Sebae Recovery Thread

[xraydoc]

Well, I was at the LFS (which is actually a very nice caring retailer) and saw a sebae anemone that, while certainly bleached, has the potential to be very beautiful.

So, I picked him up and drip acclimated for about 2 hours matching temp, salinity, SG, and pH. I introduced him to the tank Sunday evening and he was partially inflated, at least as much as I might expect from a bleached nem. I placed him on the sand hoping he would attach, but that did not and has not happened. When I came home from work Monday he had managed to flip upside down and was very retracted. I flipped him over and dug into the sand bed and gently buried his pedal disk and stalk, later that evening (lights off) he had inflated some.

That brings us to yesterday where he did stay upright, although slowly lifting his stalk from the sand and laying over on his side by the end of the night. He was about as inflated at that time as he was in the store. My wife attempted to feed him some fresh shrimp soaked in Zoe with no success, I tried again later that evening and covered the anemone with a basket to keep the cleaner shrimp away. Unfortunately, he did not take it by this morning so I removed the piece from the tank.

So having said that, Im a little discouraged as he hasn't attached, isn't eating, and usually has his mouth slightly open (maybe 0.5 - 1 cm) diameter.

The only encouraging thing at this point is that when I examine him closely I do see some patchy brown coloration in SOME of the tentacles, the overwhelming majority are entirely bleached.

Pictures will be forthcoming when I get home from work.

Parameters:

SG 36 ppt (refractometer)
pH 8.05 - 8.2 Pinpoint (dKH ~ 11)
Ca 410 Salifert
Mg 1500 Elos
NO3 0.5 - 1 ppm Salifert
Temp 79.5
PO4 0 API

[pammy]

Hi Xraydoc. I bought a very bleached Sabae about 6 weeks ago. Didn't realize at the time I bought him, that they are supposed to be tan, and not the beautiful white he was. After 6 weeks, he's still not attached to anything, although he stays in the same spot. He's only moved a few inches twice and flipped upside down once. I still haven't seen him eating, but he is definitely darkening. He's no longer pure white. He's a dingy very light creamy beige all over and is very sticky, So, I take it as a good sign. I gave up on trying to feed him very small pieces of silversides for now, and am trying to feed mysis directly near his mouth, with a turkey baster, until he starts eating, and then I'll try going back to the silversides. Problem I'm having is the clown steals the food before he even has a chance to eat. I'm hoping a few mysis get into him at least though. I haven't found the right thing to cover him yet to guard him from the clown. He also deflates soooooooo small, that I keep thinking, this is it, he's going to really die this time, only to find him fully inflated the following morning. Good luck with yours. Keep us posted.
Click on the link below to see a video I just took of my Sabae Anemone and Clownfish on Feb 16th, and there are also pictures if you click on the red house above.

Video of Sabae Anemone and Wild Caught Percula Clownfish (http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa157/matsis1234/?action=view&current=ClownandSabaeAnemone-2-16-08008.flv)



Pam

[xraydoc]

Well, I took some pictures last night but had some difficulty in resizing them so they did not get posted. I will certainly add some tonight.

As for yesterday, the nem managed to dig out of the sand hole I created and lay over on his side, which he seems to prefer. Overall he was nicely expanded, more so than he was at the LFS. Again, he is quite bleached.

Unexpectedly when I woke up this morning at 4 AM I looked into the tank in the dark and saw my pair of black ocellaris clowns had set up shop. I was kind of hoping that they may wait to host so the nem has time to recover but obviously they had different plans.

As an aside, I find it interesting that before they hosted the pair spent the nights huddled in a small sand recess they had dug essentially in contact side by side. Now that they have hosted the larger female will allow the male around the base of the nem but quickly pushes him out if he gets into the tentacles. Strange how thaty works.

Pammy, good luck with your sebae! I had one several years ago that behaved the same way and with time, good lighting, pristine water conditions, and a touch of luck they will usually recover. My last one was quite large after beginning his aquarium career as a bleached retracted specimen.

I have always wanted to try a more difficult nem such as a Magnificent, Merten's (if I could ever find one), or a Gigantea. The problem I have is that if success with these nems is marginal at best, even in the most experienced aquarists hands, I would rather see them left in the sea where they can thrive rather than wilting in my tank.

[georgie1]

Pammy how do you feed your anemone the silversides? I use some pasta tongs and hold the silverside near mouth until the anemone fully closes around it.
Xraydoc I would have hoped they would have waited also, but who knows maybe its just what the anemone needed. :)

[xraydoc]

Allright, as I said, pictures:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/141012nem3.jpg

Notice the mouth, been open like that since I put him in the tank.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/141012nem2.jpg

Some tan tint has returned to the some tentacles, not sure if this photos shows it well though.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/141012nem1.jpg

I really liked the golden yellow pedal disk and stalk.

Ill update progess tomorrow.

[pammy]

Hi Georgie. I use some tongs and just drop the small piece of silverside near it's mouth, but I've never seen him try to eat it. It's almost like he doesn't know how. He's really darkening though now. Pam

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11905749#post11905749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by georgie1
Pammy how do you feed your anemone the silversides? I use some pasta tongs and hold the silverside near mouth until the anemone fully closes around it.
Xraydoc I would have hoped they would have waited also, but who knows maybe its just what the anemone needed. :)

[JENnKerry]

Our sebae was purchased last April from a store that really had no business keeping them. He was kept under 30 watt flourecent. Yeah that's right! So we bought him and brought him home under some nice 3x250 watt MH's. Within a month to two, he started to color up (he was bleached when we bought him except for his purple tips) so we then started to feed him half of a silverside. He is now the size of a volleyball and eats silversides whole. Give it time, keep doing what you're doing, keep trying to feed him and be patient. I'm sure he will come around like ours did :)

[georgie1]

Hi Pammy, mine will not eat the food, unless I hold it there for a bit. I am sure its under a minute.Just keep feeding them..... :)

[georgie1]

Not sure if I did these right but here are 2 of mine

[georgie1]

LOL well I guess it didn't work! OOOPPSS

[milsaltnewbie07]

Here is a pic of my old sebae, its the same one you have, i had it for 3 years before i sold it .

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/hotnickz07/DSC01754.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/hotnickz07/DSC00356Medium.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/hotnickz07/DSC02138.jpg

[georgie1]

http://picasaweb.google.com/georgie72493/Tank?authkey=uebHmfR5DNk


Last try....... maybe it will paste

[xraydoc]

Well, Im bummed out tonight. The last couple of days the nem repeatedly turned on his oral disc after multiple times righting him, adjusting the tank flow(he never attached), and even shutting the flow off. I noticed this morning that his pedal disc looked shaggy and when I came home from the hospital tonight he was losing tentacles.

The battle is over on this one, and I lost. I was successful with my last sebae and I think it will take some time before I try again.

Honestly, not quite sure why it didnt work out, I think my parameters were right on:

34 ppt
pH 8.12 (alk 4 meq/L)
Ca 410
Mg 1650 ( a little high, maybe a factor?)
NO3 0
PO4 0

He was under 2 x 250 W DE phoenix 14k halides (8h/d) and T5 actinics (11 h/d), placed on sand bed.

Flow was two K4's on a 90.

Temp 78.8 - 79.8

In any case I wish better luck to all those who responded and hope that your sebae continue to do well.

[xraydoc]

As an afterthought, I always find it disheartening when my actions are directly responsible for the demise of a creature that would likely have been successful in his native waters. I too love the ocean as so many of you do and want in no way to contribute to the decline of the reef ecosystem. When I lose a wild caught specimen I always have the feeling that I am part of the problem rather than the solution.

[garygb]

Those water parameters look good, I expect that specimen was pretty much doomed from the get go. It probably wouldn't have recovered no matter what. Some bleached ones are still in pretty good shape and quickly attach, they are the ones with a decent chance for survival. Others never attach, and I think this is a precondition for long-term success with a sebae.

[georgie1]

xraydoc, I am sorry to hear.

[pammy]

It's been 7 weeks since I brought home a very bleached Sabae Anemone. He still doesn't seem to be eating, but you can see by the following two pics how much he has darkened. I think he's going to make it. :)

Sabae after 1 week in my tank - 1/13/08
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa157/matsis1234/AnemoneandClown3.jpg

Sabae tonight after 7 weeks in my tank - 2/26/08
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa157/matsis1234/SabaeAnemoneandclown2-26-08005Large.jpg

[georgie1]

yep, looking good pammy! :)

[pammy]

Hey all. Here's a picture of my very bleached Sabae when I got him 3 months ago, and a picture of him tonight. He's darkened up a lot !!! :) He sort of wedged himself in a horshoe shaped opening in the rock structure. He's a bit shaded, but he picked the spot, so I'll leave him alone. Still doesn't seem to be taking food, but he's darkened up so much, he must be getting what he needs. (I've tried small pieces of silversides, krill, mysis) Pam

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa157/matsis1234/AnemoneandClown.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa157/matsis1234/SabaeAnemone3-11-08008Large.jpg

[kware]

xraydoc
I had the same problem with my sebae flipping over. I also had a problem with my tomatoe clown being too rough with him. I put him in a clear tupperware container with some crushed coral in it and he doesn't flip anymore. The feeding problem I had was my clown would pluck all food out before he could get it. So I built an eggcrate cage that I put on top of him during feeding time. But now he takes the shrimp but eventually spits it all back out and lets it all float away. I guess I'll just keep trying to feed it goodluck

[pammy]

Well Hallelujia! My Sabae finally seems to have gotten a feeding response for the first time since I added him to my tank 3 months ago (see pics two posts above showing how bleached he was when I brought him home, and how much he has darkened).
Last night I fed him mysis, and for the first time, he actually closed up immediately around it. Before that, he'd grab hold of the food with his tenticles, but never tried to close up around it. Tonight, I tried a piece of silverside about 1/8"-1/4" and again, he immediately closed up around it. I just couldn't keep the clown from stealing it from him. I kept the clown away for a while, but he finally went right into the closed Anemone and pulled out the silverside and threw it away. I tried a second time but the clown did the same thing. I think I might be better off for now, just feeding the Anemone Mysis while the clown is busy eating. I think he might be able to take in the mysis quicker than the silverside. I'm thrilled to see him finally have a feeding response though!!! :)
Pam