Anemone Adventure

I am relatively new to reefkeeping, but my 48" 55-gallon reef tank is not. The tank was originally set up as a freshwater tank and then converted over to saltwater by a co-worker of mine in 1993. In 1998 he decided to upgrade to a 125-gallon tank, so he gave his old tank and its inhabitants to his mother who was interested in the hobby. She bought power compact lighting and began to slowly introduce invertebrates to the tank during 1999 and 2000. She tired of the maintenance required, and started toying with the idea of giving the tank away. I bought the tank and have been its caretaker since February of 2005.

This was my first saltwater tank, and, has certainly been a learning experience! I had a couple years of experience with three freshwater systems: a 30-gallon, a 45-gallon and a 5-gallon, but I knew this reef tank was going to be a challenge to properly maintain. I had done a lot of research before I even knew the tank was available and haven't stopped since. Fortunately, things have gone pretty well.

When I picked up the tank, the livestock centerpiece was a beautiful light pink anemone with dark purple spots on its tentacles' tips. The tank's owner assumed it was a Long tentacle anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis), but further research showed it to be a Condylactis anemone. The anemone was added to the tank sometime around 2002 and was initially the size of a tennis ball. About a year after it was purchased, the anemone was sucked into a powerhead and had about two- thirds of its tentacles ripped off. The anemone recovered and continued to grow both in size and in beauty, being housed in deionized filtered water and fed Mysis shrimp and weekly treats of fresh shrimp pieces. I was told that as its size increased, so did its color's intensity.

After purchasing the tank and setting into my house, I changed to a 50GPD Kent R/O water purification system that I purchased used from an acquaintance that had left the hobby. I also changed the hang-on-the-back sump from a wet/dry system with bio-balls to a purely wet system containing some of the tank's base rock. After making these changes, the nitrates dropped below detectable levels, and the anemone seemed happy with the improvement in water quality and prospered for several months.

I consistently fed the tank half a cube of either Artemia or Mysis shrimp every day. The anemone continued to get a treat of a piece of fresh shrimp about once a week, but it began to grow too large for the tank. When I first received the anemone it was a little smaller than a volleyball with its tentacles fully extended. It eventually reached a size almost equal to a basketball, and there were times when its tentacles could almost reach the front glass 12 inches away, with an overall span of roughly 18". Because of its massive size and incredible growth, I began to decrease the size of the piece of shrimp I was giving it. I think that is what caused all the stress I am about to relate.

September 11, 2005

I walked into the living room after taking my morning shower and was heading to the kitchen when I saw something "strange" in the tank. I turned on the lights in the living room because it was still dark outside and saw that the anemone was on the move. This was very odd because until that point the only movement it had made was by creeping on the rocks. But there it was, its body inflated and floating freely in the tank. I looked at it for a minute and then I turned on the tank lights, grabbed my digital camera and took a few pictures. At the time I noticed that there appeared to be a twist in its body near its foot, but I didn't think too much about it.

I figured I would just turn off the lights and leave it alone and let it do whatever it was doing, but I came back to the tank after getting a bite to eat and was shocked to see that the anemone was stuck to my skimmer's intake tube. I had my wife run and get a scrubber that came with the tank that had a long forked handle. I have never used it to clean the tank, but it works great for reaching things in the tank. While she was doing that I unplugged the skimmer, turned on the tank lights, and snapped a picture of the anemone as it was stuck to the intake tube.

When my wife returned with the scrubber, I gently pulled the anemone away from the skimmer and placed it back where it was the night before. It looked a little worse for the wear and some of its tentacles were deflated, but it reattached itself to the rocks and seemed okay. I turned the tank lights back off so they could turn back on at their normal time and sat down to enjoy the rest of the day.

I kept a close eye on the anemone that morning. It appeared to be doing well, inflating fully and not trying to move around anymore. That afternoon I checked on it again and noticed that the area that had been twisted looked even worse than it had before. It was very thin and looked more like a rubber band on a child's toy airplane. I decided I should try to help it out so I used the scrubber again to try to untwist the anemone. As soon as I touched it, the anemone broke off from its foot. The foot was still attached to the rock, but now the anemone was floating freely in the tank. I gently placed it into a recessed area in the rocks and called my friend for his advice. He didn't know what to do, so I just kept an eye on it. The rest of that day the anemone seemed okay, but I could see its mesenteries hanging out the hole where the foot had been attached. Other than that, the anemone was fully inflated and looked fine.

