BTA all balled up Good afternoon, <Hi there> Yesterday, I did an extensive search through the bubble tip anemones, only to not find exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully someone out there could shed some light on the subject, or at least put me at ease. Here goes: First the basic info - 37 gallon Fish: (2) ocellaris clowns, (1) 3 stripe (which will be on his way out soon enough), and a lawnmower blenny. Inverts: (1) peppermint shrimp, (1) emerald crab, various red & blue leg hermits, Mexican turbo snails, Astrea, Cerith and Nassarius snails. Corals: a few yellow polyps, brown buttons, white and green striped Palythoa, various colored zoanthids, Ricordea, and mushrooms. Lighting: (3) 65 watt pc lighting (12 hrs on, 12 off) Filtration: (1) AquaClear 50 - sponge cleaned weekly, and carbon replaced every single month without exception. Skimmer: Excalibur hang-on Water movement: (1) Maxijet 1200, and the outputs from the skimmer (powered by a Rio 800) and the AquaClear keep things moving pretty good - I'm looking to add another Maxijet in the near future.   All together, probably 60 lbs live rock, and a shallow sand bed. my BTA has been in the tank for almost a month, and the tank itself went through a cycle that seemed like no other! It has been stable for about the last 6 to 7 months. The tank is fed once a day with a mixture of Nori, raw shrimp, freeze dried brine, and formula 1 flake, (all soaked in Selcon), along with DT's phyto every other day. over the past weekend, I decided to add about another 10 lbs of base rock. <This is a small tank/volume, a bunch of life to be moving about, adding so much in such a short time span...> Of course when adding the rock, other things had to be moved around and re-stacked. I also looked at it as re-arranging things a bit to break up territorial issues between my clowns and my 3-stripe. <This aggression will only get worse in time...> Anyway, after adding the new base rock, and doing some scraping and cleaning, and so forth, I did my weekly water change. I specifically waited to the very end to do the water change. The rock my BTA attached itself to happens to be the back of the rock with all my Palythoa and zoanthids. <Oh oh...> I had to move this rock up a little, and off to the side a little. The new location appears to have similar water movement, but it happens to be exposed more to the light. I specifically did not try to move the anemone itself, as I didn't want to tear it or stress it any further than what I had to. <Good> After the whole cloud of crap finally started to settle / filter out, I cleaned the sponge in the filter to remove excess garbage, and changed my carbon. All water parameters appear to be in good standing: pH - 8.2- 8.3, alk - normal (Red Sea "generalized" test), temp 79? - 80?, specific gravity - 1.025, Ca - 460 (a little high), ammonia - 0, nitrites - 0, nitrates - <10.  I don't test for anything else, and rarely test the amount shown here. usually only sg, pH and alk. Now, the BTA has only opened up maybe halfway, but usually stays tightly balled up (looks like a purplish red onion).  It still has all of its coloration (purple- maroonish colored base, very green tentacles with pink tips). When it is partly open, the mouth looks to be very tight, and I can't see any signs of decomposing. It's not expelling any waste that I can see. I know that they will move wherever they want to go when they want to, but this is the second day, and it appears that it hasn't moved an inch. Hopefully I'm right and everything will be ok within a couple of days. Should I attempt to feed it, or should I wait until it is fully open? <I'd definitely wait> Right now, my intentions are to just leave it alone. Any comments, suggestions, constructive criticisms? Hopefully I'm over-reacting. Sorry for the long winded message, but I wanted to put as much info out there as possible. Thanks. <IMO you are not over-reacting... There is a potential disaster brewing here... with the small volume, so much chemical change going on and trying to keep this anemone in the presence of the zoanthids... Please read re these animals: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm particularly their chemical incompatibility, danger to humans... In this tiny tank you will either have to be super-diligent in making water changes, checks on quality, use of chemical filtrants... perhaps add volume, filtration, other mediating influences through the addition of a refugium... or get rid of the zoanthids... possibly the anemone in time. Small volumes are just inherently too unstable... to house mixed cnidarian populations, particularly some groups. Bob Fenner>

