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Jamie
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 09:05 PM
Man am I bummed out right now. I decided to post because you all are probably the few that can sympathize.

I just replaced my lights and have been very pleased with the change. Aware that this would be a bit of a shock to the corals and anemones, I adjusted the photo period.

Well, I went into work yesterday at noon and didn't return until this evening at 6:30. After getting the usual hugs and kisses from the wife and kiddos, I made my typical trip over to the tank to see how everything was doing with the new lights. About that time, my wife made the point that my baby RBTA went missing. I figured it would have repositioned on account of the new lighting, I immediately started to scour the tank...then I saw something bad...my heart dropped as a beautifully bright, irridescent red, tentacle passed by the front of my tank, deflated and free floating. Of course I assumed the worst and went right to my powerheads...low and behold, the last one I inpected revealed several tentacles. I can only assume it happened sometime last night while I was at work. Its body entirely passed through the guard of the Koralia 4 and was completely inside the grating being blown from the inside of the power head outward...but stuck nonetheless. I turned off the PH right away...that was about an hour ago. I'll be taking it out shortly to assess the damage. I pray that the body is still mostly in tact and that it might recover...but I fear the reality of this situation. It's probably been beaten to death.

I don't know why I am so depressed about this. I have lost fish before without having this reaction. I guess I was attached to the little bugger. I was so excited when the larger anemone split....and the baby was perfect. While the parent is beatifully colored, it's shaped more like an LTA. The baby on the other hand bubbled up very nicely. In the four months since it split, the baby had grown very nicely.

I'll let you all know how the upcoming attempt to recover it goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

R, Jamie

Gseclipse02
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 09:08 PM
any corals or other fish? do a large water change

rz1a
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 10:08 PM
yeah siphon out the tentacles and whats left of the bta if not salvageable. sorry about the loss, i've lost fish to my powerheads :[ not a good sight

Jamie
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 10:12 PM
Well, here he is...

I left him in this plastic cup, poked some holes in the side for flow, and clipped it inside my sump. I'm not certain if he'll make it...as you can see, there's a lot of damage. I might be seeing things, but I want to say he tried to grab onto the side of the cup. I think I'm going to put a little piece of LR in the cup to see if he'll attach to it...right now there's not much reaction to anything. I have experience with anemones and power heads, but this was the worst I have seen to date. I know they are very resilient. If he makes it, it will certainly be a testament to their durability.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk255/jcarabin/RBTADeadorAlive.jpg

I do have many other fish, and lots of corals. I haven't noticed any adverse reaction to the anemone's misfortune. If I see anything in the morning, I'll start running carbon in my media reactor.

princer7
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 10:32 PM
Is the foot still there? Hard to tell in the photos. I have split anemonies in the past and they bounce back as long as they can close the new opening. Keep the flow going but low like you have it.

Jamie
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 10:36 PM
Yes, my hope for his survival revolves around the fact that his foot is still in tact.

Bill S
Fri, 11th Sep 2009, 10:53 PM
You might be surprised. They are pretty tough.

Jamie
Sat, 12th Sep 2009, 03:38 PM
He made it through the night and is still alive. His center area isn't as gaping, his foot has expanded some, and he is attached to the side of the hospital cup. I have to make a decision though. I am going out of town for 3 weeks starting tomorrow. I don't think I should leave him in the cup the whole time since it is going to need some light soon enough...I don't have a refugium so there isn't adequate light in my sump. I'm not sure I'm comfortable putting him back in the display tank though. What would you do...any advice?

Bill S
Sat, 12th Sep 2009, 03:47 PM
Jamie,

Can you find anyone that would babysit it for you? If it's still alive tonight, chances are it will make it. They usually crash quickly.

Jamie
Sun, 13th Sep 2009, 08:45 AM
After 2 days in his cup, my anemone had securely attached himself to the side. His innards were about 90% closed up, and he expelled some waste. If I were a guessing man, it was looking like he was contemplating a split.

Well, I decided it was in everyone's best interest to place him back in the tank before I left this morning. I had a spot picked out on the bottom of my tank under some LR. I used gentle flow to losen up his grip on the cup. Of course I wasn't smart enough to remember to turn off the power heads while I was placing him :at_wits_end: As I was gently carrying him to his spot, he was pushed out of my hand. He ended up in a nice sheltered, low flow area though..only bad part about the spot is that it's hard for me to view. With what was left of my area to see him, I reached in and gave him a little nudge to help him attach to the LR. He is completely out of view now.

I am heading to the airport in 20 minutes. I'll be harassing my wife for the next 3 weeks to see if he has shown himself. Wish him luck :nailbiting: