I just bought him today, first time with one. Should his mouth be so exposed? here is photo.

mouth looking odd?

seems to be expelling white stuff

Give it some time too settle down....

i think it stressed ......it happens after traveling in a plastic bag from shop to the home tank!

yeah, give it some time to acclimate to your tank.

BTW ... what kind of lighting do you have ?? what are your water parameters ?? how long has your tank been up and running ??

anemones require high lighting and a stable and more mature tank to thrive in captivity, that is why i asked all of the questions.

Everything they ^^ said but I have seen my BTA's mouth balloon like that. Oh and :welcome: to TR.

MIne does that when its feeding time

But does'nt expell white goo

Tank is over a year old. Parameters are good, though nitrate a tad high. Lighting is only about 2.5 w pg. Waiting on some compact lights 196w. tank is 5 gal. He is not sticky. His tentacled (not all) deflate and inflate, which I guess Im not too worried about. Different area of tentacles at different times. He has expelled solid black since the original white chunky (really looked like food) stuff. Havent seen him eat, let meaty food just sit on his mouth-just not hungry?

WPG is a very bas way to judge lighting. 250w of PC's are no comparison to 250w MH. the solid black was probably waste being expelled. they only have one hole, so the eat and poop through it (disgusting but true). you will want to get those nitrates down ASAP. anemones need excellent water parameters (0's throughout). HTH

It really doesn't look that bad, but it not being sticky is a little worrisome. I'm sure Bobby is right about the black being waste. My 2 do the same from time to time.

laurabolyard,

First, Welcome to Tr, the BEST reefing forum on the Web.

I really hate to be the one to break this to you but, keeping an anemone in a 5 gallon tank is not conducive to it's longevity. I don't know who sold it to you but, I'd suggest you return it. It is more likely to die than live and when it does your tank water will turn rotten in a hurry jeopardizing anything else in there. Anemones need bright light to survive and any fixture with enough power to help keep it alive will heat your tank up too much and that will become a problem. Sorry, but in my humble opinion, the anemone purchase was a bad decision for your system.


Dick

that was supposed to [U]55[U] gallon:.
He wouldnt even fit in a 5 gallon :)

LOL, I was thinking that must be one damn small anemone....

I kind of chuckled ... :rotfl:MY BAD

I was a seahorse keeper, but had to sell them over the summer because I was going to be gone. Not many inhabitants since them because with seahorses, inverts were about all I kept (goby or blenny or two). Now I guess Im knds starting from scratch again. I always wanted to do the anemone thing, but couldnt with the ponies! BTW there is a 6 line Wrasse that I bought, hoping to eat bristles-NOT- So far, no trouble between him and new yellow stripe clown .

About the not having eating thing... I guess he had at some point (expulsoin). not to worry yet??? More concerned I guess with the not sticky:shout:

Better view

that was supposed to [u]55[u] gallon:.
He wouldnt even fit in a 5 gallon :)WELL, that's why I highly recommend posters preview, read and spell check every post. I had to go by what you typed not what you meant to type.

Dick

I appreciate all your help Dick, I didnt mean for my typo to cause distress.

Your typo didn't cause any distress for me. As explained above, my assessment was based on 5 gal, the typo, but, I couldn't have known that at the time.

Please, everyone, utilize the tools that Rob has integrated on this forum, spell check and preview. That will save us time and confusion. I use it every post, even the short ones.

Dick

Laura,

I have a GSM and a sixline and the maroon is meaner by far!

you know, my neighbor (I have tank envy) was just over and told me the same thing! So far he is letting the wrasse kind of hang out around the anemone with him. Temporary probably! Anemone looks okay to me, I think. Noticed some sticky, still "pooping" so he must be eating. Any idea how long the digestive process is for them?

I doubt he is eating unless you are hand feeding him. They eat when something drifts into them or the aquarist puts something into the tentacles. Then they may not eat it. I have seen them ingest something I thought they would like only to have it expelled a day or two later completely encased in a film like sack. So, because he is pooping doesn't mean he is eating. He is more likely still getting over the trauma and indigestion of what I described above.

Dick

as mentioned, I AM both putting food near his mouth and in his tentacles (partly to check his 'stick-ability") not just hoping something drifts by, nervous mother would be an understatement. He folds upward when I put ifood near his mouth,(which is more than he did in the beginning, he just let it sit there). so I am not sure where the is going from there as I can no longer see his mouth. It may be getting lost in the shuffle, eaten, snatched by clown, stuck in tentacles, hard to say.