Grr.. Sick BTA <Did these anemones feed regularly in the first month?> However for the past 5 days or so one of them has never inflated beyond half way, and the tentacles have remained all straggly.  It will open a bit more at night, but the tentacles never inflate.  It will not accept food, either.  The second BTA is doing great, eating, growing, etc. <Many possibilities here... not the least of which (no worries) is if it came form a tank with much lower light. Its not an issue of light shock, per se... but under aged lamps, weaker lamps, dirty/dusty lights and canopies/lenses... anemones and corals will swell up and pan for light (giving the appearance of being healthy ironically). Then when they get into better light, they do not need to pan so severely. It is that simple at times.> I did find a small Aiptasia anemone (the bastards) near the BTA.  I'm not sure if it was close enough to have stung it or not, but the possibility is definitely there.  If it was stung, would it be behaving like this? <Nope... they are much tougher than that.> Any way to get it eating and healthy again if so? <Try feeding small amounts of meaty "juice" to the tank at the same time every night. You can condition a feeding response in just a week or two this way. Do it at the end of the day or after the lights go out for zooplankton feeders like this.> My water quality is excellent as of yesterday (0 ammonia, nitrites, less than 5 ppm nitrates, pH 8.3, temp 80F, SG 1.025). <You may want to double check the accuracy of your hydrometer. If this is a plastic job (or handheld refractometer... crap), then I definitely would consider keeping at least one other meter (glass hydrometers are excellent... sparing the need for tabletop refractometers) for periodic calibration.> Lighting is a 150w metal halide and 2 55w PCs (10,000k and actinic).  Water changes are performed at least twice weekly of about 4 gallons <Hmmm... great that you're doing twice weekly water changes but the amount is rather modest/tiny... this will not adequately dilute the undesirables. It would be better to do much larger exchanges.> Also in the tank is a yellow headed Jawfish, ~2" maroon clown, a few xenia bunches, a few patches of green star polyps, a Ricordea (partially shadowed by the LR), and a few gorgonians. <Likely not the issue, but star polyp and gorgonians are very noxious... two of the worst (re: allelopathy) > Anyone have any ideas?  The BTA still has a firm grip on the rock it came on, hasn't move more than an inch, but it's looked half dead for about 5 days now.  It's stressing ME out. <Be patient my friend... and above all - DO NOT move this anemone. A surefire way to kill it :( > Anthony

E. quadricolor concerns 7/17/04 Hey there, I have recently added a bubble tip anemone to my tank 3 weeks ago, and it's habits seem strange compared to the information I have read over the internet.  It seems to thrive in the evening to early morning, but within a couple hours of the lights coming on it shrinks up and its oral disk opens right up and eventually turns inside out (some days).  This has been a constant since about 4or 5 days after it was added to the tank.  I have been feeding it Mysis soaked in Selcon and live phytoplankton every second day, although the poachers get a lot of it. <What you are describing is definitely some kind of stress.  The lighting you list below is probably not enough to maintain this animal, let alone light shock it, so I would suspect a water quality issue.> The first couple of days it moved around the tank, but since then it has been in the same spot about halfway to the surface under an overhang. It is however in a more turbulent area since it is directly behind where the two powerhead flows come together. <Too much current is often an issue, but if the anemone wandered and settled in this spot, I doubt that this is the problem.  Do  keep an eye on it to go on the move again.> Tank Specs: 32 Gallon, 130watt PC 50/50, 2 Powerheads @270GPH/each on opposite sides of the tank, Protein skimmer running 24/7 Temp:81, pH:8.2, nitrite 0, ammonia 0-0.6, salinity: 1.026, 35lbs live rock + 20lbs base rock. <All sounds fine, but your light is a bit low to be keeping anemones.  Also, any detectible ammonia is a problem, I would verify your results on another test kit (preferably another brand).> In the hopes of finding a solution it there is a problem, I'll tell you now the tank is probably overstocked, but since my levels have stayed consistent I have not been overly concerned.  The tank is about 4 months old. Tank Inhabitants: 2 cleaner shrimp 1 fire cleaner shrimp 2 peppermint shrimp 25 various hermits +/ - 25 various snails +/ - 2 ocellaris clownfish (medium) 1 regal tang (small) 1 clarkii clownfish (medium) 1 tube anemone 1 Hawaiian feather duster Blue mushrooms Button polyps Finger leather Plate coral <Waaaayyy too many hermits and snails for such a small tank.  Also, peppermint shrimp can pester desirable anemones.  Button polyps and mushrooms may produce chemicals that will adversely affect the anemone.> The clarkii is only a week new to the tank and has yet to go into the anemone, I added the clarkii hoping that it would keep the poachers away since the 2 ocellaris did not seem to care much for the anemone.  All corals are located well away from the anemone. <Clownfish often take a while to move into an anemone in captivity, particularly if the species don't normally associate in the wild and/or the clowns are captive raised.> Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thank you, Steve <I would suggest observing the peppermints for irritating behavior or removing them regardless.  I would also consider adding more light.  Using small amounts of carbon occasionally will help reduce the chemical competition from other animals.  Although it doesn't have anything to do with your anemone problem, I would also reduce the numbers of hermits and snails to 1/3 of what you have now and maybe considering giving up the hermits all together (too destructive with minimal benefit, IME).  Best regards.  Adam>  

