How to kill an anemone...

[BonsaiNut]

We have spent years on this forum talking about how to keep clown anemones alive. The good news is that it appears (at least to me) that many more marine hobbyists are understanding the environmental needs of anemones and are being more successful at keeping them alive in captivity (even including some people who have successfully captive-raised clones, and witnessed spawning events in their tanks).

To continue to improve the general care knowledge of clown anemones, I wanted to start a thread for people to share things that they believe killed their anemones outright. In other words, you obtained a healthy individual, it acclimated well to your tank, and then somewhere down the road it died and you think you know (or have some hypotheses about) why it died.

Causes probably can be categorized into:

(1) Mechanical effects. (Something went wrong with your system)
(2) Physical injury.
(3) Disease.
(4) Diet.
(5) Predators.

Just to remove "new anemone syndrome" from clouding our list, let's try to only comment on anemones that were healthy in tanks for at least 3 months after being introduced, and still looked healthy at that time (no shrinkage, bleaching, stubby tentacles, etc).

Mention what happened, why you think you know the cause of death, and what you would do differently in the future.

Perhaps we can compile the info into a care document in the future...

[BonsaiNut]

My list includes the following:

(1) Death by poison. I am pretty sure I have killed anemones by feeding them rotten food (bad raw shrimp). I didn't think it would make a difference if the shrimp was a little old. In the future, I only feed anemones "safe" food that is either fresh or fresh-frozen.

(2) Death by disease. I have introduced new stressed/sick anemones into tanks with established anemones and have managed to kill both. I am now very careful about introducing new anemones to established systems. In a perfect world, I would recommend quarantining all new anemones away from your main system until you are certain they are healthy and well-acclimated.

(3) Death by predation. In the past I have managed to kill anemones by introducing the wrong fish. Some angels and butterflies have killed anemones in my tanks (though not all). Clownfish are a preventative measure, though not foolproof. A LONG time ago I introduced a starfish to my tank that ate anemones. Shrimp have eaten (or damaged anemones).

(4) Death by clown. Unfortunately, clowns that are too big (or too aggressive) have killed my anemones. Clowns have eaten tentacles and eventually ripped anemones up. Some clowns have learned to "dive" into anemone's mouths, and can stress an anemone so that it no longer expands. When I run into these problems, I now remove the clown.

I am sure I'll come up with more...

[Crustman]

Death by the loss of zooxanthellae can be added to the list, bleaching. This might be related to disease and the anemone loses its symbionts when put in your tank. It might need light adaptation for its symbionts and they are expelled.

[Crustman]

There might also be death when the environmental needs are not met. A sand dwelling anemone might not attach if a deep sand bed is not present. Acclimation problems can also be added to the list. Failure to adjust salinity and pH over a sufficient length of time before release.

[E.intheC]

what type of starfish ate your anemone?

[BonsaiNut]

what type of starfish ate your anemone?

I learned long ago to avoid any starfish with "knobs". Unfortunately this was before then (25 years ago or so). It was similar to a Chocolate Chip star - but I honestly don't remember the species. The pet store told me it would not bother any of my inverts - but it proceeded to carve a swath of destruction across my tank.

I am separately putting together a list of known predators of sea anemones. In addition to fish, it includes crabs and other crustacea, nudibranchs, sea slugs, pycnogonids, starfish, worms, and snails (at least so far). I will have a specific species list as well as field references.

Some starfish are considered to be omnivorous (Feder and Christensen, 1966) and have been observed to eat anemones in an aquarium (Milligan, 1916) and in the sea (Table 2). Verwey (1930) believed that Acanthaster echinites was ‘probably one of the worst enemies of anemones’; however, the first unequivocal indication that actinians can be a significant part of the diet of some asteroids came from the extensive in situ observations of Mauzey, Birkeland and Dayton (1968). They found that, in some habitats, Dermasterias imbricata fed mainly on Epiactis prolifera, and occasionally on Anthopleura xanthogrammica, A. elegantissima, Tealia coriacea and Metridium senile. Other starfish were also seen to eat anemones (Table 2).

I am obviously trying to focus on known predators of CLOWNFISH anemones (not, for example, cold or deep water anemones).

Even when an anemone predator does not occur within the natural distribution of a clown anemone, there is always a chance of cross-environmental contamination. The leather star, Dermasterias imbricata, is not found in the South Central Pacific, but IS found in the Eastern Pacific as far south as Baja California. Aquarists who import live rock from the Gulf of California could easily import this guy, whose main diet is purported to be sea anemones. For all I know, these guys might show up in retail stores every now and then. I regularly see Catalina Gobies, juvenile Garibaldi, and other temperate water Pacific critters that have no business being sold for a tropical reef tank.

(For what it's worth, Garibaldi have also been observed eating anemones :) )

http://pt-lobos.com/enchinodermimg/leather_star_c_.jpg

[celamb89]

Shrimp have eaten (or damaged anemones).

what kind of shrimp?
I was thinking of getting a clean up shrimp dont really know its name didnt ask at the LFS, but should i not introduce it to my tank or worry about it?.. I have an LTA with Ocellaria host

[dalston]

Physical injury - death by powerhead. I stupidly assumed as my M. doreensis had been in the exact same spot for 2+ years it was safe to uncover a koralia. Less than a week after doing so, I awoke one morning to a very messy tank.

[t4zalews]

Death by clown - I used to have a pair of GSM that loved their anemone toooo much. the anemone was only 3 in. when extended even tho the 2 fish were small (~1.5-2 in.) They would just batter and banter the anemone allll day long. Didnt help that the melanurus wrasse would steal the food whenever I tried to feed it. the anemone was a bubble tip.

I suggest a bubble tip be at least 5 in. before having clowns with it.

[bues0022]

Death by light: too much without proper acclimation period, not enough

It also seems like sometimes it's not only one thing but a combination of factors that ultimately lead to the the nem's demise.

[E.intheC]

The first anemone I ever purchased died when it detached itself from the rock and was sucked into my Maxi Jet with a Sureflow mod.. The entire tank looked like milk and smelled absolutely terrible. Not sure what specifically caused it to detach because I didn't know enough at the time to really pay enough attention to that part.

[O'Man]

-- Nudibranch, don't have an id. It was large, white & curly. Looked like a poodle.
-- Powerhead.
-- 3 day power failure
-- Oil or something from a failed Rio 2500
-- Puffer, despite what my LFS said. They took it back but that nem declined from the damage.

[nikon187]

Mechanical failure, heater boiled my first haddoni after 9mths.

[nanoman31]

failure to keep up with water changes: my last BTA died due to lack of water changes.

[jupiter]

I dropped live rock on a haddoni twice (same anemone) and it eventually died.

I've had CBS rip the tentacles off anemones. I do not put them in my tank any more.

Large clownfish that dive into anemones and make them retract. But once the anemone retracts the clown gets angry and pummels the anemone more, trying to make it inflate again.

[tufacody]

I've been keeping a gigantea for almost 2 years now. Over the last few months, it wasn't looking like its former beauty. I increased feeding with small pieces of raw deli shrimp, and it has made a world of differance. I was previously feeding once about every 10 days, but my gig seems to do better with a feeding every 3-4 days. So although its back to its former glory, I think my old feeding schedule would have led to its demise if I had not changed it.

Other things that make my gig pout are low salinity and low PH, even by a little. I can usually tell if something is a little off in my system simply by how the gigantea looks.

[jennifish120]

+1 death by powerhead

+1 more frequent feeding. I feed every 2 days or so and my nem looks great!

[nanoman31]

I dropped live rock on a haddoni twice (same anemone) and it eventually died.

I've had CBS rip the tentacles off anemones. I do not put them in my tank any more.

Large clownfish that dive into anemones and make them retract. But once the anemone retracts the clown gets angry and pummels the anemone more, trying to make it inflate again.
I hate CBS. The one I had started eating my fish! so much for reef safe!:mad2:

[Apercula]

Just lost one to adding a second anemone of the same species. Second anemone didnt like the flow pattern, so I tweaked it a little, original anemone didnt like new flow pattern, started moving and got into a powerhead.

[traveller7]

Make sure cowries are on the list of anemone predators. Did not see it in a quick scan.

Great topic ;>)

[Dragonlady]

#6 unexplained causes- perhaps contaminated food?

[troyman]

i have a condy she is goin on 3 years she is green she is the star of the tank i feed her everday fish sliver from the maket i shave a piece of frozen cod its soft she likes it i give here bloodworms mysis shrimp only a small amount the clown fish protect her cause if you put ur hand by it the clowns bite the hell out of your hand but they dont go in it much i think alot of people think that throw them in the tank they will be ok not true a aged tank and perfect water conditions must be met for them

[WDLV]

Chum Grinders (Powerheads and closed loops)

Abrupt Lighting and temperature changes (unrecoverable bleaching)

Things falling on them (acro colonies/large frags)

Mixing species (active and/or passive chemical warfare)

Abrupt water parameter changes (intentional and unintentional)

Poison??? (contaminants in supply water)

Un-met overall needs (sometimes they just wander 'till they use up all their energy and waste away.)

[beachbums05]

I just pulled a Clown yesterday that was smacking my RTBA like a kid at the batting cage!

[BonsaiNut]

Refreshing this old thread... as far as inverts go I've been reading more on sea stars and nudibranchs being big anemone eaters. Also sea turtles, but I don't think we have this problem in our tanks :)

Additionally, shrimp can either be direct consumers, or can damage/kill anemones by ripping food out of the oral cavity. I remember one shrimp I had years ago who used to camp the anemone, and whenever I would feed the anemone, the shrimp would steal the food - in some cases pulling the food out after the anemone had already ingested it. I used to have to feed the shrimp first, with a big chunk of something, and then quickly feed the anemone before the shrimp was finished eating.

[whis169]

Putting them in a tank that is not at least 6 months old and/or well established. I got a RBTA on craigslist abot 9 months ago. The family had a 90g corner with about 25 RBTAs. They list these about every 6 months. I now have 2 very healthy anemones. It's great when you can get cloned ones local.

[bradleym]

This one happened over the summer, so I'll add it now - death by injury/diet.

I had a 6 inch maxi mini eat a 3 inch horseshoe crab. Head first. The tail was the only thing I could see sticking out, and with all the spikes pointed back there was no way it was coming out. I gave the anemone time, hoping it would figure something out but it died with the crab still in it.