Opinion of this damaged RBTA... help much needed...

[Pallobi]

got this today from a fellow club member, however it was so shriveled upon trading, i couldnt see that there is a hole goin right through the middle of the body... anyone ever seen anything like this or what could have caused it? or if you think it may even survive? i didnt see it until acclimating it and it relaxed a little and opened up a bit... now i am very concerned... Please help me

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/?action=view&amp;current=IMAG0474.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/IMAG0474.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[briankmarsh1980]

that is one ****ed off nem, is that a hole or the mouth?

nems are pretty tricky, just drip it put it in strong light and monitor it.

hopefully its just stressed from the move, if it starts to disintegrate flush it or you will have a mess

[Pallobi]

thank you... i cant tell if its the mouth, I am assuming, but why would you see through it?... its where it should be, but you can actually see right out the other side... not sure what he did to remove it, but its not in good shape for sure...

anyone else willing to advise? plz and thank u

[sjwitt]

It could be splitting due to stress. Just keep an eye on it. If it starts to smell, get it out of the tank, it's a goner.

[noahm]

It "looks" to be a goner, but they have been known to have some amazing regen skills if they get happy. I would follow Brian's advice and get it acclimated and keep an eye on it. Don't fiddle with it once it is in there, and hope for the best. You will know within a day I think whether it is toast or still has a chance.

[Pallobi]

ill be home all day today and tonite, i will keep a close eye... if it starts to look worse, ill jus flush it and look into what was done to remove it from the previous owners tank...

I will add, that in the time it was in the acclimation cup, about 45 mins, it already started to attach itself to the plastic surface... so hopefully that is a good sign rather than a bad

[KidReefer]

the previous owner probably ripped the anemones foot right out from underneath it, and the hole that was made went through to the mouth, creating a complete front to back hole.
+1 on the wait it out. you would be surprised how good an anemone can recover, if its in the right conditions

[ginger7286]

Yea, I'd wait it out as well, it looks stressed. If the foot has been ripped it probably won't survive. Keep an eye on it, if it is spiltting take some pictures it is incredible to see. I have 3 BTA in my tank and was lucky to actually watch one split. Good Luck, and like Kidreefer said you'd be surprised how well they bounce back if does.

[Dream2aReef]

ill be home all day today and tonite, i will keep a close eye... if it starts to look worse, ill jus flush it and look into what was done to remove it from the previous owners tank...

I will add, that in the time it was in the acclimation cup, about 45 mins, it already started to attach itself to the plastic surface... so hopefully that is a good sign rather than a bad

I wouldn't flush it if it begins to look worse. Sometimes it takes a while before a healthy nem starts to look better after acclimation. If your nem is in fact in really bad shape I would imagine it would take it even longer to start to look better. Give it time :)

[noahm]

ill be home all day today and tonite, i will keep a close eye... if it starts to look worse, ill jus flush it and look into what was done to remove it from the previous owners tank...

I will add, that in the time it was in the acclimation cup, about 45 mins, it already started to attach itself to the plastic surface... so hopefully that is a good sign rather than a bad

Definitely a good sign. Good luck man.

[davocean]

In the pic I can't see the hole going all the way through the mouth.
I've seen some pretty badly damaged nems come back, but if he did rip the foot or mouth, normally that is the kiss of death.
Attaching is a good sign, maybe you will get lucky, but I would definitely keep an eye on it.

[Pallobi]

thanks guys, definitely appreciate the help... very much...

[Anemone]

If the clone comes out of a good system, and your system is good (for anemones), it should be fine. I've seen (and had) clones much worse off than that one appears to be recover completely in a few hours. To me, that clone looks PO'd about being pulled out/shipped. Not knowing how your system is vis-a-vis anemones I can't guarantee a recovery, but in my tank, I wouldn't be worried at all.

Kevin

[davocean]

My only concern is OP says the hole goes all the way through the mouth, though I can't see that in the pic.

[mapleredta]

If it's trying to attach, I'd say that's a very promising sign.

[Pallobi]

the hole was definately all the way through to the other side... not easy to see in the pic sure, but it did... and did in fact attach a little to the plastic acclimation container also... was drip acclimated, then floated to full temp acclimate... i acclimated for 45 mins. to an hour..

as far as nem' quality water, i am not too sure what this would be... however my system is low nutrient and highly oxygenated... alk at about 8 at all times, and normal saltwater ph of about 8.2... of course i didnt place the nem in my display with HIGH flow and sps o'plenty, but in my "fuge" 65g RR... at the moment it jus has a dual 30" coralife t5, which is junk imo, but in the morning I'll be changing it out to an aquatinic 5 x 36" t5 fixture (picking up early tomorrow in the morning)... at this time i unplugged the only powerhead in the 65g which is a koralia 3 and pointed my return to the other side of the tank... at this time the nem is settled on the rock work in a nook, with very very little flow around him... he seems to be moving his deflated arms around a bit here and there by waving them almost like a content cat does its tail when its jus chillen... i'll take and post a pic as soon as i am done typing this...

again guys, thank you so much so far...

[Pallobi]

im not sure this is a good sign... but who knows at this point i guess... but he appears to be motionless for quite a bit now...

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/?action=view&amp;current=IMAG0478.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/IMAG0478.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Pallobi]

<a href="http://s906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/?action=view&amp;current=IMAG0477.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/Pallobi11/IMAG0477.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Anemone]

Hmmm. I'd like to see some expansion and "swelling up" of the tentacles by now. At least it doesn't appear to be deteriorating. Do you have some water flow over/past the anemone? You don't want a complete lack of flow.

Kevin

[Pallobi]

At the moment no, but until it attached a bit, I thought I should hold off, I jus thought it shouldn't be blown around until it at least attempts to attach, is that wrong? Sorry ill admit, I'm a nem' noob... so thank u guys once again

[davocean]

I usually don't turn anything off when placing a nem, but rather place it where it is somewhat protected from flow, between or next to a rock where the flow should be about right for it.
A healthy nem should not take long to attach.
I've seen some people place tupperware w/ holes or similar to help block flow during this process, but I like to get regular tank flow going as soon as it attach's so it hopefully doesn't wander later.
BTA's can be trickier on the wandering, especially since they often comb the rockwork.
Good luck, and maybe keep some carbon handy, maybe a batch of new water for a WC just in case it doesn't hang.
Not very often do I see a nem w/ a damaged mouth or foot make it, fingers crossed for ya.

[Pallobi]

Yea I'm kinda bummed as I traded a nice cali tort frag for it and was under the impression it would be healthy and unhurt... shame in me I guess as I shoulda spoke up at the time of transaction, but I jus didn't realize... with any luck the little guy will make it... but as u all see, its not goin well... so yea, fingers crossed here too... hopefully I traded with a stand-up guy and if it doesn't survive he works with me somehow... but of course I jus want him to live... I don't obtain animals with the intention of them dying... really hope he comes to...

[Anemone]

I'd get at least some water movement going around the clone. Dead water around/over an injured nem (or coral, for that matter) just seems to hasten their demise, IME.

Kevin

[davocean]

Don't beat yourself up over it too much, it happens.
Really my guess is whoever you got it from may have either not known how to detach it, or rushed it.
Watch for it starting to look kinda like cottage cheese/melting.
In the meantime all you can do is chill, check first thing in am.

[r-balljunkie]

rbta's are very resilient, given your WQ is in decent shape. i have literally scraped them off with a butter knife down to nothingness (had one in the wrong place, was stinging a coral i couldnt move). a few months later, started to regrow in the same place, pretty shade of pink. it might be a few weeks, but im sure it will bounce back. as long as its not 'melting' your in good shape!!
GL

C