Red Rose Anemone Hello,<Hi Patrick, MacL here with you today.> I am a lurker of your website and really enjoy all the information it has to give. I am writing you today in concerns to my red rose anemone. I am new to the hobby of saltwater but I have a great amount of experience in freshwater. I have enclosed some pictures of my anemone, I was a little concerned for his health. When I purchased him (about a week ago) he was very tiny in his tank, but when I got him home and put him in mine, he opened up to almost triple in size! I continued to monitor my water parameters and feed him and my feather duster phytoplankton every other day, while I continued to feed my Lionfish and Clownfish krill everyday. Until the last couple of days he seems to have gotten sick or maybe he is dying?<Actually it looks to me like he is digesting food> I am not sure, frankly I am a little scared. My clownfish loves him, as you can see in my photos, and he refuses to leave him. I don't want him to die. So my question is, does what you see in the picture look normal, if not what is wrong and what can I do? I tried feeding him some brine shrimp when he was totally open and he more then happily accepted. But that was two days ago, and he hasn't really opened back up since then. <Does he seem to be disintegrating? Falling apart? It looks more to me like he's drawn in while he's digesting from a good brine shrimp meal.> Please help me, and I am apologize for the lengthy question. Thanks in advance. <Patrick keep a close eye on him but honestly I think you are just fine in this case. MacL> Patrick

Bleached anemone... needs help 9/17/04 Crew, If you would be so kind as to identify the anemone in the attached photo? It appears to me to be a Condylactis, but my Cinnamon clown (Amphiprion melanopus) loves to hang out in it and he is only supposed to like bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea). What do you think? <the anemone clearly is a bleached bubble-tip anemone: Entacmaea quadricolor> It was sold to me as a bubble tip (with the rock). David A. Bidwell <the ID was correct... although this anemone is EXTREMELY unhealthy... bleached of all <<... NOT all.>> zooxanthellae and soon to be dead (months) if it does not get some very regular feedings from you - finely minced meats of marine origin several times weekly or near daily. Thawed Mysid shrimp and Pacifica plankton are a good start. Anthony>

-White (eek!) Bubble Tipped Anemone- I have bought a white bubble tipped anemone <Ooo, just the name makes me shudder!> (about 2 weeks) and he does not look so hot.  His tentacles are withered and he shrinks up a ton when the lights are on.  The only time he comes out is at night, but even then his tentacles are still sad looking. <I would wager that this anemone is bleached.> I was told to feed him shrimp pellets and/or frozen brine shrimp along with a phytoplankton supplement. <This anemone should be fed frozen (completely defrosted!) meaty seafoods like shrimp, clam, krill etc. I'd skip the pellets, don't bother with brine because it is very small and of only a very low nutritional value, and continue to use phyto, but note that the anemone does not consume it directly.> He doesn't look good.  Can I have too much light?  I only have 4- 36W in a 55 gallon. <Normally, this wouldn't be a lot of light for a BTA. Since this guy is probably bleached, it is a little more than it can handle at the moment. Please, never buy an anemone that is clear or white in color as it is "sick". White or clear anemones have lost most/all of their symbiotic zooxanthellae whose photosynthetic activity inside the anemones tissue gives its host a valuable and important energy source. All may not be lost though, you should be able to sustain the anemone with food until it, hopefully, regains its zooxanthellae. I would feed it 3 times a week with one or all of the aforementioned foods. Check out http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm and part 2 of the same article.>  I have no other fish, just a few crabs and snails.  Please help me. <Could you get a picture of it? From your description it sounds bleached, but it's hard to say without a picture or a very detailed description of the color. Good luck! -Kevin> Thank you, Brooke

