Need Help w/ Tube Anemone!!!

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 10:29 PM

I brought home a really cool orange tube anemone (Cerianthus membranaceus I believe) on Saturday afternoon. It looked great in the LFS tank and acted healthy when they bagged it. It did not have a tube (which is common when they are collected I hear) so I placed a 2" piece of PVC in the sand and put the anemone in it then filled the pipe with sand around the anemone's foot. After much research this seemed to be the best option. I moved some sand so the anemone is in about 8" maybe even a little more. Also the corner of the tank where it has pretty mild flow which I believe is what it wants. Anyway, so far it has yet to inflate much. It will start to get bigger over the course of several hours but never enough to pick it's tentacles up off the sand and then it deflates back down some. It does appear to be secreting mucus from it's foot and attaching sand around it's foot. Maybe it is just expending energy on making a new tube (I hope so).

The other concern is it appears my 2 peppermint shrimp think this is a giant aptasia. It was easily 12"-14" or more when fully inflated at the LFS so I'm not sure how much damage they can do to it. I have seen them hanging around close to it and have found a few little pieces of orange tentacle loose on the sand so I assume they have picked at it when I wasn't looking. I thought I would take the shrimp out and put them in another tank for now, but have not been able to catch them. They will come out for food, I feed them from time to time with fresh seafood on the end of a "stick". I also tried a pvc trap with some food in the end, but still no luck, they won't go in it.

So, if anyone has had any experience keeping these animals I would love any advice you can lend. Also, thoughts on weather I should remove the shrimps and if so any good ideas on how the get them?

Thanks!

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 10:31 PM

BTW...here is a pic of it looking it's worst. Although it really hasn't looked much better except for a couple of times when it started to inflate.

dobejazz · 01-08-2008, 11:01 PM

Sorry I can't really help

I had 2 but I changed the flow and redid the tank and I don't think either of mine survived the change over

DaveTheReefGeek · 01-08-2008, 11:05 PM

How long have you had the anemone for, Saturday you say?
Anemone's can sometimes be verry touchy to param changes.
How long did you spend acclimating the anemone?
Sometimes it takes them a while to bounce back. As for the crabs?... dunno seems odd that they would pick at it.

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveTheReefGeek

How long have you had the anemone for?
Anemone's can sometimes be verry touchy to param changes. Takes them a while to bounce back. As for the crabs?... dunno seems odd that they would pick at it.

I got it on Sat afternoon, so only about 3 days. It's a pretty big specimen so if it will just inflate I don't think the shrimp can do much damage. It's just that in it's current state the tentacles are laying on the sand and so it's an easy target. My emerald crab, hermits and cleaner shrimp don't go near it. It's just the 2 peppermint shrimp that seem to bother it. I guess it must taste like aptasia.

I just wasn't sure if them messing with it would have any impact on it's health and acclimation to my tank.

DaveTheReefGeek · 01-08-2008, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jnicho

I got it on Sat afternoon, so only about 3 days. It's a pretty big specimen so if it will just inflate I don't think the shrimp can do much damage. It's just that in it's current state the tentacles are laying on the sand and so it's an easy target. My emerald crab, hermits and cleaner shrimp don't go near it. It's just the 2 peppermint shrimp that seem to bother it. I guess it must taste like aptasia.

I just wasn't sure if them messing with it would have any impact on it's health and acclimation to my tank.

if the anemone is stressed (which it most likely is) then the pep's picking at it can be an issue. I would suggest trying to keep the shrimp "otherwise engaged" give'em something to chew on and fill their belly's.\

One thing that I have found with LFS is that they keep the salinity way down in their display water to save some $. I would be interested in knowing what the params were in the water at the LFS, compared to what you keep at home. If they are way off, then even a nice long acclimation period sometimes doesn't cut it, sometimes you just get a really sensitive specimen and may take some time to bounce back.

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 11:45 PM

Thanks Dave, I have been keeping the pep's well fed with some chunks of raw shrimp (little cannibals love the stuff

). One of the guys at the LFS is on a local forum, I'll PM him and see if I can get him to tell me what their parms are, specifically SG.

I just went and looked at it and it is inflating a little now that the lights are out. I believe these guys are nocturnal in the wild, although it was fully inflated at the LFS under MH.

fish.freak · 01-08-2008, 11:50 PM

I never seen them w/o a tube. I hope it is regrowing one...

DaveTheReefGeek · 01-08-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jnicho

Thanks Dave, I have been keeping the pep's well fed with some chunks of raw shrimp (little cannibals love the stuff

). One of the guys at the LFS is on a local forum, I'll PM him and see if I can get him to tell me what their parms are, specifically SG.

I just went and looked at it and it is inflating a little now that the lights are out. I believe these guys are nocturnal in the wild, although it was fully inflated at the LFS under MH.

Have you tried to manual feed the anemone?
I would get a pair of tweezers or small med plunger (don't know the proper name, looks like a mini turkey baster for children's med's) and try to give it a mysis shrimp or something, see if there is a reaction of some kind. If you have not done so already.

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish.freak

I never seen them w/o a tube. I hope it is regrowing one...

It has a lot of mucus around it's foot and I can see sand is sticking to the upper part where the top of the foot is exposed (the main stalk if you will). I've read that they can create a tube pretty quickly. This is my first tuber, so even though I thought I knew what I was getting into, I am still learning as I go. My understanding is that the tube is much like that of a feather duster? Apparently they can live just fine without the tube. I read a scientific paper where they placed specimens in glass tubes and they did just fine.

Jnicho · 01-08-2008, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveTheReefGeek

Have you tried to manual feed the anemone?
I would get a pair of tweezers or small med plunger (don't know the proper name, looks like a mini turkey baster for children's med's) and try to give it a mysis shrimp or something, see if there is a reaction of some kind. If you have not done so already.

So far it hasn't accepted any food. I think I will try again if it continues to perk up tonight. Who needs sleep anyway, I can stay up and anemone sit all night.

Jnicho · 01-09-2008, 12:30 AM

Update: It's 3 hours after lights out (except moonlight) and the anemone is about 50% inflated. That's the best I've seen to date. I tried to drop a some small pieces of food very close to the mouth. I can't say I saw any reaction but it is pretty dark in the tank so it's hard to say weather or not it ate (tho my inclination is no based on what I've seen feeding "reg" anemones). Here is a pic from just a few mins ago. So far, so good I guess.

JY13131 · 01-09-2008, 01:14 AM

looks better

Loverotties · 01-09-2008, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JY13131

looks better

I agree!

DaveTheReefGeek · 01-09-2008, 08:15 AM

Looking good. What you should expect is at some point in the next day or so, the anemone will completely inflate (more than likely well beyond what you saw at your LFS) and then completly deflate and retract. (complete fluid expulsion/exchange) Then you should be good to go.

cheeres!