Anemone Tentacles Falling Off
 

For some reason the tentacles on my Condi Anemone keep falling off. They dont do it often, but every few weeks I see a small tip lying on the bottom of the tank. The anemone is SUPER healthy and I dont really think this is a problem, just curious why it is doing it, or if this is normal.

This is a mature tank with successful SPS, LPS, Crocea Clam, ect. Water params are perfect, and nothing picks on the anemone.

Here's the Anemone: Looks Healthy

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMG_2566.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMG_2564.jpg

Here is a close up of the tip:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...hTank023-1.jpg

Maroons are often known to do this to their hosts.

or if you have any shrimp in there....like peppermints.

+1 on the maroon. i've found 2 tips on the sb in the last month or so. Both my nems are really healthy too

any ideas why they'd do this?

I also have an emerald crab, but I don't think he did it

cleaner shrimp thats it. i have a good feeling that he couldnt do that. i also have emeralds, but they dont go near it. it is probably the maroon. i dont think he is hurting anything, right?

Ok, then it's most likely the maroon. Lots of clowns will do this to their host. they actually suck on the tentacles as a dominance thing (i believe) sometimes they bite and the result will be in a piece. Shouldn't really "hurt" then nem, esp if its a healthy specimen, such as yours I can see.

probably is the maroon. It may be okay, but Condy anemones are not natural hosts for clownfish (Condys are from the Atlantic, Clownfish from the Pacific) so it may not be appreciating the clownfish abuse. If it doesn't seem to be suffering it's probably fine, but keep an eye on it.

Same thing happened to me, I have a huge condi and it eventually lost every single one of its tentacles and I couldn't figure out why.

Well I sold the maroon, and now the condi has grown back all its tentacles and is back to what it was originally so I'm pretty sure it was the maroon doing it.

Here's a pic of them when I had the maroon, fish is about 4-5" and condi was over a foot fully open.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...shJan08066.jpg

Because they're the spawn of the devil :lol:

Seriously though, I have a suspicion it has something to do with the fact that Clownfish and Condylactis anemones aren't a natural pairing. Perhaps the anemone is recating to the clown bothering it by releasing tentacles or perhaps the clown is bothered that the anemone isn't be a very hospitable host and getting rough with the anemone as a result. While I've never kept the two together I've seen several "experts" suggest that the pairing of Condylactis with Clowns usually results in the death of one or the other.

what a punk. I wonder why they'd do that

LOL. but I have a GBTA, and a RBTA. So the Condy thing doesn't explain it for mine.
I'd guess it might be a way to show dominance. My GSM feeds his nem, so it strange that he'd do that. Like ripping a sheet off your bed or something :lol:

freakin maroons, gotta love em

Which brings us back to Maroon Clowns being devilspawn ;)

i believe its probably the clown. it is fairly rare, so i will leave it for now. the clown has 2 condi anemones one on each side of the tank and has been paired up for about 8 months. the nems keep getting healthier, along with the clown.