Would those of you who believe in God...

[aquarookie]

...please say a little prayer for my new cnidarian patient? And those of you who don't, please spare any discouraging remarks, I am fully aware of how low its chances are...

Here is the story. I was at my favorite LFS today (NOT the one that had the sick clam) visiting an anemone I have become quite fond of (but could not afford). I saw it last night and it looked unhappy (I figured it might still be acclimating, since they only got it a week ago). Well, today it was upside down and shriveled up. When I pointed it out to them, someone turned it right side up and I gasped... the mouth was about 3" in diameter and the oral disk had shrunk to less than 5" (down from about a foot across). The tentacles had shriveled up and the mouth was oozing all sorts of stuff. Small pieces of the anemone were floating all over the tank. I estimated it would live a few more hours AT MOST.

To make the long story shorter, I now have the anemone at home and I realize it is way too weak and stressed out, but I am doing my best to take care of it... changing water, adding iodine, and keeping a close eye on it. If anyone has other suggestions/advice, I would appreciate it. Thanks a lot

 

[spongebob lover]

i'll cross my fingers and give a prayer .
good luck with it .

 

[moortim]

That is sad, I never like it when one of our animals die. I'm with you for moral support.

Tim

 

[Roly]

I'll pray for your "little guy". Good luck!

 

[twilliard]

Hey Julia I bet brian has some good tips to get it back

 

[Krish]

Hope he pulls through for you. I've seen some anemones here that didn't look so well make a great turn (slickdonkey's for eg) around so i'll keep my fingers crossed

 

[jsmkmavity]

i will pray for it right now.

 

[Pikachu]

good luck=)

 

[thekingfish]

What kind of anemone is it?
At least it has a fighting chance in your tank.

 

[aquarookie]

What kind of anemone is it?
At least it has a fighting chance in your tank.

It is a blue carpet anemone (stichodactyla haddoni). I previously had good luck rescuing one that had been torn up pretty bad, so I thought that maybe, just maybe, this one may come around. I have been babysitting it all evening, perhaps thinking that a watched anemone never dies... But I am starting to smell dead tissue now. It is no longer oozing stuff, but the open mouth is disintegrating (a few hours ago it looked like it had "skin" with a few tears in it, and now it is mostly one big tear with a few pieces of skin on it.

A part of it is definitely dead and starting to rot, and I wonder if I will have better luck leaving it alone or cutting off the dead tissue... I have been slowly changing the water with seasoned water from my reef, but I don't dare put it in my tank right now because I believe it will pollute everything.

I also wonder if I should keep changing the water with the reef water, or mix up a new batch. Maybe I will do a combination. I will stay up with it a little longer. I would like to stay up all night but I have not been getting anywhere near enough sleep lately so I won't be able to. I am sure by morning I will know if it dies. Four hours ago I was guessing it would not last three hours. A good portion of it is still "alive", even if it looks so horrible. We'll see.

Thank you all for the prayers and kind words. I must say I have a lot of respect for the owner of the LFS who let me take this thing home and give it a chance.

 

[aquarookie]

A little additional info. As I said, the anemone had been "there" for a week. It did come in with an open mouth and slightly bleached, but it looked like it was going to be OK. Unfortunately, it ended up in a tank with other anemones, one of which was an atlantic carpet. I have previously put a blue S. haddoni and an atlantic carpet into the same tank, and I would NEVER EVER do that again. They seem to have a great need to kill each other off (more so than any other anemones). I wonder if that is what played a major role in the blue carpet going downhill...

 

[aquarookie]

OK, I have no idea if this guy is dead or alive. I still have hopes, but he is looking horrible (although not that much worse than last night). None of the tentacles are moving any more. But they still have a tiny bit of sting to them... can a dead anemone still sting, like jellyfish?

 

[LakeEd]

I wish you the best with this! Quality water conditions and lighting will probably be the best thing for it right now. I am right along with your thoughs about NOT putting it into your main display, until you get it where you know its pulling through this. As with all things in our reefs, slow and steady improvement is the best.

Again, best wishes!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

A dead anemone still has nematocysts and can sting. Is it's interior inverted as in, is it's guts hanging out?

 

[burning2nd]

oh no's.......

this is hard... i wish the best of luck

 

[aquarookie]

Well, bad news. The nem did not make it. I am really bummed, but I guess it was not surprising. The poor creature was too far gone by the time I got a hold of it. Thanks to you all for the kind words and prayers .

I now have the less-than-enjoyable task of disposing of it and cleaning out the tank. After which I will walk my dog, go to sleep and dream about reefs and healthy happy anemones.

 

[thekingfish]

Sorry to hear that.

 

[burning2nd]

dream about reefs and healthy happy anemones.

beleve it or not, theres still happy reefs out there in the wild (not to meny) but theres a few.


it took me 2 anonomes to get it right.

 

[Juanfer]

sorry for your loss, but you have to be happy cause at least you gave him a chance!!!