Anemone action

Reef lingo 101

RBTA - Rose Bubble-Tip Anemone

GBTA - Green Bubble-Tip Anemone

nem - anemone

As stated in the previous entry, I acquired a RBTA from a reefer friend a couple months ago. For the short while that I have had the anemone, it has already split doubling my rose anemone population! Not only is that exciting, but it also is a good indicator that my water quality is in check and the anemone is happy in it's new home with no stress. Moreover, the local coral selling/trading market value on a rose nem is about $50-$75. I was in no hurry to sell my newest invertebrate addition because I wanted to enjoy and grow it out for a bit. I also figured because I had experienced one successful split already, why not hold off to see if i can get these two to equal four in nearly the same amount of time?! Shortly after the split, I noticed both nems became very mobile, perhaps searching for new real estate to call their own. One day while I was feeding the tank, I noticed one rose was hanging out on the body tube of the skimmer, and the other was making its way along the wall around one end of the tub (I lack a display tank

at the moment, therefore all my livestock resides in a pair of rubbermaid tubs, 50 &

100 gallon, until the current 93g cube project is prepared to accept the move). The following day, I had to rescue the "skimmer surfing" nem from the intake of the skimmer; the remaining parts of the anemone not being sucked into the skimmer pump were shriveled and hanging on for dear life. I immediately jolted into action and unplugged the skimmer pump releasing the suction on the tentacles. Next, I gently peeled the foot away from the intake tube and allowed the nem enough time to attach its foot to a solid rock structure so the whirling current created by my four Tunze 6055 pumps would not set it free into the water column sending the stressed anemone into further disaster. Whew!... loss of life overted... or so I thought! The following day, or two, again while feeding, I was searching for the pair of RBTA's but could find only one. Upon further inspection, I found ghost-white remnants of the second nem, in the form of a larger "glob" of anemone being chewed on by a skunk cleaner shrimp with a smaller "glob" nearby. Oh no!!!... loss of life inflicted this time! My hypothesis is that the wall-crawling nem must have been sucked into the nearby Tunze powerhead, chewed up by the propellor and shot back out into the sand bed. Obviously, I did not see this happen, but I further predict for a moment there bits 'o anemone scattered the reef and became clownfish, tang, cardinal, wrasse, cleaner shrimp, hermit crab, snail and other clean-up crew inhabitant food. Poor invertebrate... although recycling is a good thing right?... sorry, just kidding. After finding this evidence of tragedy, I quickly removed the sad remnants of this guy to prevent further pollution

of water quality. Experiencing loss of such a beautiful (and certainly not cheap) marine specimen such as this is certainly disheartening, and the irony in this situation is the anemone fell victim to a piece of equipment that is essential to sustain life within a captive reef system. Unfortunately, loss happens with just about any pet(s) we choose to keep and the reef tank is no exception. Side note: I worked for a short while at a marine livestock wholesaler and later at a local retail fish store, and let me just share with you that fishing a dead, rotting anemone out of the tank with your hands is a stink that will linger with you for days! In my experience I have determined dead anemone smell ranks highest in disgusting and putrid, with dead clam ranking in a close second. Pee-eww!!!

I must confess, this was not the first time one of my anemones had fallen victim to a powerhead. In my old 75g reef system, I had a small GBTA take a trip through the mechanics of a modified Maxi-jet 1200. The large GBTA I have now decided to take on a Vortech MP40w wavemaker within the first five minutes it was introduced into my wife's 40g breeder! After I had acclimated the nem to the tank's parameters, I proceeded to introduce it into the system. When I "thought" the GBTA's foot had a solid anchor into the live rock, I turned away to dispose of the bag used to transport it home and the acclimation water. Upon return, I discover the anemone stuck to the side of the Vortech pump with half of it shooting out the front taking a strong beating from the propellor. In both cases, the battered, damaged anemone pulled through and survived with no ill effects. The larger one referenced in the second story is still alive & healthy today and resides in the 50g tub (it is also featured in the picture on the main page of this blog). These seemingly fragile, blobs of beautiful "goo" can take quite a beating from a powerhead or pump yet still survive and live with no scars to show. In fact, I have read instances where some reefers' anemones have experienced the same trauma and the anemone actually split as a result! Some reefers have intentionally cut their anemone in half in an effort to propagate, although I highly recommend against this!! These decorative "goo" balls are not completely indestructible though, despite their immunity to trips through powerheads it is still vital to ensure you have proper water quality and parameters in addition to adequate lighting support prior to introducing any anemone species. Please practice responsible reef-keeping and do your research before you buy!!!