Anemone shrunk

Robert Ellison

New Member
I have an anemone and it is normally bout 3 inches around and I just fed it the other day and it moved from where it was in my tank and hid behind the live rock and shrunk down a lot but still has its color and mouth is open but not badly the mushrooms are splitting so dont see a issue with anything but then again my leather tree usually is bushed out and is not bushing out
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Anemones often go through periods where they shrink for a few days and then expand. However they will also do this if they are unhealthy. For now, keep an eye on things and if the anemone starts to decay or you see when looks like smoke coming from it, or it's got massive tissue damage, remove it and toss it. It's near dead in that case.

Leather corals, and may other soft corals also go through periods where they shrink way down and look bad. They will often seem to shead skin. This is normal, and the coral needs to do this to grow.

You don't tell us too much about your system. The following information may help is find a better answer for you.

What species of anemone do you have?
How long have you had it?
How large of a tank do you have?
How long have you had the tank set up?
What are your water parameters? (exact readings for what you tested)
What lighting fixtures do you have on the tank? (exact models help a lot)
What filtration do you have on the tank? (filter, skimmer, media reactors, UV, etc)
What live stock do you have in the tank? (Fish, inverts and corals)
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
image.jpeg Did he move from a spot where has has been for awhile, or is he relatively new?
Once Nems settle, they stay until their environment negatively changes. Any light, water, flow changes in the last week before he moved?

If the tank is less than 6 months old, water stability and range should be checked firstly. Nems do like stability in water representative of a tank 12 months or more older.

Keep in mind that IMO, many Nems are over fed, if your giving a 3-4" nem a piece of food, it should be no more, than a 1/4" cube, and once every two weeks is more than plenty.

Nems get 75% of nutrition from their zoo processing, same as corals, or at least the photosynthetics which represent the vast majority.

I would stop feeding him but make no other change unless important.

Watch what he does, you have no control anyways, he comes and goes as he pleases, but will instinctively move to a comfortable spot.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:

DaveK

Well-Known Member
...
Nems get 75% of nutrition from their zoo processing, same as corals, or at least the photosynthetics which represent the vast majority. ...

This brings up another good point. Also, if the anemone is white or pink, it may be bleached, but this depends on the species of anemone.
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
As a matter of coincidence, mine shrunk down to about an inch round
Stayed that way 3 days.
Back out today in full.
Just nem being nem...
 
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