearly the same as the lps where I purchased the anemone. I do 30 minutes of sunrise and sunset each morning and evening. Is that the information you were looking for?

How long have you had the anemone?

About a month now.

Current water parameters? (( with numbers please ))

76-78 Degrees
Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates - 0 ppm
Phosphates - .05 ppm

It is bleached, and starting to consume itself for energy -- the short/missing tentacles.

Will tentacles grow back?

Have you tried feeding it at all? Nothing larger than some Mysis.

Yes, very small pieces of Silversides. It's been eating every 2-3 days just fine. It's just now it's upside down attached to a rock, and it hasn't really seemed to want to be open to the light very much.

Aussie paul · Aug 11, 2015

My nems are the same hate the light and love being upside down. Some are just like that as long as they are healthy I let them be they eventually venture out and find comfy spots that there happy with

Blue Lip · Aug 11, 2015

Dose iodine!

Jason Briggs · Aug 13, 2015

Blue Lip said:
Dose iodine!

should I quarantine him for the iodine dosing? Will it harm the clowns or other anemones?

Blue Lip · Aug 13, 2015

No. Get some lugols iodine & add 1 drop every other day. Your anemone has expelled its zooanthellae. One function of zooanthellae is to produce oxygen. It can produce toxic levels of oxygen within the tissue of the host so the host expelled the zooanthellae. Zooanthellae gives its host color & when it is expelled, the host looks bleached. Iodine helps the host expel excess oxygen. Feed raw shrimp, it also contains iodine.

Trex · Aug 13, 2015

Personally, I would skip dosing iodine. Easy to overdose and the test kits for it aren't very accurate.

Water changes with any halfway decent salt will provide enough iodine/iodide.

Over the last 20 years I have brought back several bleached anemones, never dosed any form of iodine.

Most likely your anemone expelled the Zoox in an attempt to find a clad that was better suited for the conditions it was under, not because of excess O2.

Jason Briggs · Aug 13, 2015

Good to know, I just picked up some iodino... (iodine supplement concentrate) which is actually says to make sure not to overdose and test ahead of time.. which the lfs didn't have any iodine test kits.. sooo... I'll likely wait on that. it's getting perkier and seems to have more tentacles everyday and even has a greenish tint coming back to them as compared to the mouth area.. so I'm in hopes that it's improving. Also the fact that he keeps eating is a good sign.

Jason Briggs · Sep 4, 2015

UPDATE:

It's nearly been a month, and so far with every other day feeding and TLC, I think there's some progress. More tentacles for sure, and more length to them. The color is still not the best, BUT there's a hint of green starting to show through. This is more evident while not in middle of the day brightness. Any thoughts? Does everyone agree that he's making progress?

Blue Lip · Sep 18, 2015

I think you need to dose iodine!

Blue Lip · Sep 18, 2015

Iodine test kits are awful. Dont waste your money on them. Iodine can be organic or inorganic. It also breaks down into other forms, iodide, iodate. Test kits dont read all forms so dont bother with them. It is true that you dont want to overdose. You also should not skip dosing it. I like lugols. It is concentrated & only takes a few drops. I add 2 drops to a 75 every 3 to 5 days. You will see your bleached anemone get colorful a lot sooner if you start to dose iodine. Just start out slow. Add 1/2 what the directions say & over weeks move up the dose until you are at full dose.