lost Anemome - HELP!

[sammyinafrica]

My family and I went out of town for the weekend. Had everything set up for the fish, but had a family emergency that forced us to extend our stay. We had the food and other things taken care of, but out light timer quit working agian! (I hate you coralife) So, the aquarium went with out light for two days.

Now we can not find out rather large long tenecal anemone. Any ideas on what to do and where to look????

[Pennies2Cents]

Hopefully its in the same place just inside the LR its foot was lodged in.. Or behind the LR in the back some where. Hope you find him..

[sammyinafrica]

The LTA like to burry in the sand... Its bottom is about the size of a grown mans fist. It is not in the sand, sump, overflow, on the floor, ect....

Could my fish have eaten it (dumb question I know)...

What do they look like when they are dead?

[msmith619]

They will up-root themselves and flow with the current if they are unhappy. That might have happened with 2 days of no light. Put something light weight were the anemone was and let the current move it around the tank. Check there for the amenone, it is probably behind some rock. Also, ALWAYS check the sump when anemones disappear. I have salvaged 2 from the sump, one was pretty torn up by the powerhead and it made frags (no, I do not recommend fragging anemones this way!!).

[sammyinafrica]

They will up-root themselves and flow with the current if they are unhappy. That might have happened with 2 days of no light. Put something light weight were the anemone was and let the current move it around the tank. Check there for the amenone, it is probably behind some rock. Also, ALWAYS check the sump when anemones disappear. I have salvaged 2 from the sump, one was pretty torn up by the powerhead and it made frags (no, I do not recommend fragging anemones this way!!).

Well, I checked in the sump, looked in all overflows and filters, dug around in the sand bed, looked behing live rocks....still NO anemones! I just do not understand it....

Do the anemones change color, do the get smaller, thinner? What should I look for?

Also, will a dead anemone kill my fish and corals?

[ballardjr2000]

when i lost my first anenome back in guam my wife was there she said it spilt then shrank and just disapeared. like there was nothing just gone. no harm to fish were done i diddn't have corals just fish and the anenome. but the fish were fine.

[JLiu]

A dead anemone is like a shock to your system kinda like a dead fish if your system can handle it then your all good. Try running your lights on for a longer than normal schedule to see if the anemone will come out to bask no matter where its at. Recheck the area where you anemone was last seen. For the most part they just shrink up in the same crevice where its foot was, but they will move on you to get to a spot that they like (more flow, less flow, more light, less light).

[sammyinafrica]

Guys, this is the darndest thing. I tried all of the techniques and it is no where to be found. I think that I will dig through the sand and see if I cna find it.... My tank does not smell, the fish and corals are all looking great. I just can not understand...



UPDATE...I move all 120 lbs of live rock. Put my hand through all the sand I could. Found nothing. Nada. Zip. Any suggestions would be great.

[dmweise]

I'd just give it a few days. It is probably on the back side of one of your rocks or buried under the sand. If you start moving things around you may end up damaging it. You'd know if it died. There would be all kind of mucus in the water.