Bubble Tip Anemone Problems

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cbayer

AC Members
Aug 23, 2006
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I have 50gallon tank with 50lbs of live rock and sand and its completely cycled. Ok all my water levels and everything else is perfect, but I have this anemone that wont eat and really hasnt but twice been fed by me in a month and half I have had him. Is there anything I can do to feed him because I dont want to lose him. I try and feed him small pieces of frozen shrimp that I thawed out and I use tongs to reach him. How long can this guy go on without food. Any ideas?
 

brandvok

Crazy Karst:)
Sep 11, 2005
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Lions Bay, B.C.
Strange.....

I had a very similar experience with my bubble tip sea anemone. When I first got him he was HUGE! And took up like a quarter of the space in my tank, but eventually over the length of about 3 or 4 months he shrank down to nearly nothing. His base on average used to be about 2½ - 3 inches thick at the bottom and now his base is rarely more the an inch thick. I was feeding him once every 3 days with ( Wardley Shrimp Pellets Formula)http://www.nextag.com/shrimp-pellets/search-html . (I was told to do this by the guy at the fish shop) But after seeing him shrink so much it got me worried that I might be over-feeding him so I started feeding him once every week and he has seemed to gain back about a quarter of his original size. But as far as how long one of these guys can go with out eating I don’t really know. What I do know tho is that once I forgot to feed him for like 2½ weeks and he was fine.
 

rohnds

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Jun 19, 2004
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Austin, TX (Born NYC)
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I feed all my anemones once a week. The health of these anemones depend on water flow and light more then anything else.

Rohn
 

Max

It's me
Jan 26, 2004
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it's very important for your anem to have good stable water conditions nitrates less then 5 ppm. Also what sort of lights do you have and what other critters. You might try feeding it frozen silver sides etc. some of them like shrimp and some don't. I feed mine at least one decent sized meal per week. Also if it's whitish it's bleached make sure that your light fixtures are still good etc replaice old bulbs.
hope I can help you and if any of you have any more anem questions speak up!
Max
here is a link which may be of assitance http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53000
 

Lorna

Reef Crazy
Mar 1, 2005
340
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Indiana
As stated elsewhere the biggest problem with keeping anemones is overfeeding. In fact most people are feeding these poor things to death. Most bta's like silversides and then depending on the size and the condition of the anemone would depend on how often. An anemone that is bleached cannot depend on it's zoanthelle for nutritions and therefore should be supplemented every other day or so. A healthy anemone with good dark colour should only be fed a silverside every week or so. The condition of the tips should also be an indication of their health. ..... A picture would definitely help here....
 

cbayer

AC Members
Aug 23, 2006
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Here is the best pic I could get of it with my camera I know it sucks but I took a dozen and not one really came out good. Basically the tenacles are really skinny and shrunk in and he doesnt look healthy. Dont really know what to do next. I dont have any fish in my tank so I am not feeding anything else so he cant be getting left overs.

CIMG0534.JPG CIMG0533.JPG
 

Lorna

Reef Crazy
Mar 1, 2005
340
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Indiana
Okay from what I see it is in pretty bad shape, looks totally bleached out. If you have a silverside in your hand and you place it into the tentacles does the anemone respond by grabbing on to the fish? Where in the tank is she situated? Has she been moving around? if you can isolate the nem and hold it in a basket or something in case she dies you can get her out easily.....you know get one of those small baskets that they sell in the store for bath products with the suction cups and place the nem in the basket and that way you can attend to her.......she will need to be fed every day or every other day until she regains some form and colour.......it may be too late but it doesn't hurt to try.
 

cbayer

AC Members
Aug 23, 2006
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No whenever I go to feed it she retracts her tenacles and sucks in as if shes scared of it. Shes located right in the front and shouldnt be to hard to get out. She doesnt move. I am just wandering if I should just get rid of it to avoid death by starvation. I really like the anemone she was really preety but I just cant feed the **** thing.
 

~*LuvMyKribs*~

AC Members
Nov 15, 2003
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Vancouver, Canada
www.aquaticescapes.ca
Dont stress overly about feeding it, put more of your effort into the proper lighting requirements and general tank health and water conditions.

I've had my bubble tip completely bleach and seemingly become a goner. It lost all its tenticles and hid under a rock for nearly a month. I had fed it several times in the first couple weeks I had it then it went south. When it came out from under the rock I fed it once or twice to get its strength back - it actually ate! Since then I have not fed it and it has recovered 100%. Its been about 8 months and its in great health.... and I never feed it. I am scared to send it back into hiding.

I suggest the less you poke and prod at it trying to feed it... the better. Let it get settled and if its happy it will live... and if its not, well then, cross your fingers that it will smarten up!

;)
-Diana
 
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