Sick Anemone? BTA 10/17/03 Hi, I have a very small (3in across at most) bubble tip anemone.  I've had it for about 1 month now (tank has been established for about 6 months). <FWIW... its kind of a young tank to have purchased an anemone for. Little natural plankton available no doubt unless you also have a large refugium inline. I also hope you have resisted a mix with other stinging anemones or corals. It will be your best bet for success with keeping any motile anemone. Read more in the WWM archives about mixing cnidarians> Basically, when I first got it, it seemed fine and healthy and (I think) colored up a bit.  I originally fed it every day with some formula one, about an eight of a cube (fighting the cleaner shrimp off was quite the chore!).  And he seemed to be doing fine.   <agreed... a good habit here> Pictures of it, more or less chronologically are found here http://www-personal.umich.edu/~skotzaba/anemone.htm  I did some more reading, and as always, I came across a lot of opinions on how often anemones should be fed.   <does vary by species (and tank-- depending on incidental feeding opportunities with heavy fish populations)> The general consensus was that you should feed them, at most, twice a week--any more might harm them.    <I disagree... I would suggest 3-5 times weekly for most at minimum. The "harm" in feeding anemones is with chunks of food that are too large... not fine matter "too often"> Well, I did that, which  seems to be when the decline started.  It would spend a great deal of its time contorted and releasing mucus.  It did this for a while and then its mouth began to gape and it would spend a while looking as if he would puke out his internals (white squiggly intestinal things, which I think are the mesenterial filaments).   <correct... and commonly occurs with feeding large chunks of food. Yikes> I thought the outlook was grim, but I didn't have the heart to toss him out yet.  He spend a while continuing on that course, until one day he decided to move under a rock, then within a day he moved  back out and attached his foot at the base of the rock, near the bottom of the tank; so he is now horizontally oriented to the substrate.  He still looked horrid.  I took a mucus sample and looked at it under a microscope.  Obviously I'm no scientist, so what I saw didn't reveal much.  A lot of dark brown, various thin worms jerking about and one of what looked like those small calcareous tube worms one gets all over the glass.  I posted on a few boards asking for help.  Basically, one individual, who seemed to know what he was talking about, said that the anemone is exhibiting signs of malnutrition and that an anemone should be fed as often as it will eat.  So I embarked on the task of feeding it.  It, of course, didn't really respond to food like the majano anemones <<! RMF>> in the sump do (reaching for an grabbing, although his tentacles are so stubby, he never really reached in the first place).  I have to gently place the piece near its mouth.  In its glory days it would then close up and eat it.  Now it takes about 20 minutes before it coordinates itself enough to eat.  Its much like spoon-feeding a crippled patient.  Anyhow, the good news is that he started looking better, at least comparatively, so I've continued daily feedings and I'm hoping he might improve.  Is there any advice you can offer, based on what I've told you?   <I believe you are truly o the right track... feeding several times weekly if not daily will be optimal. Nothing larger than fine plankton/mysids (1/4" or smaller)> Tank is a 50 gallon with a 20gal sump.  pH: 8.3 Am:0 Ni:0 Na:2ppm Salin: 1.024 Alk:3 Ca:400 Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read my long story. <best of luck! Anthony>

Bubble Tips Dying >I have had a successful fish & reef (small reef - some mushrooms and one leather) tank for over 5 years (75 gallon).  I lost power due to Isabel for two days about a month ago.  I have lost power before - sometimes even longer with no ill effects.  I have battery powered air stones and I agitate the water regularly and add hydrogen peroxide as part of my disaster recovery plan.  My Bubble tip Anemones are dying.  I have six altogether (started at two) that are from the same original stock.  They have divided happily over the years.  >>So, as I understand you, you've had these anemones (at least the original two) for at least five years, yes? >Only *two* things changed.  First I did about a 25 gallon water change after power returned due to the hurricane. Then I added some gravel to the bottom of my tank.  I do this every year or so to replace the siphoned gravel.  Suddenly ALL of my bubbles stopped opening fully!  Then one of them moved to the underside of one rock.  The tentacles remained as stubs or nubs up to this time on all of them!  Now one is starting to lose color.  Could my tank have been polluted by some unknown substance (metal) in the rock?  >>This is a possibility, to be sure, assuming your water source, etc. are all EXACTLY as usual. >Or could the stress of the Hurricane caused this?  Again, I have lost power for longer periods with the same bubbles and had no ill effects.   >>The hurricane itself?  I seriously doubt it, these creatures have to have evolved exposed to the problems associated with hurricanes and typhoons, wouldn't you think? >I have tested the water many times & so has my local reef expert retailer.  Everything looks good & is within level.   >>We do prefer to get exact readings on everything tested. >Sorry - that this is so long.  Should I remove them from the tank?  >>If they appear to be disintegrating, then yes, they really must be removed. >My reef pet retailer said he can store them for me.  I am worried that the stress of the move will kill them but if I do nothing - I will lose them as well.  Thanks. Diane >>I would worry about that if they're very firmly attached, otherwise, the move itself shouldn't be a terrible problem.  However, if it were me, I would set up a hospital tank, rather than risk an entirely different system.  Marina

