atlantic anemone shedding tenticles! - Aquarium Advice

notmuffy · 02-02-2004, 05:05 AM

Hi,
I have a huge, seemingly very happy Condylactis anemone who hosts an anemone crab. We have him about 2 months now. recently I have noticed that he lost a tenticle. I wasn't too concerned until I saw another one laying on the [acronym:116e256258="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:116e256258]. When he is deflated at night, you can see that these tenticles came from the closest row of tenticles to the center of him. It looks like a 3rd is about to be 'pinched off".. Is this normal\??? he seems really really happy! he eats his cockels & brine shrimp, and he is always huge and lively.

Edited to add a photo, he is just waking up and is only half inflated, so I pointed to the two missing tenticles. One of them looks like a "bud", like it is growing again?

02-02-2004, 10:06 AM

Are you absolutely sure you saw a tentacle on the substrate? Not something I have ever heard of before.

Anemones do have a habit of getting their tentacles twisted about especially long tentacle species. It does not usually result in the loss of the apendage though. The tentacle will normally deflate and it will be all good again. I honestly do not think it will cause the anemone health to degrade overall though.

Might sound morbid but it's pure curiousity, if you see this again please post a pic!!

Cheers
Steve

notmuffy · 02-02-2004, 01:11 PM

oh yes I am sure, in fact he lost that third one I was referring to.

One of these photo is of tenticle #3 (The one that fell off today),
and in the other photo you can see tenticle #2 in the background, which fell off a few days ago. The first one fell off probably 3-4 weeks ago.

You can see how big Chips is (the anemone's name

) when compared to the fully grown Mother Sailfin Dragonet who manages to get in EVERY photo I take!

Chips takes over a quarter of our 40 gallon tank.

02-02-2004, 03:22 PM

Interesting to say the least. Although I have never seen this before, I would still think the overall health of the anemone is not at risk. Could be the area it is in has a fair amount or water flow(?) and the tentacles are getting wound up to the point where they break. I know this happens quite frequently with many types of [acronym:4b845b6c1e="Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral"]LPS[/acronym:4b845b6c1e] corals.

Keep tabs on the anemone and if possible redirect the flow slightly if that's the case. The continued loss of tentacles will eventually degrade it's health but 3 will not.

Cheers
Steve

02-02-2004, 05:05 AM	#1
notmuffy Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 219 Images: 5	atlantic anemone shedding tenticles! Hi, I have a huge, seemingly very happy Condylactis anemone who hosts an anemone crab. We have him about 2 months now. recently I have noticed that he lost a tenticle. I wasn't too concerned until I saw another one laying on the [acronym:116e256258="Crushed Coral (if substrate) or Counter Current (if referring to a Protien skimmer) or cubic centimeter (if referring to a measure of volume)."]CC[/acronym:116e256258]. When he is deflated at night, you can see that these tenticles came from the closest row of tenticles to the center of him. It looks like a 3rd is about to be 'pinched off".. Is this normal\??? he seems really really happy! he eats his cockels & brine shrimp, and he is always huge and lively. Edited to add a photo, he is just waking up and is only half inflated, so I pointed to the two missing tenticles. One of them looks like a "bud", like it is growing again? __________________ FREE!! 6 freshwater clams & 1 XL mystery snail, NY/NJ area - must pickup by 6/17/05 or they go to the [acronym:e0d43a5bfa="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:e0d43a5bfa].

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02-02-2004, 10:06 AM	#2
steve-s Guest Posts: n/a	Are you absolutely sure you saw a tentacle on the substrate? Not something I have ever heard of before. Anemones do have a habit of getting their tentacles twisted about especially long tentacle species. It does not usually result in the loss of the apendage though. The tentacle will normally deflate and it will be all good again. I honestly do not think it will cause the anemone health to degrade overall though. Might sound morbid but it's pure curiousity, if you see this again please post a pic!! Cheers Steve

02-02-2004, 01:11 PM	#3
notmuffy Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 219 Images: 5	oh yes I am sure, in fact he lost that third one I was referring to. One of these photo is of tenticle #3 (The one that fell off today), and in the other photo you can see tenticle #2 in the background, which fell off a few days ago. The first one fell off probably 3-4 weeks ago. You can see how big Chips is (the anemone's name ) when compared to the fully grown Mother Sailfin Dragonet who manages to get in EVERY photo I take! Chips takes over a quarter of our 40 gallon tank. __________________ FREE!! 6 freshwater clams & 1 XL mystery snail, NY/NJ area - must pickup by 6/17/05 or they go to the [acronym:e0d43a5bfa="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:e0d43a5bfa].

02-02-2004, 03:22 PM	#4
steve-s Guest Posts: n/a	Interesting to say the least. Although I have never seen this before, I would still think the overall health of the anemone is not at risk. Could be the area it is in has a fair amount or water flow(?) and the tentacles are getting wound up to the point where they break. I know this happens quite frequently with many types of [acronym:4b845b6c1e="Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral"]LPS[/acronym:4b845b6c1e] corals. Keep tabs on the anemone and if possible redirect the flow slightly if that's the case. The continued loss of tentacles will eventually degrade it's health but 3 will not. Cheers Steve