I must have missed that you were attempting to feed the anemone, sorry. They really require little food. If he's not taking it in, I'd let him go a week or so just to give him time to settle in. I wish you the best of luck.

Dick

Thanx, I don't know how confident I am. I have never had one. I did a lot of research, but its not until you are observing their behavior that the real questions begin to arise. It wouldn't be out of the question for me to kill somethinwith kindness either though. Not real sure how healthy he was, and apparently it can be difficult to asess even after the best research, there is a lot to be said about experience (or lack thereof) with particular species.

Any change?

He has decided that he likes the bottom of the tank as opposed to higher up on a nice big piece of coral, closer to the light. He kept "falling down" I kept putting him back up. He has no trouble at all attaching, so I know that he really isnt falling. He seems happier in the sand, His tentacles are getting stickier, he is reacting more. Still unsure of what to expect.

Is he a long tentacle anemone? They prefer to bury their foot in the sand.

Well, when I discovered his preference to the bottom of the tank, I 'helped' his foot into the sand, and he helped himself right out. Maybe he would prefer to be against the glass under the sand, Ive readthat. At the moment, he seems at peace. Clowns occasionally 'nip' at deflated tentacles?:mad:

I'd just let him find his own place, that is what he is probably going to do anyway. I've never seen my clown nip at my anemone but he does head butt it when it is not open!

I guess he's found it, right in front in the sand! Looks good to me!!!!!

Even better if it is where you like it!

Most will choose silversides as their favorite. . You should try several different sizes, right down to tiny little minced up pieces. It wll be an experiment to find what yours prefers.
Mine was completely bleached and not sticky. It took about 4-5 weeks before it finally would readily take food. I would try for up to 30 min. a day, watching for it to eat the food I offered. . Now it is immediately grabbing the food and taking it all in. The pieces are now up to 1" in size, but in the beginning they were very tiny.
Just keep at it. Best of luck. This lady is really an expert at anemones and is happy to help you
karensroseanemones.com:up:

Hi cr8signs, :welcome: to TR.

cr8signs, http://www.theculturedreef.com/welcome.gif to Talking Reef Forum!!!

I know this reefer. She is an old friend of mine! Well she is young compared to me but I've known her for about 25 years. We have just recently reconnected our friendship.

Hi Renee, glad you decided to come aboard.

Dick

Thanks CarmieJo. I just finished reading the thread on Amphibious 135 reef. You are all so friendly here, I couldn't wait to sign on! Hi Dick.
Also, Laurabolyard, wetwebmedia.com has some really good info on anemones, all areas from lighting to feeding and everything else you might want to know about them.

We try to be friendly. :) Thanks for jumping right in and sharing your knowledge with us.

I'm pretty sure I will be getting much more knowledge than I'll be giving:p If nothing else, I can sure try and help someone NOT make the same mistakes I have.

I'm pretty sure I will be getting much more knowledge than I'll be giving If nothing else, I can sure try and help someone NOT make the same mistakes I have.
thats the best thing about Talkingreef!, welcome to tr.


laura, welcome to you also, i just wanted to add my 2 cents on your anemone. it looks healthy and chances are he is eating if he is grabbing the food you are offering and wrapping it up, that would explain the discharge you are seeing, i believe that is the digested remains of his last dinner. i have a pair of black saddleback clowns that host in a long tentacle anemone. my clowns have been seen feeding the anemone by spitting shrimp,fish, and sometimes squid into it so it can grab the food. i also due my part to make sure it gets enough to eat, and mine will due what you are describing. my lta likes being in the sand also and it did bury its "foot" . let us know if there is any change and see if your clown don't try to feed the anemone. good luck.

cr8signs and clownfish, thank you so much for taking time to add to the wonderful help given. You have encouraged me to know about the stickiness and the eating-both things I have been so worried about!! He does seem to prefer the sand. Hasnt actually burried his foot, but sems steadfast just the same! I have hopes!! I'll try the silversides-what about krill?

If I remember correctly, that was also a good one to feed them. One of the sites said any meaty substance that was of the ocean.
I also think your anemone looks healthy, (I am assuming that picture on your replies is of your anemone and clown?) Looks like good color and like everyone else has stated the yuk coming out is exactly that, "poop" :tongue2:, or the parts of the food it does not want or need.