BTA infected, splitting or what? >I have had this BTA for about 12 days now.   Got him from LiveAquaria.com.  It was supposed to be medium sized (3"-5"), but this thing is enormous (10"-12).  About 3 days ago it started to develop "sores", and now his mouth is kind of funny.  I've attached some photos from day 2 of their appearance.   >>Yes, I've seen them.  These are NOT sores, it looks to me that the animal is dying quickly.  What I see is the outer membrane breaking open.  It will need to be removed ASAP. >For the most part they are confined to the area around the mouth although there are 1or 2 spots away from the mouth as well.  You can just see one of these in IMG_0051 (renamed "DyingBTA").  The "sores" look worse today and are now on both sides of the mouth. >>Indeed, once an anemone begins to go, it goes FAST. >All of the water parameters in my tank are good (no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, sg 1.024, pH ~8.2, KH 10).  Please let me know what you think.  Thanks! -matt >>Sorry I haven't got better news for you, Matt.  If it were me, I would contact the vendor and let them know what's happened.  In the meantime, if the thing is still around, move it to its own tank immediately.  Best of luck.  Marina

BTA infected, splitting or what?  II >Marina, The anemone died on Saturday. >>Argh!  Sorry to hear that, though it really looked like it was on its way out.  I hope you've called the vendor, as I don't think it should have gone that fast if shipped properly. >Just wanted to say thanks for the reply and for the heads-up on the ensuing disaster. >>You're welcome. >Took the poor thing and placed it in my QT tank.  By then (Friday the 24th) most of its outer membrane had broken down and there was a large hole right through the middle of it.   >>Uck.. good thing you put it in the q/t, and good thing you HAVE a q/t! >Luckily it was still rather intact.  Things only got worse from there as I'm sure you are familiar with. >>All too. >What a mess.  Sure am glad it was in my QT.  Thanks again. -matt >>Oh yes, I'm glad it didn't die in your display, that's a hell of a mess when that happens.  I think it came in rough condition in the first place, so I hope they make good on it for you.  Marina

Sea anemone  hi  <cheers, Marc!>  I have an odd situation going on with my large solitary cloning variety rose bubble-tipped anemone which appears to be healthy. it eats when fed and will expand by day and contract at night yet over the past month it has been dropping tentacles at @ 1- 2 a day followed by days when it does not loose any . To look at the anemone it seems o.k. the lost tentacles are not even missed , it almost looks as if they are being replaced by new ones although I can not be& sure as the smaller ones may just be contracted but perhaps not because they are shaped and lack the "flat tire deflated look" . <understood.. I have seen this before. Not uncommon at all. Not clearly understood either. Often ascribed to allelopathic duress (chemical poisoning of the self or from other cnidarians in the display)> the dropped tentacles are all intact and usually somewhat inflated looking and look to have had a tunicate tied around the base ( point of detachment ) . The anemone does not appear to be torn& or show scaring . The tank does contain H. crispa which is fine and has a A. nigripes clownfish which would not use the E. quadricolor when I isolated the H. crispa in a basket at the other end of the six foot long aquarium ( 72"x18"x18" ) . when I had met you in Lancaster at the that fish place seminar we discussed my system and you recommended that I remove the H .crispa as the E . quad. may eventually kill it could this or the opposite be what is happening ?  <I would have to agree that it is possible. At the very least the anemone seems to be responding to the presence of its competitor by sending our aggressive noxious aborted tentacles (powerful stinging "weapons" sent out into the drift upon the sensation of a competitive neighbor)> I have read of other's who keep the two together ( the latest being an article in f.a.m.a. on bubble tips and another on the web . )  <not exactly, my friend... while it is true that many people do mix species together for a year or two... it is extremely rare to find someone that succeeds in doing it for more than two years. And are you/we willing to play the odds that you will be the one person in a hundred that succeeds while 99 others own dead anemones <G>? Ha!> The only other fish is a springeri Pseudochromis . It would not appear to be a predator as the dropped tentacles do not get consumed by anything , not even by the small bristle worms .  <understood and agreed... they are noxious and potent for having been imparted with stinging mechanisms.. a defensive strategy most likely>  Someone had suggested that this may be a normal part of E. quad's lifecycle.  <I strongly disagree... few reef animals abort viable tissue on a nutrient starved reef. They only abort when necessary (necrosis, defense, reproduction)... the contrary is RARE. If the tissue was unnecessary it would likely be reabsorbed or eaten (as arthropods do with molts). >  The only thing different to my set-up since we met and before this started was that I reassumed use of the protein skimmer and add another 2-2.5" of sand ( @ 4.5" total depth.  <both excellent moves :) >  Thanks for the sand tip I found it packaged as Caribbean play sand.  <quite welcome!>  Every thing else in the tank is doing fine ( tank does not contain soft corals ) . I am wondering what you think , any info would be of interest . thanks  <indeed... the tank is maturing and noxious compounds accumulate inevitably. Any way you slice it, it sounds defensive to me. Have you noticed that the people that acknowledge shedding of tentacles from anemones commonly (always!) have other anemones or aggressive corals in the tank ;) There's a common thread here <G>. I'd pull one anemone on the assumption and for the greater good of both and watch to see if the shedding doesn't slow down or stop. Do extra water changes and skim/carbon to dilute the noxious elements. I'll be back at That Fish Place (Lancaster) April 6th by the way! Best regards, Anthony>

