Bubble Tip Behavior

[ruhspolostar]

Hey Guys,

....its Adam....

I just have a problem and I wanted to get a different spin on it...
I have had a bubble tip anemone in my 170 gallon reef tank for about three months now. I feed him live brine shrimp once a month and frozen 1-2 times a week. I give him all the other necessary things, lighting, trace ellements and i even have a calicium reactor. My water motion is moderate so I'm pretty sure thats not the problem either...

...SO anyway the anemone has his foot attached to the rock in the mid level of the tank, about 13" from the surface. Every night he retracts into the cave where his foot is and every moring on cue at 7:15 AM he comes out to catch the rays, he is very responsive and beutifl about 5"-6" in diameter.

...but then there comes the problem, he is bearly open and he won't come out into the light, this is very odd for him since like I said he is on cue every moring., I know hes not dead because I, use a turkey baster to feed the fish, and when I blew it on him, he didn't move, he just retracted even further.

...So for my final ?Q?, is this normal, is it some type of rest or hybernation, should I be worried, is there anything I can do????



-Thanks in advance guys

-Adam Jackson #8

[JennM]

He could just be pooping, or water changing. Give him a few hours, he's probably going to re-inflate shortly.

Jenn

[ruhspolostar]

When you said water changing do you mean I need yo do one, or what? I don't get it?

-but you said give him a couple hours, its been 3 days, is your advice still the same?

-Don't get me wrong, your probally a lot more experienced than me and know what your talking about, I just need to be clear so I can stop stressing...

thankyou Jenn

-ADAM

[Geoff]

Jenn was saying that anemones will do a water change within themselves every so often. they will completely deflate and refill themselves with new water. like Jenn said this usually only takes a couple of hours not days.

anemones are tough. i have only been successfull with aiptasia, mojano, and carpets. i do not think this is the problem, but i would suggest feeding something like silversides, thawed frozen mixed cubes, or blender mush instead of the brine shrimp. brine shrimp are not the most nutritious foods for our SW critters.

G~

[ruhspolostar]

-well I also fed him mysis shrimp, krill and was planning on some "blenderred" squid, sound O.K.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by ruhspolostar
-well I also fed him mysis shrimp, krill and was planning on some "blenderred" squid, sound O.K.

yep.

what exactly is "crappy lighting"? anemones like strong light. this could be some of the problem.

G~

[tdwyatt]

Depending on how long you've had the anemone, the quality and intensity of your lighting and a few other potential cues, the anemone may be getting ready to split. This often occurs when the anemone is well-fed for periods of 6 months with steady growth to at least 5 inched on the oral disc or more and there is some water parameter change or other stressor to stimulate this reaction. Can be temp change, lighting, water parameters like pH or alk or even nitrate spikes (as when a snail dies in the water column). Physical trauma or introduction of a potential competitor or symbiont may induce this as well. There are a number of changes that can occur in the system that will stimulate a well fed anemone to split.

Signals to look for: presence of 2 mouths, behavior you've described, striations in the body tube, tendency to move around when it has been stationary, occasionally a bleached look (not often), or what may look like tears in the oral disc or at the siphonoglyphs. They will usually move under a rock ledge in a hidden place out of the light, then disappear altogether for a few days, only to (usually) show up as two new specimens side by side in the old location.

Use SMALL pieces of solid foods to feed the anemones, as larger chunks will be both difficult to take in and may not be fully digested, only to be expelled later as a partially digested chunk. They don't have strong digestive enzymes or teeth, make it easier on them to gain nitrogen and phosphorus and use smaller sized (pea or smaller) pieces. At times, the presence of too-big-a-food item in the gut will cause similar behavior, although unless it has done this on a regular basis, I doubt that this would be the problem.

Unless you have other calcium consumers in the tank, get rid of the Ca reactor, expensive waste of materials just for the anemone and a potential pH problem as well.


...or then again, it could just be wanderlust


hth

[ruhspolostar]

hehe "embarrassed laugh" , I should change that I upgraded to a large JBJ PC ballast and I have blue atinic, true atinic and something else, I plan on getting MH in the next 2-3 mos or am I okay with what I have...

-the Ca reactor is also for my zoo's and pumping xenia (not just for the anemone, Ph is also okay but thanks for asking)

-I also thought it might be splitting because its oral disk appears to be stretching, but I am a pethimest so I always expect the worst, which actually turns out better for my tank

-thanks for your help

[wanareef]

I feed our BTA's small chunks of: shrimp, scallops, squid, octopus, fish (mahia mahia) (not at once, rotating every other day) all soaking in Selcon and even injected into the meat. Just to make sure they are getting enough out of their food.

just my .02

[ruhspolostar]

...I don't know what the problem is but feeding isn't it.... It stil hasn't opeened today

[ruhspolostar]

-still attached to rock work but not open fully, his oral disk is intact so I don't think hes splitting, I am at a loss of what to do, I'm about ready to take it out if it does not open in the next 2 days unless someone can give me a reason why I shouldn't........

[tdwyatt]

unless you're taking it to a tank where there are successes with anemones, then just ignore it for a whiole, keep your hands out of the tank, and work on getting the water parameters to the pristine state. Don't even feed it for a few weeks. If the anemone has been eating the way you've posted, then it may just be going through some adjustment or getting ready to split as previously posted.

Sometimes they do things we have no clue about, best to let them go through whatever cycle this is , then so long as the water params are good and the lighting is acceptable, they will get back into a normal routine.

[ruhspolostar]

-he oppened a little today so I'm just going to let whatever hapens happen

-thanks for the input

[ruhspolostar]

hey guys just for an update,

the anemone was moving around a little today, he responded to light and food and just about an hour he openned up and guess what, 2 oral disks! Maybe it is ready to split after all, I'll keep you guys posted.... thanks


-Adam

[ruhspolostar]

new avatar "I am evil Homer"