Carpet Anemone

[RNall]

How many "Is my Anemone dying?" threads have you read?

Well, I picked up a healthy looking carpet anemone last night and it looks like it's turning inside out now. I want to be very careful as I do not want it to nuke anything.

I have kept BT's and LT's in the past without any problems. My tank (215 gallon) has great water quality and lighting, I don't know what it could be. I was very careful introducing him last night and now he looks horrible. He really perked up when i put him in last night and seemed to appreciate his new surroundings...

Any ideas on something I could try or is it a lost cause?

Thanks,

[cpreefguy]

if he is desintegrating, toss it out
Anemones have always dumbfounded me. Ive had maybe 5, everytime they look great for a week-a month, then they just die. Thats when I decided that theyre best left in the ocean...

[RNall]

Maybe I've just been lucky because I have heard a lot of people say the same thing as you....

[RNall]

I'm sure it's a better idea to leave him be for now. I was just wondering if I could give him anyting, move him to a lower/higher lit area or lower/higher flow area to help.

I'm obviously grasping at straws...

[cpreefguy]

Id just leave it and see what happens.

[JimD]

Give it more time, if its not obviously melting and theres no signs of white "spaghetti" coils at its mouth, it may be ok. Sometimes these things can appear quite gross only to look perfectly normal in a day or two.

[caferacermike]

It probably just inverted itself. I've had them do that when I put them in only to sort out 24 hours later. I have a few mushrooms thta do that about once a month. They will invert themselves, look like they puke out their insides, white spaghetti everywhere. The next day they look bigger and healthier than ever. Them things are weird. Probably one of the many reasons we like them so much.

[Isis]

Do you have pics?

[RNall]

No, I do not. Here is an update though:

I got home and he looked like he was inside out and deflated. Before I went to bed he had the "white spaghetti" insides everywhere. I have read and understand that carpet's generally live in the sand, so that is where I placed him. This morning I woke up and he was on the other side of the tank, in the back, on a rock and pretty much hidden. It was about a 6 foot journey. It took me a few minutes to even find him. Here is the funny part, he looks better. I wouldn't say he looks great but he definitely looks better. I can only see about 15% of him though. He is obviously finicky and stressed, I do not want to move him. The lighting isn't as strong back where he is, there are rocks casting shadows. I do not think he will stay after he realizes that the sun doesn't work too well where he is... He apparently will go where he wants. If he is happy there, I guess I will enjoy 15% of him and find something to feed him with. I'm thinking I should just leave him be for now though.

[RNall]

I bet you are right. I just hope he doesn't roam to a powerhead or overflow....

Do you think it would be wise to cut back on the MH's for awhile?

Thanks!

[ratboy]

See if you can get him to eat. I feed my 2 carpets silversides at least 3-4 times a week to keep them from looking hungry (trumpet-ing up towards water surface = hunting for food!). I brought one back from near total bleaching to a nice healthy green so I know they can recover as long as conditions are good and you feed it. Another good indication of carpet health is how sticky they are when you touch them. The more the better.... good luck!

[RNall]

I'm going to try and feed him when I get home today - if I can get to him...

I tried to feed him last night but he was too much of a mess I think.

[JimD]

In most cases, if you see the white spaghetti protruding from its mouth, it usualy spells doom, Im hoping youll get lucky and crossing my fingers for youre anemone. Sometimes when they look all deflated and mush like, its the begining of a split. Also, what kind of lighting was it under and what kind is it under now?

[RNall]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed as well.

I'll have to check with Fin Addict but it was in their center row on one of the top tanks. My tank is just over 2 feet tall and has (4) 6' actinic VHO's and 3 250 MH's. I think they have a few T5's over those tanks but I'm not possitive.

[OldSalty]

I'm afraid these are another that should be left to the sea. In nature they can and do live hundreds of years. In out tanks usally less than 6 months. I had one, it lasted 1 month. I will never get another. It's not fair to the animal. Most folks that get them have Less than 1 year in this hobby

Who's with me on this??? Responsible Reefers speak out Here.
Kelly

[Bill S]

Well, I have FIVE BTAs, 4 Rose, 1 Green. Started with 1 rose. Split several times, and I traded a rose for the green. That being said, It's my OPINION that only BTAs are really suitable long term for tanks. If I were to buy another, it would ONLY be a tank raised one.

[GaryP]

LTA's also do real well in captivity.

