what's wrong with gbta/ and cleaner eating clam

[buffcole]

I brought home this.

<!-- gcu-updated ame -->http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj599/buffcole/eb0d5019.jpg<!-- gcu-updated /ame -->

:yay: I loved it!!

Then this happened today.

<!-- gcu-updated ame -->http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj599/buffcole/711eb701.jpg<!-- gcu-updated /ame -->

:eek2: :wow2: :mad2: Is it dying. I put it in a tupperware bowl to take picture, It is still moving so I just put it back in the DT. Don't know what to do. :crying:


Bought a cleaner shrimp a couple of days ago, found him eating my crocea clam. :yikes: :***: Caught him doing it 5 different times and the last time he was digging at the clam's foot. :shout: I stayed up till 2 am the night before last and couldn't catch him :mad2: :bash2: then last night I stayed up till 3:30 am :mad2::grumble: finally caught the stupid thing. He is banished to my 30 QT. In my DT where he was it is 120 g with 1 yellow tang, 3 wrasse (melanarus, 6 line, pink fairy) and 2 darwin clowns. All parameters are fine. My clam is not looking good, can he heal himself? uke:

 

[mc524]

Cool, or not! Never seen one turn fully inside out like that. Hopefully someone that has will come by and explain if there is an issue, or just expelling waste. Normally when they are doing that, they just deflate, open the mouth, and hack up brown stuff. Then inflate again a short time later.

 

[jef4y]

I'm no expert, but to me that anemone looked HORRIBLE to begin with. BTA's are not natuirally white/colorless. They become that way after expelling their zooxanthellae which is generally followed by their rapid decline & death.

 

[buffcole]

That's kind of what thanh said. They told me it was a neon green bta. Is that not what it should look like if it's supposed to be neon green? I put it back in tank and this is what it looks like today. It looks like its splitting.

>dffbb383.jpg picture by buffcole - Photobucket</a>

Here is what my clam looks like today after the cleaner shrimp started eating him. :mad2:

>68bbd306.jpg picture by buffcole - Photobucket</a>

I saw some things on google where skunk cleaner shrimp have gone after clams. I realize he is dying so I took him out and put him in a container with water. Has anyone else had this happen before??

 

[jef4y]

When you pulled the anemone out did it smell at all?

Honestly I'd be hard pressed to put that in my tank, but that's just me.

The clam, give it a few days to see what happens.

 

[buffcole]

No, no smell at all other than smelling a little fishy.

 

[mc524]

Since you just put it in your tank, it (anemone) maybe just trying to acclimate. Did you acclimate it, or just drop it in? The bulbs looked good in the very first picture, the base looked like there was some pink there. Were the tentacles green at all, or just white? I find with mine, that the closer it gets to lighting, or flow, the tentacles are more like bubbles. If I turn the flow off, the tentacles get longer and loose the bubble look.
Has it moved around the tank on it's own, or is the flow moving it around?
Might give it some time under the lights and see what it does. Might be just stressed until it finds a spot that it likes. Like Jef4y, I'm no expert, but have had 2, make that 3 the first one split.

 

[purplegorilla]

Hate to tell you but both of the animals are on their way out.

The clam is dying and thus the shrimp was scavenging off of it. The anemone looks pretty bleached from the first picture.

 

[buffcole]

I drip acclimated it for over an hour. The tentacles have never changed color, they have stayed the same. It moved on the tank on its own. Actually a small frag fell close to the edge of it and it moved. It was fine for a couple of days then started moving to the back of the tank, still had good lighting.

There was a problem with one of my power heads, I found it in the bottom one morning last week and it wouldn't work anymore. I put another one there but it doesn't have near the flow. I have been looking for another one on here but keep missing them. Tank is a 120.

I have noticed that he doesn't open during the day when my lights are on and opens up at night. When my lights just came on he moved.

Edit: Clam looked like this right before cleaner shrimp got to him. It was fine until he started going after his foot, its always done great until I added he cleaner shrimp.

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj599/buffcole/b1770624.jpg

How long do they live?

 

[mc524]

Did you happen to measure the water it came in? I usually do this for my own curiosity. Perhaps there is a parameter in your tank that it's not liking to well. Mine always hunkered down when the lights go off. Once the lights come on, after about 30mins or so, they are usually strutting their tentacles. Since it's still moving around so much, it might just be a bit unhappy until it finds a place it likes. Usually they will swell up the base when they are trying to move around...at least mine do. Flow will for sure move them around. If I don't like where it is, I will point a Powerhead in it's direction (not blasting, but near it) That will sometimes change its mind about it's location choice.:lol2:

 

[johniii]

Anemones can live 1000 years or more.

 

[mc524]

JohnIII;795211 wrote: Anemones can live 1000 years or more.

To add to that, one might be amazed at what they can live through! Pretty amazing creatures...which is why I try to deal with their crap.:roll: They are just too cool!

 

[buffcole]

MC524, no I didn't measure water it came in but drip acclimated him for over an hour. I do remember feeding him and the mysis was not sticking to him the first time I fed him.

 

[kilralpine]

I would have to agree, the anemone is likely on its way out or already dead at this point. I tried to nurture a sick one back to health even under good lighting it would do what your saying; fine at night but shrunken during bright hours. Eventually it will get weak at quit holding on, at which point its probably either turned inside out or as good as dead.

Edit: I will add some other things I just thought of that I failed to mention. In a year at two times I had BTAs die. The first to go was pretty much identical to your first picture when I received it (as a gift :O). It was fine for a few weeks and even ate healthy. Eventually it just got weak and started staying shrunk and eventually didn't make it and I had to make the hard call. The other was a GBTA that I believe I lost to chemical warfare either between it and that white one I had or the Condy anemone that was at the other end of the tank. Regardless I now keep a VERY healthy RBTA that has reproduced its huge self (5+ inches) since I have owned it; 4 months. Maybe its just me, but I believe a white anemone is 9/10 a bleached anemone or unhealthy anemone of a sort. There ARE the few exceptions. If you want a white one, find one that has been kept under good lighting for 6+ months and is healthy.