E. quadricolor Anthony I did read Bobs book (CMA) and FAQ and must have missed something as far as the coloration goes.   <hmmm... truth be told, we are deficient in field survey information here. But, to some extent, common sense also tells us that a symbiotic Cnidarian cannot have any significant degree of white color: the lack of pigmentation. As such, bleached or partially bleached anemones are starving for lack of zooxanthellate symbiotic activity (feeding/translocation of carbon). There really is no such thing as a white anemone... at least not a healthy one. No worries though... you sound sincere and dedicated. Continue to feed and care for this specimen well... it will get greener in time as you have noticed.> It ate well at the LFS and was fully expanded there, for the whole week.   <heehee... and then another 4 weeks at home in  proper quarantine and we have a responsibly imported and held animal <G>> No tears, no abrasions etc.   <all good> It is fully expanded here as well most of the time (generally right after it eats it stays scrunched up for awhile).   <understood my friend> Well it is starting to turn more brownish-green, and in straight actinic is very, very green.  Also it eats very well - it is taking the Sweetwater zooplankton I feed it with gusto. <excellent to hear!> I hope all will be well with it! <I wish you the very best! Anthony>
Pale Anemone Anthony, Thank you for the prompt replies and honest advice!  The common sense regarding coloring of creatures containing zooxanthellae is true, and makes me go DUH. <no worries... I/we have had many of those moments <G>. We learn in time> I appreciate the frankness and the courtesy!   <its our trademark here at WetWebMedia. Oh, ya... and some sarcasm disguised as wit sometimes too :)  > Often frankness and advice is given in a scoffing manner to those newer to the hobby. <understood and agreed my friend... we appreciated the sharing of your story very much. It made a great point and we posted it promptly the next day. Just the mention of the color of your anemone and this common problem prompted me to mention it to you> Thank you for the encouragement! One short question, while it is recovering from being kept at the LFS, how often should I feed it?  I was planning on 3x per week, but want to know if more or less often right now would be better. Cheers! RVM <actually... 3X weekly with very fine foods (minced 1/4 or smaller) sounds very fine to me. There is a fine line to walk here. No feeding will kill an anemone in 6-12 months for most. But overfeeding (especially with large chunks of krill or silversides/feederfish) will kill it just as fast. Never feed adult frozen brine shrimp (to anything!) but offer tiny high protein ocean meats/plankton. Shell on is best. Mysis and Pacifica plankton top the list. Best regards, Anthony>

