Is my Anemone dying????

[reefinAnE]

We just got this anemone yesterday and it attached itself on a rock in the front (perfect for viewing) & was doing great. It was opened up, but today it has shrivled a little to this. What is happening? Is something wrong with it? It also looks as if it is throwing up a long stringy substance! Can anyone tell me what is going on? Also all of our levels are excellent, except our carbon is high. Can this be the cause of what is happening?

[omard]

Relax...anemone's do shrivel up quite often. If it is dying, there is not much you can do about it now.

While sabae's look nice, are relatively cheap and quite common in LFS's...they are nearly impossible to keep alive for any length of time. Usually about 1 year max. Normally much less time.

Sabae anemones may expel their symbiotic algae shortly after capture or movement to a new environment, if it is completely gone it is not easily replaced - if that is what is happening to yours, it will not be around much longer.. Not the best choice for beginner tanks.

Sorry.

But good luck with yours. -- Let us know how goes...

[reefinAnE]

Thanks for the quick response Omard. We'll see how it goes. And, yes I am aware that it has been said quite often that anemones in general are not the best choice for a beginner tank, but I guess we are just in good hopes since our levels are all excellent and since we have had plenty of help from close friends who are experts on reef tanks. I'll let you know the outcome though! Thanks again =)

[baugherb]

I've had 2 anenomes in my time. Both bta's. My first one didn't do so well, mostly because of being new and having parameters and temp issues. Now my second is doing wonderful. It's pretty big actually and I feed it silver sides. I know bta's are pretty hardy, but my lfs says anenomes can be touchy and have a mind of their own. Good luck with yours. And anenomes do deflate to expel waste like omard said. Just giving you my experiences, I'm pretty new. Go with what the experienced ones like Omar tell you, you can't go wrong with their advice....

[reefinAnE]

Thanks baugherb for your insight. Yeah we're very new so we appreciate any experiences, advice or any suggestions.

[bulltrader]

Looks to me like its still trying to acclimatize itself. Almost every coral / anemone I've put in my tank has put out that stringy stuff (mucas) the first day or 2. Give it some time to get happy and hope for the best....Good Luck!!

[reefinAnE]

Bulltrader, okay we'll keep an eye on it and update again Tuesday. We're crossing our fingers! Perhaps my boyfriend & I should have went with a crocea clam first haha. Also, is there anything we can do at this point to make her more comfortable during her acclimation process? We are also in hopes that there may be a chance our tomato clownfish will eventually form a bond with the anemone. Thanks again for the help guys!

[bulltrader]

You could feed it a silverside if you have any. But, they are funny. One day they look great the next you wounder what happened the next day they look great again. It might even try to find another place in your tank. Mine move around sometimes if they don't like the water flow or maybe too close to something else. Just give it some time.

[cuttingras]

I've had a few different kinds(all of them, except my flower anemone, have since died) It looks really healthy. Good color. Did you drip acclimate it and for how long?

[Diver_1298]

I would give it a week or two and let it acclimate to your tank before feeding it anything.
It takes energy to process it's food and that may be better used to heal (if needed) and get used to its new environment.

Jim