Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. quadricolor -- 1/18/08 Hi WWM crew and thanks for several years of good advice for weird situations. <Hello Tracy, Brenda here, and you are welcome!> I have another question for you. <Okay!> Context - 7 yr old stable 150gal reef w/ 10,000K MH lighting and no real problems for a long time. Blennies, gobies, clown, mushrooms, a few SPS, yellow polyp forest, pulsing xenia that reproduce so madly they pay half my maintenance costs. <A lot of mushrooms?> Crisis - My rose BTA (favorite thing in the whole tank, had it 18 months, grew ~10x in size in that time, skunk clown lives in it) had some sort of horrible, unexplained accident yesterday. I found it in the overflow box with a piece (~15%) torn off. <The anemone was not happy. It was looking for a better place.> The mouth appears badly damaged, the pedicle is fine, and tentacles are fine. The small piece is really small, has only 5-10 tentacles on it & is mostly a blown up balloon. I put both pieces in my refugium, assuming it was going to die quickly but wanting to give it a chance. <Many anemones survive this type of injury, including going through powerheads. Protect all of your intakes. The recovery process will depend greatly on the health of the anemone before its injury. I do recommend a water change if you haven't already.> Well, this morning, all the tentacles are out and beautiful. The damage is still very severe, but neither piece is dying quickly. <I'm not surprised.> I am wondering where and how (if?) to try to rehabilitate it. <Provide it with pristine water parameters and time.> My refugium has only a PCF bulb (can't remember the wattage). I replace it every year, it is bright enough to sustain an insanely thick garden of Caulerpa, but I doubt it's bright enough for an anemone. <No it is not. However, the anemone will be ok for a few days without sufficient light. Moving it again will cause more stress. For now, let us try to figure out why it moved in the first place. Also, keep it away from all pumps in the refugium.> I am obviously very leery of putting a mangled anemone back in the main tank, where crabs & fish will pick on it; it will wander restlessly into some bad situation & die in a corner where I can't find it, etc. <What are you water parameters, including temperature, salinity, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, calcium and alkalinity? How many watts of metal halide do you have? I also need to know what skimmer and amount of flow you have in the tank. How often do you feed the anemone, what size portions, and what are you feeding?> What would you do with it right now? <Leave the anemone where it is for now and try to figure out the cause of it roaming. Running fresh carbon will also help in the recovery.> Under what circumstances would you feed it or put it back into the main tank? <The anemone is no where near ready to eat. This will take some time, perhaps weeks and will depend on the damage, previous health, and if you can correct the initial problem quickly. You need to wait until the anemone is completely healed before feeding. Trying to feed now will only cause more stress.> A few answers in your archive recommended Reef Dip for injured anemones. Do you think this is important? <No, and it may be more harmful. I don't recommend dips for anemones.> Thanks a lot. Tracy <You're welcome! Brenda>
Re: Injured Anemone, Will it survive? E. quadricolor -- 1/18/08 Hi Brenda & thanks for your reply. <You're welcome!> My anemone had been in the same place, happy, for many months, and growing very fast. I got him in mid-2006 and he was about the size of a quarter, now bigger than my hand. I feed mysis thawed in Selcon, 1 cube/week. <I would feed smaller portions 2 -- 3 times a week. Over feeding can cause stress. It can also cause the anemone to regurgitate several hours later.> Not much has changed in the tank lately. I did recently start adding strontium for some new small SPS corals, about 3 weeks ago. <Are you testing these levels before dosing?> Light: 2x 150w MH, 4x 54w actinics, total watts=529 <Did this anemone typically stay up high in the tank?> Temp usually 77 (chiller) <This is a bit low, try to aim for 80 degrees, without going over 82. Increase temperature slowly.> Sg=1.026 NH3, NO2, NO3=0 KH=8 (constant battle to get higher, but usually 8 no matter what I do) <A dKH of 8 is an acceptable range. I would not go much higher, if any. I would check your magnesium. If you are having trouble maintaining calcium and alkalinity levels, low magnesium may be the cause. An abrupt change in alkalinity will cause stress to anemones. So use caution here!> Ca=450 I actually don't have any intakes or powerheads in the tank, just a fast/powerful main pump with 2 returns in the tank. <No powerheads!!! Yeah!!! You have no idea how seldom I hear that! I am a strong believer in not keeping anemones with powerheads. Congrats to you for not using powerheads!> The anemone must have dived over the top of the overflow box, there's no other way in there! <Anemones can get through very small spaces when flow/suction is involved. I've seen them get sucked into a rather thick sponge filter on a powerhead.> I have ~20 mushrooms. I'm about to sell half of them and 1/3 of my basketball-sized xenia colony. Perhaps this will cut down on some of the chemical warfare that probably stresses the anemone. <Removing some of the mushrooms will help with chemical warfare.> I have carbon and a poly filter running all the time (time to change, about 2 months old). <Yes, carbon is only useful for a few weeks at best.> No skimmer, just a 20gal sump full of Caulerpa and detritivores (pump & turbulence segregated at one end by a screen). <I do recommend you purchase a reputable skimmer. This is one very important piece of equipment for any reef tank.> I'll do a 20% water change tonight and will take any other suggestions you have. How long do you think I can leave it in the refugium before the low light starts to impact its recovery ability? <This is hard to say. Some can go a few weeks or even a few months with inadequate lighting.> I don't want to go overboard with the quarantine and end up doing even more damage. <I understand. I would try giving the anemone 3 or 4 more days and then re-evaluate. Send me an update on it and I will help you decide. If things suddenly worsen during this time, let me know as soon as possible. Keep in mind that when this anemone does go back to the tank, it will need to be acclimated to the light. It may also immediately go into hiding (normal) or roam again so you will need to monitor it. Also, if you can, send me a picture of the anemone. If you are a member of a local reef club, you may be able to find someone willing to let you borrow some PC lighting to put over the sump during this time. You may also want to consider purchasing some back up lighting. Keeping the anemone in its current location as long as possible will help greatly. If you need help finding a local club, let me know. I will find out what is available in your area.> Tracy <Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! Brenda>