Tank bowing and BTA Anthony, Oh boy you're gonna love this tank. It is slightly larger than 1/8".   <Doh! that's not a tank... that's an aquatic hand-grenade. Don't stand too close to it :) Ahhh... what I mean to say is... Wow... thin glass.> I don't have a 1/16 ruler on hand but it appears to be constructed of 3/16" glass panes.   <indeed... commonly used to make 5 and 10 gallon aquariums. This is even a bit too thin here and better manufacturers offer a "thick-walled" ten gallon aquarium option> I re-measured the bow (deflection) and it is right about 1/8"-1/4", so approximately the thickness of the glass.   <again... likely not a big deal. But still thin... no worries> My father has been keeping fish tanks since 1970, and doesn't think it's a concern, <people also used to use leeches to cure diseases... er, wait a minute... they still do! That solves it... the tank is fine <G>> but I don't trust it.  Admittedly, he's put tanks through some rough treatment.  Real rough.  Even moving some while they were full.   <that is dangerous indeed... a good way to torque a seam and cause a leak> None were ever really name brand types.  So I tend to trust his experience, but at the same time I don't trust the tank.   <agreed on both counts> Very annoying... It was only a $30 tank, but that's still $30 to me, and I've had it too long to exchange it.   <still... you really can keep it and it will be fine. Just know for the next tank that thicker walled tanks are available... no biggie> I'm trying to get the money for an engagement ring, house down payment and more university, so I don't have a lot to through around, <kudos and best of luck across the board here> though I will if necessary. All that anecdotal stuff being said, is this a genuine cause for concern? <nope> Real quick BTA question too while I'm thinking of it... I've had my BTA about two weeks, and it was in the LFS for two weeks.  At the LFS it was doing well, except for being a creamy color which I thought was its normal coloration (I've read a lot but nothing on what to look for color wise in inverts...  after a big duh concerning color indicating health in inverts that use zooxanthellae I've learned my lesson, and thankfully without a large expenditure of money or the needless loss of life).  It had no tears or abrasions and within an hour of having it home I fed it and it gulped down the zooplankton.   <cool> Since then it still eats when I feed, unless the clown pulls it all out thinking it is garbage or what have you, and still opens up, but its mouth kinda gapes open sometimes and during the day it opens up a lot less than at night.   <hmmm...> Normally at night it is wide open, fully extended etc.   <should be for feeding on zooplankton... but not always> Its color *seems* to be coming back, but it is hard to tell.  Just wondering what your opinion on this animal is. <recovery of "color"/zooxanthellae takes many months. The anemone will take on a patchy or blotchy appearance in the interim. Know in the future too that they shrivel and look bad just before they reproduce/split. Do read these articles in the archives> So sorry for the extended e-mail to you - I know you are busy.  I relish the service you guys at WWM provide and since I already know you will answer (your reputation is such that I would never doubt receiving a reply and the best answers possible) I want to thank you with full sincerity. Happy holidays to you! Robert <and to you as well my friend. Thanks kindly. Anthony>

