Help... is my anemone dying?

[weagle117]

I gave my Conde anemone away.... he was so beautiful... I sure hated to. He was moving around a lot, getting close to my little coral frags, & making me a nervous wreck... but he was very beautiful! Anyway, not wanting to give up on an anemone for my clownfish, I bought a long tenacle that looked very healthy. I put him in my tank and it was love at first sight! My clownfish went nuts! The anemone moved around a bit but ended up in a crater on the floor of my tank (I think the clownfish dug it for him Anyway, he's been in the tank for over a week... seemingly happy. He did some twirling around and a little bit of moving but always ended up back in his little crater. I left for the grocery store yesterday & he looked like this.... when I returned he was deflated & on his way to this..... I've been told he may be riding himself of nitrates & other unhealthy anemone things but I'm going out of town for the week-end tomorrow and I'm worried he might die & poison my tank while I'm gone. I do hate to lose this little guy.... he is my last attempt (at an anemone), I promised myself! Anyway... his foot is still very plump but it looks odd & wrinkly kind of "brainlike." The clownfish is trying to revive him, it appears... I read where the clownfish will stay away from him if he's dead.... He never turned inside out but just shriveled up.... I need help!

I just looked at this post & the "after" pic looks much better than he does. He is more green than he looks here and on the far left of him in the pic is his foot... not more tentacles and his tentacles are droopier.

[potatochobit]

that does not look good
have you been feeding it?
I used to hand feed mine frozen shrimp, the ones in the little cubes
clown fish eats them too
if he is not taking food that is a bad sign
it has been many years since I last had a saltwater tank so wait for someone more knowledgeable to comment
I remember they curl up for some reason other than feeding
I think mine split once

[weagle117]

yes, I have fed him small pieces of fish... twice. I've only had him a week. I have also squirted Rod's food on him when I've fed my tank.... He was honestly fine at 2pm yesterday... when I came back at 7:30pm he was like this. He looks even worse now. My fish store people told me not to worry about him unless he starts coming apart.... but I'm going out of town tomorrow and I don't want to come home to a dead tank on Sunday!!! His foot is still plump but it looks shriveled (not smaller)and is not pink. It is gray/black & white & looks like a brain. His tentacles are green. They were cream colored.... He is tentacle down in the sand with his foot up..... I took him out of the tank....put tank water in a bowl with an air tube.... I'm not going to leave him in the tank like this when I can't watch him.... unless someone can tell me -after seeing that picture- that this is normal. I'm too worried about my other critters....

Thanks for trying to help... Oh, clownfish is still trying to revive him

[francis]

Ive heard plenty of times they will naturally deflate and inflate throughout the day etc, BUT, I have never seen the base like that all brainlike and it looks really ... idk not good. (speculation)

Try leaving him in the tank as long as you can before you leave and see if he perks up, if not then I would also remove him in fear of contamination but remember they do need light

[potatochobit]

I would leave him in the tank, ESPECIALLY if you are going out of town
dont want him crawling out of a bowl
if he dies over the weekend, it wont hurt your fish tank where it cannot recover in a few days
it may be due to lighting, you have the lightbulbs for salt water tanks, right, that do the blue spectrum
lots of salt water friends dont make it, so dont let it bother you too much

[francis]

also, do a water change. if he has his foot still in the sand i'd say you are in pretty good shape. Don't try feeding him either, i hear that will stress them out (when they are not situated in a spot)

[weagle117]

Well, I've probably killed him if he wasn't already dead.... I've had several opinions and I just can't risk the other guys in my tank. I put him in a bowl with water from the aquarium and an aerator..... I have someone checking on him.... if he perks up she's going to call me. Should I put him where he can get sunlight since there is not a light on the bowl? He was in the tank for @ 4 hours today so he hasn't missed the light much....- except that he was face down (tentacles down/foot up) in the sand. I have a reef capable marineland led light on the tank.... I was told that that was enough..... I checked the water before I removed him & everything on the strip was ok... nitrites, nitrates, ph, kg, I think and something else that I can't remember. He never really attached to anything big... he was in the sand on a very small rock & shell that he brought with him when I moved him the 1st time. I do hate killing things.... I'm done with anenomes..... I need to find something very hardy and large for this clownfish to "pretend" with.... he was so happy for a few days