Anemones Anemones anemones

[Reefynewby]

OK.
So i've had some anemones for a while now.
It's getting close to a year, and i have a Sebae, (Heteractis Crispa) And a BTA (Enactmaea Quadricolor).

I have a question about their status.
I've received tons or info and flame from you guys about sebae anemones being impossible to keep and that yada yada. I also recieved lots of it for having only PC lighting at about 6 watts/gal.

Well...
My sebae, which i obtained unhealthy, dyed pink, and almost dead, recovered almost instantly and has been steadily increasing health. As of now, it has ejected almost all of the dye, there's just a bit left in the foot, and it is almost completely brown now. It eats readily and reacts to touch etc. (It's healthy)

As for the BTA.
Which you guys said should be okay, it has not been doing so well. It rarely opens up, just a little bit in the morning, and never opens up to full size. The anemone itself is light green, and sometimes doesn't sting or accept food.

I have a pair of smallish Amphiprion ocellaris clowns that go back and forth, usually they're both in the sebae, but one of them occasionally resides in the hosting BTA. I received the BTA after it split and made a new clone, but it seemed healthier earlier. It's now light green and not gaining color. There was a period of time where it gained a bit of color and became greener with pink tips, but that's long gone.

So my question is...

What is wrong here? Why is the sebae excelling in health and growth while the BTA has steadily declined?

Thanks for all your help guys.

[PRESTO2345]

What, how, and what size food are you feeding the anemone?

[Reefynewby]

Depends.
But for the most part I feed shrimp.
Occasionally i feed some mysis, and some fish occasionally.
I feed the size that they will take which is about... 1/5/1-3 of the shrimp. The sebae can take almost anything, and i just feed the BTA and sebae this morning.

[Reefbox]

Try a water change and c how it looks, after the change.
Wonder if it is chemical warfare?

[Reefynewby]

I've done lots of changes.
PWC with distilled and ocean salt from 10% to 70% on different changes.
I've also done a change to ocean water from an LFS for like 40% and that also had no effect.
There WAS a period of time when they were both happy, that was back when i owned a cinnamon. But he's gone and around the time he left a little after that was when it started to decline. (Not immediately after)

[idareefer]

heteractis crispa's aren't immpossible, mine has been with me for over 5 years, my brother had it before for 6 years, it's very large now, open about 15" & I feed it once a week either a frozen silverside or some frozen krill, it takes the food frozen no problem.

[Smo]

Have you changed out your bulbs recently?

PC bulbs only last about 9 months, then the color spectrum goes weak and starts to shift. New bulbs may be what is needed.

[Reefynewby]

I've had the same bulbs.
I also added some other bulbs a little later than the original batch, but the tank acts overlit when i have them on. The fish all hide, the corals don't open, and even the anemones act less "alive" when i have all the lighting in.

[PRESTO2345]

Although chemical warefare is possible I think it has more to do with the food thats being feed. Have you seen the food being spit back out? If you are seeing chuncks than the food thats being feed is too large. Smaller chopped food digests better for these animals. Another think you can try is food soaked in Selecon or other types of foods. Last question..What kind of lighting and flow?

[Reefynewby]

The food doesn't get spit back out, it did a while ago, like when i first got the anemones (both of them were gotten without nematocysts, i had to rescue them)
I've also soaked food in Zoecon, although i don't anymore.
They're under PC lighting i said already.
I have a mag-flow pipe i forget how much, but there's also a korallia (2 or 3 i forget which one) in there. I've tried putting another korallia, and also a rio, but it's just way too much flow, the tank gets really violent, and all the corals go haywire.

[puter]

Can you post a picture of the BTA? How long have you had the ocellaris and did you notice a decline in the BTA around the same time you added them?

Mark

[Biocubist]

Strange that he Sebae is doing good and the BTA isnt? Usually the seabae is harder to keep. I wonder if there is some chemical warefare going on, they are different species. Just strange b/c BTA are easy to take care of compared to Sebea, if the Sebea is doing good, then one can infer that the water quality is good enough for a BTA. There is something going on here, what size is your tank? If it is less then 50 gal, then chemical warfare would have to be ruled out before you can assume it is the diet that is causing the BTA poor health.

[Reefynewby]

It's a 60 gallon show, the anemones don't touch each other, and they're in different areas in the tank. Well, I had the ocellaris for a while and the BTA was okay, it was a while after i got them and also after i said bye bye to my cinnamon that it started to decline. IT doesn't seem like it had anything to do with the clowns. As for chemical warfare... I'm not sure... When i first got the sebae it was in near hopeless condition. It couldn't sting or anything, it didn't even stick to the tank. I had to leave all pumps and powerheads off and put every piece of mysis on the oral disk whilst defending it from my cleaner shrimps (pesky critters). The BTA seemed okay for the most part, but I'll get some pics up as soon as I can.

EDIT:
here we go.
You can actually see how bad of shape the BTA is in. It's near the bottom and its mouth sometimes gapes open like it is right now.

The sebae has seemed resistant to sticking its foot in the sand, so I've let it stay where it's content, on a rock.



Thanks for all your help guys.

[puter]

More specifically: did you notice the decline in the BTA around the same time that the ocellaris clowns started moving freely between the sebea and the BTA? I've seen an adverse reaction a number of times in non-clone BTAs that are shared by clowns. My guess is the anemones are reacting to the "foreign" mucous on the clowns. Often, some of the tentacles on the affected anemone take on a unique appearance.

Edit: I'm not seeing the same tentacle pattern in your pictures that I've observed in my BTAs .

Mark

[Biocubist]

Wow! So it is obvious that the BTA expelled all of the zoozanthelle and is now totally dependent on your feedings to survive. I would start supplementing its feedings with this additive called zoecon or selcon both could help the BTA get extra nutrients. From your pictures, it doesnt appear to be chemical warefare related. If you were able to nurse the sebae to good health, I am more then confident that you can do the same with the BTA. Once it gets its color back, then it will be able to get nutrients from its colony of zoozanthelle. Goodl luck!!!

[Biocubist]

Funny, as stressed out as the BTA looks, that SOB still has the power to turn its tenticles into bubbles. My GBTA looks healthy and has not once produced a bubble. I feel that once you get that BTA going, it will be a bubble producing machine!!!!

[Reefynewby]

Originally posted by puter
More specifically: did you notice the decline in the BTA around the same time that the ocellaris clowns started moving freely between the sebea and the BTA? I've seen an adverse reaction a number of times in non-clone BTAs that are shared by clowns. My guess is the anemones are reacting to the "foreign" mucous on the clowns. Often, some of the tentacles on the affected anemone take on a unique appearance.

Edit: I'm not seeing the same tentacle pattern in your pictures that I've observed in my BTAs .

Mark

I don't think so.
There was a period of time when the cinnamon occupied the sebae and the ocellaris were in the BTA. They'd occasionally visit the sebae until they got kicked out. And then when the cinni left, one of them went back and forth and the other occasionally followed, but the BTA was still much bigger, much greener (and had pink tips), and much bubblier. At this point i'm still at a loss in terms of knowing what's up with it. :\

[idareefer]

sometimes the zoanthelia will come back, good water cond and good light & flow, mine lost it all & a few months later all came back.

[Reefynewby]

Well yeah they have been better than before, but they're not good right now.
It went:
Okayish - Terrible - coming back - Greenish with pink tips - Down to no pink tips and not really green anymore.

[Reefynewby]

They've both been accepting food this week so I hope the BTA will keep improving.