There's A New Anemone In Town... I just have one quick question concerning my bubble tip anemone that I purchased yesterday. I have done a lot of reading about these anemones before I bought this one. It seems to be doing well, it has moved from one side of the rock to the other. It has full color, it is brown with a slight hint of green on the tips. The foot is a reddish color so I assume that it has not lost any of its zooxanthellae. Well I read that they are ferocious eaters. I tried feeding mine a little piece of shrimp, at first it look as if the tentacles stuck to it but after a sec it let go and would not take it in. I figured I would give it some time since it was just introduced in the system. Should it have taken the piece of shrimp or is it just not hungry? <Hard to say, actually...A feeding response doesn't always happen when you dangle food in front of it...most of the time, but not always. I'd try smaller foods in the future, and give it a little more time to get established in your tank> My pair of Tomato Clowns sure do love it, but really did not like my hand when I was putting it in there. The one kept on biting me and in a few spots actually drew a little blood, things are aggressive!!! They were actually swimming in the anemone while it was in my hand. I set the anemone in a spot were there is a good crevice in the rock but it has moved to the other side but has its foot down in a hole. <Yep! The clowns in the anemone are basically defending their new home! They can be quite aggressive at this, too!> It seems to not be as sticky as it should be, I made a mixture of Formula 1, Vita Chem, Zooplankton, and some other Marine flake and squirted the mixture into the anemone and it stuck but then kind of got brushed off by the clowns. I tried to keep them out but it still would not bring the food to its mouth. Is this something to be worried about or just give it a little time and it will begin to eat? I really appreciate the help guys and gals (Marina). Thanks, Chris <Yep- I'd give it a little more time to settle in...Anemones are remarkably adaptable animals, but, like any other creature added to our tanks, they do need to acclimate and adjust to their new environment. This process is just as stressful to them as it is to fishes, so I'd let the anemone establish itself a little longer before attempting feeding again...Should be fine, if the anemone was properly acclimated...Hang in there! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Stressed BTA 3/27/03 okay.. so I have a curiosity question... I received a green BTA the other day and when I received it (it was shipped for about 12 hours) it was attached to the plastic inside the bag and was a bit deflated.. I went through a 90 minute acclimation process of temp and water and then dropped him in the tank (a 30 gallon with a rose BTA that's more than healthy) the first day he expanded a little and then second day he expanded even more. but by the end of the second day he had (what looked to like to me) turned himself inside-out and deflated all his tentacles and base.  by this morning he's no longer inside out, but he hasn't inflated at all.. so what I was wondering is if this is a total lost cause or if there's any possibility of a recovery of this one.. at the moment I think he's attached to the rock in which he's hiding.. so I figured that might actually be a plus as compared to not being attached.. any info greatly appreciated Jonathan <the anemone really should have been put in QT first like all new additions. Had it been so, we could safely sit back in observation and with hope of recovery without fear of a sudden death wiping out the whole display tank. I really can't emphasize strongly enough the need to QT all new livestock. Now that it is in the tank, however, a move to QT after shipping and then the display water will take a serious toll on the poor creature if it doesn't finish it off altogether. I still have hope of it surviving. Leave it in place and watch it closely for the next 48 hours in particular. Be prepared to remove it quickly if it slimes over. Otherwise, it will take some days/weeks to slowly acclimate to the new water quality and lighting scheme. Please do read thought the archives on for articles and FAQs on QT protocol and BTAs. Best of luck. Anthony>
Re: stressed BTA 3/27/03 ok.. well here's a slight update..  the anemone is in the QT tank.. that's what I use my 30 gallon for.. I do frags and new shipments and the like in there.. it's just that the other anemone in the tank is still in QT as I just received it about 1-1/2 weeks ago. <excellent to hear... wrong assumption on my part... my bad <G> here's the odd thing though.. the anemone seems to have flipped onto it's side and is still responsive so I know he's alive (I can see slight shifts in the deflated tentacles, or movements in the base).. so, on his side I noticed it looks as if something came along and bit a hole in the side of the animal.. so could he possibly be splitting? <it could... but it is much more likely that it is simply in a state of duress.> I don't know how clean the whole fission reproduction thing is, but it's the only positive thing I can think of for the situation that he seems to be in.. <it is admittedly an ugly process> but you can see his insides.. almost what appear to be intestines that are outlining the edge of his "wound" <alas, it is much more common that it sustained an injury (often when bagged for shipping)> okay.. so I know these pictures probably won't help, but I figured it couldn't hurt.. if you look carefully the anemone is in a horseshoe position, and at the bend in the horseshoe is where the divide began on the anemone.  the more pronounced area where you can see the fluorescent green tentacles is the bottom half of the anemone and if you look directly above that you can see the base portion of the other half.. hope all this makes sense. :/ <understood but not clear from the photo bud> thanks again Jonathan (by now you guys are probably wishing you could just delete my emails, but I really appreciate all the help your crew has given me :) <no worries... and thanks for your efforts too. Hang in there with this anemone. Simply focus on water quality and do have patience. Not much else to be done at present. Best regards, Anthony>

BTA Good Morning! Yesterday I brought home 3 bubble tip anemone's and the clown that called them home.  This morning one of he anemone's appeared "deflated" (not closed like at night).  Is it dead?  Although the store gave me the whole rock the guy did mention trying to get one off previously and having a "hard time".   If it's not dead should I try to feed it?  Thanks Jeff  <Check the foot for any tears, if there is any there is little chance of him surviving.  Otherwise just provide a proper environment and he should come around in time.  I would also try feeding him with some krill or Mysis shrimp.  Cody>

BTA foot caught under rock <gulp!> I was cleaning my tank today, and I usually don't disturb the rock that my Bubble Tip Anemone is attached to, but today I accidentally jostled the rock! Since the anemone has chosen to lodge its foot to the underside of the rock (which rests slightly off the sand floor, supported by parts of the rock that extend out), I'm worried that its foot may be pinned between the rock and the floor. The anemone has been in this position for about a month. Would it disturb or stress out the anemone if I picked up the rock to check if the foot is pinned? Would it be worse to leave the rock "as is" if the foot is pinned? ---Stella <better check to see if it is crushed.. the risk of a necrotic infection is worse than the stress of disturbing it. Best regards, Anthony>