Anemone Near Death?!

[chriswho]

Hey guys, Oh man... My anemone looks absolutely wretched. It's a BTA that I've had for a couple weeks now. He's beeng doing well and looking very healthy up until today. When I got home from work he was shrunken down to the size of a silver dollar, and his mouth is gaping open! I've never seen him look so sad. He had some trouble adjusting to the new tank, but has been doing really well up until now. Could it be that the temperature in the tank reached around 86 earlier today, due to the crummy insulation in my apartment? The clown won't stop bothering him either. I tried to find a small basket to protect him, but that failed. I cut the top off of a milk jug and puched tons of holes in it and put that over him, but removed it for fear that he wouldn't get enough flow. Someone please help me. I couldn't stand to lose him.

[Adam Black]

How much did you temp fluctuate? It sucks because those things could go with in hours and ruin your tank. I would wait till tomorrow and see how he looks. Have lots of carbon on hand and about 50% water change ready to just in case he doesn't make it.

[chriswho]

I'm not exactly sure how much it fluctuated. I was at work for like 5 hours, and he looked all beautiful and expanded when I left, but now he just looks miserable. The tank seemed around 86 when I got here, so who knows. Any ideas on keeping the clown out of him, as I'm sure this isn't helping at all.

[Adam Black]

Does the clown usually host the nem? If not turn the lights out and he'll head home.

[chriswho]

He spends most of his time in there.

[Intranick]

Wish I could help you man. I agree with having a 50% water change ready, I have a rubbermaid container that I would use in such an incident.

perhaps someone could clarify how to know when its gone?

You could try using egg crate to make a little box to put over it if you still feel the need to protect it like that

maybe a lighting expert here could tell you if you have enough lighting for it, I know a lot of nems if not all of them need very very powerful lights...

check all water conditions.. make a checklist of possible problems, even ones listed here. .and start checking it off until you find something that isn't right.. thats the best advice I have for you

[chriswho]

Thanks Nick. I checked my params, and everything is in order. The only thing I could guess would be the temperature jump, since he was doing fine this afternoon. I added Algaefix for the first time the other day against my better judgement, not sure I'll use it again, but if that were the problem I would think he would have reacted sooner.

[Intranick]

I dont know if i like using chems to control algae, as algae is an important part of the reef. The freshwater one especially would be a nono, but the marine version claims to be targeted at a few pesky algaes. I dont know, maybe somebody else has some insight on that.

It very well could be the lighting you have, a lot of people highly recommend using MH for nems

[cbrownfish]

Control algae by controlling your nutrients (PO4, Nitrates), not by using chemical quick fixes. That can shock a tank in many ways and cause chemical/environment changes you can't predict.

Sometimes anemones just have a weird time. I have had anemones shrivel up under a rock for a week and come back and be fine. With that said, it is typically a result of stress and you do need to investigate potential issues (like heat). Don't overreact here but be ready to manage the situation if the anemone looks worse. If you see stringy flesh hanging out of the open mouth, then expect death soon. If it recovers but the tentacles become shorter and shorter, you may need to protect the anemone and feed it very well.

[lcstorc]

Anemones have a very slow metabolism and take quite a while to show the effects of something being wrong. Looking good for a couple of weeks really means nothing.
With that said, simetimes they just pout. Give him a couple of days and he may come around. I would definitely make soe sort of protection since the clowns are definnitely adding to the stress. Gaping mouth is not a good sign.
Tell us more about your system. Lighting, tank size and age, filtration, parameters (good tells us nothing numbers) Pics if possible, Normal temp for the tank, anything you can possibly think of even if you don't think it is relevant. There are many many factors that play into the health of these very delicate animals.

[MrsPeer]

Sorry to hear of the nem. To keep the clown(s) out of it, I have seen and would recommend the use of a plastic soap/shampoo container with two suction cups behind it. Place it against the glass and as high on the tank as you can so the clowns can't get to it.

I would just leave the nem be at least for a day or so and see if its condition improves. Is it bleached at all or expelling any waste?

[chriswho]

I woke up today and he's back to normal. My tank has been running for roughly 3 years, but I've only had it for a couple of weeks. 55 gal, 4x65 watt power compact, remora pro skimmer. I know about the lights, but he's pretty high in the tank.

pH-8.0
KH-300
NO2-0
NO3-0
Ca-380

[Debby]

Chris dont know if this will help but i have a rosw anem that every couple pf days will completely deflate and look terrible i always think oh god its dieing but i got to watching it and it was pooing.r u feeding silvers or releying completely on lights?

[chriswho]

I feed frozen krill, and occasionally some shrimp

[lcstorc]

I was hoping he was just pouting (pooing). Glad to hear he is back.