URGENT: Green Bubble Tip Anemone

I recently bought a GBTA and it was looking great. Until today. I got home and it looks like a bomb went off on his side. Everything is hanging out but the other side is healthy looking. Fully inflated and full of color. I will see if I can get a picture.

how old is your tank, specs, water parameters?

did something attack it? or did something like fall on it or somthing? how are your water params?

My tank is over a year old and water is perfect. Temp is 79, nitrate .5, nitrite .2, alk 10 dkh, Ph 8.2, mag 1300, phosphates .02, ammonia 0, salinity 1.025, calcium 400
. Nothing looks out of place to have fallen on it. Will a peppermint shrimp attack it?

Its still moving. When I posted the pic it was still placed where I had pictured it. But now its on the back side of the rock. Is this normal?

Should I remove it before it destroys my water quality?

I had one before, and it will move till it finds its happy place. It just be stressed out. Any changes recently?

thats weird. do you feed your peperment? or is he starving? i know mine attacks snails if he gets to hungry.

No major changes and the peppermint eats almost every time I feed the fish.

Were you feeding the bubble tip? Hopefully someone with more experience can step in.

That GBTA looks pretty bad. I have had my share of BTA's in my day and that one looks stressed. What's happening is the anemone is expelling its zooxanthellae and unfortunately by the time it gets to that stage it’s very difficult to nurse it back to a healthy state.

There are a few scenarios as of why this happened,

1. Since it is a recent purchase, it may have been that the acclimation process was too quick. The PH or salinity from the tank that you got it from was way different from yours and the new water conditions shocked the anemone to the point that it started to release the zooxanthellae.

2. Your water parameters seem spot on, however the anemone needs a good source of light for photosynthesis to take place, this allows the symbiotic relationship between the anemone and the zooxanthellae to continue. If your lighting was substantially different than the tank that you received it from (whether it was too much light or not enough light) the zooxanthellae would start to die off and the anemone would start to expel the algae and thus starving the GBTA.

3. The GBTA will seek out a safe spot within the tank, that it can nestle its foot in and protect it. Too much flow, lighting or a pesky tank mate may be pushing him to move which continues to drive up the stress level and result in what you see.

Of course these are all hypothetical’s that will get you on the right track. You know your tank better than anyone, if the anemone continues to shed its algae and it starts to lose more of its green color then I would advise you to remove it from your tank before it completely dies and fouls up your tank to the point of an ammonia spike, killing everything in your tank.

How long have you had the GBTA? How big is your tank? What type of lighting do you have? What other fishes and inverts do you have in your tank?

Good luck.
Jimmy

I have had it for 2 weeks. It's a 14 gallon. T-5 white and antinic. I have a mated pair of Oc clowns that have yet to host. A tiny Bht, a few hermit crabs 2 turbos and a peppermint shrimp. The anemone had moved to highest point in the tank to get lite and low flow.

If it does die, I would get a torch coral. Clowns can host in them, they look similar, anf they don't move wrecking the rest of your corals. fantastic frags usually will have one or 2 and if you call him, he may be able to bring it with monday.

I already have a torch and frog spawn and they don't host either of them.

These days with the ease of breeding ocellaris clowns, you may have very well gotten a captive bred pair. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that because they were never in the wild they never had to seek shelter in an anemone. Although somewhere in their genetic makeup they should subconsciously go to the anemone, the sad reality is that this may nenver happen.

I have a pair that after about 6 months they went to my torch coral. Which is a win win for me because after having my share of anemones, I have come to the realization that I personally never want an anemone in my reef tank. They are so unpredictable you never know when they are going to pack up and “walk the tank” destroying everything in its path, or even worse, get caught in the propeller of a powerhead ruining everything.

They are so cool though lol. I want a red bubble tip in my new tank once its set up

O God I hope it doesn't do that to my tank. Killing corals or getting sucked up in an impeller. I really don't care if the OCs host anything or not. It would be cool but not to worried about it. And I know they are captive. I don't think it right to throw a wild fish in a fish tank unless its a huge tank I.e. aquarium of the pacific size. I mean I don't want a fish to catch me and put me in a tank in the bottom of the ocean. Hahaha just my opinion.

I agree, the less fish we take out the better. But I would say again, if your BTA doesn't make it, wait on that torch, it may take months, even years, but it hopefully will take to it.

I can't even find the bta now. He has hidden. I hope he don't die in a hole and me not know.

Well I found it. And the outcome is. He is dead. God that smelt horrible. I almost vomited. But anyways he was flushed and I just did a partial water change and I will monitor water quality everyday to see if I will have an ammonia spike.

run some carbon if you have it. that will help.
sorry for your loss i know it sucks

I always run carbon.

Ok good

sorry to hear that, I would have patience with your torch and hope for the best with it, it will be safer for your tank in the long run.

that has happened to me on more than one occasion. as long as you learn from your experience, it's all worth it. it will make you a better reefer in the long run.

Yeah my first bta did great in my tank. I had a rose for about 6 months but my maroon clown got really aggressive with it and other fish.

that's another interesting point. given the size and number of clown fish relative to the size of he host anemone the fish can smother the anemone to death.

Yeah that's why I got rid of them.