However, its my opinion that wild caught anemones do tend to have a short live span. This is definitely one group of critters that are best for captive propagation. The chance of keeping a captive propagated clone alive is much higher then a wild caught specimen. I'm on the waiting list for a BTA from a friend of mine. :)

[ratboy]

I dont think Ive ever read about a carpet anenome splitting as a form of reproduction. Everytime Ive seen one that looks like a BTA split -its a goner. I've had my carpet for well over 2 years and it was a freeby from a customers tank (ate over 400$ worth of fish) so its probably been in captivity for ~ 3 years. My second was a rescue from a MAAST member and now looks as good as my original carpet. I cant say there is anything special about my tank to make them do so good in it - 250W 20K MH, refugium, 3"DSB, no skimmer in a 40 gallon. Would I buy another carpet? Probably not because Ive seen so many turn to mush after a week or so and they are pricey!! The fact I have no room for another doesnt hurt either!

[RNall]

I have had BTA's and LTA's for many years without problems. Well, I did have one go for a cruise one night and end up stuck to my overflow. Would you believe that he survived! He sure did look terrible for a week or so though.

Update: He looks almost 100% better. He is **** near impossible to see but he looks much, much better. I'm suprised that he is in such a low light area but as Joshua mentioned, perhaps he is a bit shocked from the lights.

We will just have to wait and see how he does. I purchased this guy knowing their general requirements and that the odds were against me. I have 2 percs and the price was right so I thought I could try and make it work. He defintely has a better chance in my 215. I would also prefer a captive propagated clone btw.

I would not consider my purchase of a carpet anemone irresponsible. I do not intend on stocking my 215 with elegance corals and carpet anemones and throwing in a 3 foot nurse shark (yes, I've seen a nurse shark in a tank with 2 near dead elegance corals) - that would be irresponsible. Putting a mandarin in a tiny nano without a sandbed or any pods (seen it too) would be irresponsible. Besides, no one had volunteered to rush him back to the ocean....

It depends on how you look at things. Is it right to take perfectly happy creatures from the ocean and throw them in our glass cages to stare at? Really, what are the actual life expectancies of your average wild caught critter? To survive capture, transport, LFS's and the people that ultimately house them is no small feat. Do you think a mandarin 'knows' that he was killed by putting him in that nano or because of a power outage? Either way, he is still dead because someone wanted a mandarin. On another hand, is it right to take a wild caught bird and put it in a cage? An elephant in a zoo?

It's less expensive to have a child than it is to set up the 215 gallon reef tank that my cleaner shrimp lives in. That's just crazy isn't it?! We have 5 kids btw.

Oh, I also purchased an emaciated diamond watchman goby at the same time. The goby has been gobbling up sand since I put him in. I hope he makes it.

[Bill S]

Hey Ron, wait until they hit college!!!!

[RNall]

:angry How dare you remind me of that! I hadn't stressed over that in a day or so! THanks a lot!

:D :lol

The rewards of parenting 5 kids is far more worthwhile than this hobby. Well, except when they almost burn, flood and destroy the house. Sometimes good kids make bad decisions...Sometimes good kids make bad decisions....Sometimes good kids make bad decisions...oh, sorry, just reminding myself.

Last night my wife and I had our first kid free evening in months. Would you believe that we went to a meeting on becoming foster parents. Something is seriously wrong with us. :lol

Oh, the college thing is a breeze. All I have to do is win the lottery and its a non-issue. Which reminds me, I've never bought a ticket in my life, I better get moving on my college plan. (just kidding)

This is not 100% off topic. My wife called to say that the anemone is looking 100%. :D

[matt]

90% of wild caught host anemones die in aquariums within a few months, and that's only counting the ones that make to the retail store alive; I don't know what percentage die between collection and retail, but I bet it's very high. Also, every host anemone taken out of the ocean means a loss of clownfish habitat and almost always the death of the clowns that were living in the anemone, according to every published book I've seen on the subject. This, unfortunately, does mean that any purchase of a wild caught host anemone has a negative environmental impact. Even if you are one of the very few that can keep carpet anemones alive, buyng one means the store will order another, and so forth. Does that make it irresponsible? In my opinion, yep. Of course, we've all made irresponsible purchases in this hobby, so I'm not trying to slam anyone. For example, Ron Shimek has written exactly about this, but then he also writes about the S. haddoni anemone he keeps, and a book about keeping host anemones in general. So it's entirely a different question about what's "wrong" to buy or keep in aquariums, but when you look at the statistics it's really hard to support the idea of taking these animals from the wild. Tank bred E. quadricolor (BTA) are so successful that it seems crazy not to go that route.