The only problem we had was that it would not stay where we put it. It had no means of attaching to the rock so it floated away pretty frequently. Out of fear of it getting sucked into a powerhead, the skimmer or the overflow, I decided to quarantine it. I got a clean plastic bowl and rinsed it out well with R/O water. I filled it with tank water, scooped up the anemone and placed it inside. I floated the bowl in the tank partially under the light so that it would not get too intense. To provide some water movement I added an air stone to the bowl. I changed the water in the bowl twice a day with water from the tank. The anemone stayed in this for several days and its condition continued to worsen. It wasn't expanding much and seemed to be shrinking. By this time a large portion, if not all, of the mesenteries were sticking out of the anemone, so I decided to try and put it back into the main tank.

September 27, 2005

I made a nice place for the anemone's bowl in the rocks and placed it in there. I didn't want to take the anemone out of the bowl because it would fall through the rocks or float away with the current. Almost as soon as I placed it back into main tank it seemed to have new life. It partially expanded and looked better than it had since we had put it into quarantine.

The foot also seemed to be doing well. It was in the same spot and the foot appeared to be changing colors in places and almost looked like it was trying to expand a bit more.

September 28, 2005

I came home to find the anemone totally collapsed and laying at the bottom of the bowl. It actually looked like it had turned itself inside out. Its mesenteries circled its body and its mouth was totally open. A hole ran straight through its body.

I pulled the bowl out of the tank and was met by a strong fishy odor. It was at this time that I decided enough was enough and disposed of the anemone. After the dirty work was done, I took a closer look at the foot and I was surprised to notice what looked like a mouth forming in the center of a circle of purple bumps. The purple was the same color as the tips of the original anemone's tentacles. I thought to myself, "This thing might grow back!" It was definitely a much-needed ray of hope.

I began taking photos of the foot's progress at least every other day.

The next day (the 29^th) the foot inflated more than ever and I could see that the purple bumps were sticking up a little more.

Just three days later (October 2^nd) it was apparent that the bumps had grown into rounded bubbles with dark purple tips.

October 4^th was the first time I saw the anemone (this was definitely not just a foot anymore) expand fully, and it was a very beautiful thing. The anemone was beginning to look more symmetrical as its tentacles began to grow longer.

On October 5^th the anemone gave me a scare. By this time it had crept along the rock and had found a nice hole to call home. I looked into the tank and was shocked to see that its tentacles were gone and it looked like just a foot again. I watched for a few seconds and was relieved to see the mouth spread open a bit and the tentacles begin to come back out. I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures to capture the moment. I just wish I could have taken one before it began to reopen.

October 7, 2005

I tried feeding the anemone some Mysis shrimp. The shrimp stuck to the tentacles and I think it might have moved one piece to its mouth, but I am not sure. I did take a lot of pictures, though.

October 11, 2005

One month since this all started and I now have what looks like a healthy anemone. I am simply amazed at how rapidly the foot has been able to adapt to its new situation.

Dr. Ron Shimek informed me, "Cnidarians such as anemones have cells that are "labile." They can change from one type of cell to another "depending upon the need" of the organism, presumably in response to some sorts of chemical cues."

October 13, 2005

I was finally able to photograph the anemone eating a Mysis shrimp.

It is simply amazing to think that in just a month this anemone has grown this much. This has been an awe-inspiring experience that I will never forget. After going through all of the frustration and emotion of having such a beautiful organism suffer and die, seeing this new anemone grow "out of the ashes" makes it all worth it. It is no wonder so many of you are such dedicated reefkeepers. If this is what it is like, I can't see how anyone would ever give up this hobby. I am growing more confident every day that this anemone is going to prosper in my tank. It has already nearly doubled in size and now that it is eating I am confident that it will continue to grow.

I would like to thank everyone on the Reef Central forums for giving me advice on this tank and especially on this situation. I would also like to thank Dr. Ronald L. Shimek for his advice, information and inspiration to document this experience and share it with you.

If you have any questions about this article, please visit my author forum on Reef Central.