Is My Clown Loving My Bta To Death?

I’ve read that that can happen I’ve had the anenome less than a week I think - just about a week. Yesterday and today, I’ve noticed the edges of it slumping and in the last three hours I’ve watched it totally fall in on itself while around its mouth has inflated. This is my first anemone and I’m not familiar with their behavior yet. Thoughts? Is there anything I can do?



I’m shocked how rapidly it’s declining

 

Ummm...So now it’s starting to look better and after some digging online I realize that there’s a good chance the anemone was just eating...I think sometimes we watch our tanks a little too closely *facepalm* lol

 

I have little experience with anemones not doing well (not bragging - I got a BTA a long time ago and that sucker just didn't die. I don't know why or how, but it was worse than Aiptasia!), but I do know that once they start to die, it's better to remove them from the tank and save everything else before trying to save them. It sounds cruel, but they can absolutely wreck a tank.

It does look okay though - anytime I've ever seen one actually dying, it's been bleached, or falling apart. Yours looks like maybe it's still adjusting a bit, but I wouldn't worry.

 

stella1979 Lchi87 coralbandit

 

Thanks PoorBigBlue that's a relief and I appreciate the response! It’s looking right back to normal, all spread out again now so if I just hadn’t looked at my tank for a couple hours I never would have known!
Forgive the lighting, its sunset in my tank right now. Still obviously looking so much better and the mouth is shut tightly again. Thank goodness!

 

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier, but I'm super glad that this appears to just be new nem momma worries. I don't have a ton of nem experience either, having only had a regular type nem, (a condy to be precise), many years ago who I lost when he got stuck in an overflow. In my current tank, I've only had rock flowers. Anyhow, looks like things are better but here's a few points in case you haven't run across them yet.

1. Like Blue said, a dead nem can take out other life in the tank. This is not always the case, but is something to be aware of in case you ever find yourself in a tough position.

2. Please, cover every pump, powerhead, and/or overflow you've got. Sadly, these guys are known for wandering their way into the most dangerous of places. Just one example, a reefer buddy of mine recently bought a beautiful BTA that would add a lovely new color to his collection. Brought him home kinda late in the day and after a long and careful acclimation, he was planning on covering the powerhead in the morning The nem found the powerhead in the night and was dead the next day. Sponge covers are sold for this very thing, but you can easily DIY some nem safety with pantyhose or plastic canvas.

3. Do not overfeed him. Nems can survive off of light alone due to the presence of zooxanthellae, just like corals. However, in the wild, they do also get and rely on protein intake, so it is best to offer them food now and then. Don't feed to much or too often though, as this will put quite the load on the nem to digest, and when they can't there is a chance of excess food rotting within the nem. This is the worst case scenario, but at best, they'll expel excess foods. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not great either and too much of this kind of thing can just cause upset... which I'm sure you'd rather avoid.

Congrats! And, don't kick yourself for freaking out a little. We've all been there, and most of us will usually be in that newbie stage again at one time or another when getting something new to us.

 

Thanks stella1979
I definitely am just a nervous new anemone mom, lol!
I just really don't want it to die!
Before the nem showed up I cut a piece off of a media bag and wrapped it around my powerhead with an elastic. It's not pretty but I've read so many of those horror stories I definitely went proactive with that. I'm going to have to look for those sponges (if anyone has a link that would be awesome!) as I'd love it to look nicer. It doesn't look great but it's effective for now.

Thanks for the tip on feeding I have been reading and reading and have seen everything from, "feed them or they'll die" to "they get everything they need from clown poo," I'm paraphrasing but you know how it goes, everyone feels differently and has different experiences. Maybe I'll just let it catch something once a week?

I have been letting some of my reef-roid & phytochrome concoction waft over the anem when I feed my corals - yesterday was the fist time it caught a couple shrimp when I was feeding my fish - I didn't even make the connection when I posted this that maybe it was being weird because it was eating.
At first I thought maybe it was getting ready to go for a walk and, well, you know the rest.
Thanks to everyone for your help!