HELP!!!!!!! The anemone was on the move tonight. I watched it closely...it moved around a bit then settled in one location for about an hour. I went upstairs. About an hour later I went downstairs and the anemone had been sucked into the powerhead on the opposite side of the tank!!!!! The tank is a bit cloudy. I turned the powerhead off. I just noticed this a few minutes ago. What should I do?!?!?!?!? This is tragic. I'm going to look at it better to see what the damage is. I came straight up here and posted this. Thanks, Darren
Ya know, I kept thinking this was bound to happen. I was watching it SO closely. It litterally moved from one side of the tank to the other in less than an hour. Amazing.
I made an executive descision. I removed the anemone, including the grill of the powerhead, and placed it in a pail of tankwater. I did the transfer without removing the anemone from the water...I scooped the anemone and powerhead grill into a small pail/container. I started a drip acclimator with a very slow drip going into the container from my newly setup but not yet connected 26 gallon refugium. The refugium has nothing but a hernit crab, 7" of substrate, and about 15lbs of cured live rock. It's got 96W of T5 lighting, so that won't be an issue. It's been running for about a week, but the rock was cured for 3 weeks prior. It doesn't have a skimmer, because I was planning on it being connected to my display tank sump by the end of the week and it becoming part of the larger system. I have some macro algae due in by next wednesday, I think. I hope the little guy makes it.
I think this has happened to most of us in the hobby. One of the hazards of having in tank circulation devices. You did the right thing not trying to remove him from the screen. Sometimes they will move out if the damage is not too great. Sounds like you caught it fairly quickly, so you may be in luck. These guys are usually pretty resilient and can heal from quite a bit of damage. Good luck and keep us posted on his recovery.
I have had this happen more then once in the past and I always just turned the PH off and laid him on the bottom and eventually he well move off the screen. Once you shut the PH off you can leave him in the tank, he won't hurt anything and like Norman says he well most likely be healed shortly, they don't put out toxins like some leathers. If you want to leave him in the regug make sure to check the ammon. and nitrite levels constantly, I would put him back in the DT. You need to find a sheltered spot from the flow for him or he won't be happy and well keep looking for one himself. I don't have one because of them always being on the move in a high flow SPS tank.
Well, I ended up putting him in the refugium. I started the drip acclimation then fell asleep in my recliner. I woke up around 4am and he was looking pretty good in the pail, so I transfered him to the tank and made sure he found his way to some rock. I watched him for a bit and he seemed like he grabbed the rock and hung onto it. We'll see how he does. EDIT: I did all of this last night/early this morning before I saw your response, John. Thanks for the advice guys. I'll check the ammonia and nitrite closely. At this point, I don't think I'll transfer him back to the display until he recovers for a bit. He got pretty chewed up. His foot looked good, but the rest of him took it pretty hard. I cycled the 15lbs of rock that's in the fuge for the last 3-4 weeks in a 50 gallon tub with a heater and a couple of powerheads. I watched the nitrogen cycle take place over the first 2-3 weeks. I'm hoping that since the anemone is the only thing in the fuge except for one hermit crab, I won't have a problem with ammonia or nitrite. I know invertibrates are really sensitive to water quality. The fuge is small enough that I can easily do large, frequent water changes, if necessary. My original thought was to remove it from the DT and take it to the LFS, but that was before it got into the powerhead.
I have a small, low power, power filter in the refug right now. When I got home the anemone was sucked into it. I just can't win. Probably should have just put an airstone in the tank until it recovered. May do that when I get home. This morning it was almost free from the intake screen, but not quite. Not sure if it will make it or not. Ammonia and Nitrite are zero.
Reefer It won't hurt a thing to put him in the DT, it well be better for him, just keep him out of the PH. They are like a mushroom in that they are pretty hard tp kill as long as their mouth is still pretty much intact. Water quality is a concern and if it was mine I would have him in the DT.
I hear ya, John. If I was planning on keeping this anemone, I would take your advise without question. But I had wanted him out of the DT anyway as he was crusing around and agitating corals, which is why anemones aren't really the best idea for a reef tank to begin with, I suppose. Sam was telling me how they would sting and actually kill corals, and I watched this one bother several leathers and a monti cap, making them close up while it was tooling around. Now, maybe no real damage was done, I don't know for sure, but it did concern me a bit. If I put him back in the display tank, I'll be right back with the same problem...an extra anemone attached to a piece of rock I can't or don't want to remove. I'm also concered about keeping it out of the powerheads. If the darn thing can't stay out of a cheap, low flow powerfilter intake, I don't see how I'll keep him out of 2 maxijet mod'ed powerheads. I'm afraid it'll just be a matter of time before it tries to make sweet love to my powerhead again. I guess it's just a "pick your poison" sort of deal. How quickly do anemones heal? Is this a 6 month type of thing or does it just depend on the extent of damage? Anything I can do to help it along? Offer it food when it looks ready, etc?
It may take a while depending on his wounds, but they are pretty fast healers. It sounds like you have quite a bit of flow going on. If you want to keep one you kinda need to plan an cove for them to where they are out of a lot of current. Some people use one of them red clay flower pots on its side and put them in it out of the flow. I do understand where you are coming from as I don't have any either as they do like to move and can also find a spot they like and wedge themselves in the reef and cause the rock work to topple over. Just try to save him and get him healed and maybe someone well want him or one of the LFS may trade you something for him. Good luck.
If you want to keep him till he heals, I would suggest going to a pet store and getting one of those clear hamster balls. Put a couple small rocks to hold it down and place it on the bottom in a pretty good flow area(cause the slits in the ball are small and you need some flow through it). I have one in my tank now awaiting a new home.
