Anemone fought the PH and lost :-(

[Sanders]

Ack! I woke up this morning to find my large long tentacle anemone stuck in my power head!!! I immediately unplugged the PH and then pried him out. He lost about 1/2 of his tentacles, but there is no damage to his foot. I know that anemones have great regenitive powers, and I am hopeful for his survival. He is still moving, but a bit freaked out. Currently he is pretty deflated.

Is there is anything I can do to help or ensure his recovery?

Also, what can I do to prevent this from happening in the future? He is in a 10 gallon, so I can not really position the PH where he definitely wont be able to reach it. And I can not really remove the PH since I need the water flow.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Slickdonkey]

Cover the powerhead! Not sure what type it is but some (i.e. Maxijets) have foam covers you can buy.

Also watch the filter intake, mine hit that up as well. You can read the epic tale here. They are actually pretty resilient creatures.

 

[LakeEd]

Sanders,

Unfortunately, what happened to you has happened to many MANY of us with Anemonies. Right now, just do your best to ensure your water quality is as good as possible (nitrates, phosphates as close to zero as possible), and keep watching him closely.

As for what you can do in the future... try covering the intakes of your powerheads with the sponge foam thangys. Yes, 99% of the time people recommend you don't have sponges in your reef because of the possibility of them being nitrate factories... but as with anything else, this is the exception.

Anemonies can, and often do move... and if having the foam cover over your intakes makes your tank safer for them, its a good thing.

One last though... anemonies tend to stay put when happy, and move around the tank when they are searching for the conditions they prefer. Weather that is a different texture for their foot to attach to, different flow, different lighting... who knows. See if any of those things may be the reason yours started moving in the 1st place... who knows, you may be able to help give it what its looking for.

 

[MCSInc]

I am with Ed on this one - foam covers and secure footing should anemone proof your tank. The secure footing should keep him out of the overflow. They like their foot firmly anchored and their face in the current.

 

[redrooster]

Whenever I meet someone who is getting into reefs/thinking about getting into reefs the first thing I ask is "so I bet you want to get an anenome?" The inevitable response being "Yeah I was thinking about..." At this point I do my best to talk them out of it ideally or explain to them how the anenome is going to kill itself and what extra steps need to be done to their setup to even attempt it.

 

[KRG]

Sanders,

Power heads are not the only dangerous thing that an anemone can stumble upon. If your heater is in the main tank that also needs pvc or something around it. My powerheads are all covered but I did have an almost mishap a year or two ago with a heater that an anemone got too close to. It melted partially and crawled into a cave to regenerate. Four days later it came out but wouldn't eat right away. It only accepted mysis while it was injured, and I fed it daily when it started accepting food again to help nurse it back to health. Thankfully it fully recovered and became a learning experience instead of a loss of a beautiful creature. Just an fyi since you have a small tank and your heater is probably in it. Good luck!

 

[Sanders]

Thanks for all the advice!

The anemone is doing fine, just a little less pretty He is now firmly attatched to a rock.

This weekend I am going to purchase some covers for all of my power heads and filter intakes. Also, I am going to try and figure out something to cover my heaters (great idea, thanks!).

I had just transfered him out of my bigger tank because I brought home a nice carpet anemone who needed more room. The injured anemone probably got sucked up while looking for a place to attatch.

Thanks to all of you who helped!

 

[Slickdonkey]

Oh man, watch out for those carpet anemones. They like to munch on fish -- even tangs if they can catch them.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

One last though... anemonies tend to stay put when happy, and move around the tank when they are searching for the conditions they prefer.

Yep... quite true from Ed and others here. The anemones generally don't move unless they are in need. Poor water changes are reducing water quality or at least water clarity (need weekly water changes carbon and/or ozone use), chemical allelopathy fro corals (NEVER mix anemones and corals please) stimulate the anemone to move, etc

Please do take the time to read some of the anemone threads in the post called "discussions" from the sticky atop this forum called "Fav links"

Much to learn there