Can a Dying Anemone Poison a Tank?

[Felixc395]

I've had two anemones die in the past year from my own ignorance and not knowing they needed to be fed.

Each time a anemone would die it would seem like the whole tank would suffer. I read that when anemone's die they slowly wither away while releasing toxins into the tank that can kill livestock. The last time my anemone died it seemed like everyhing died in the tank. All my corals died and I was wondering if the anemone was to blame? My tank parameters at the time were fine and this was about two or three months ago.

Could my anemone have poisoned my tank as it died?

Thanks everyone in advance!

[davocean]

Well, yeah they will seriously foul your tank at the very least.
If light is good and tank is established, water params in check, they shouldn't die just from lack of spot feeding.
Heavy WC's should be done after a nem death.

[CockyBrock]

YES...absolutely a dying anemone can foul up a tank...rather quickly too.

We have several RBTAs in our display and haven't lost one (yet..knock on wood), but the moment they start to, as you say "wither away," we would pull them from the tank and more than likely flush them. As mean as it may sound, it's not worth having one anemone mess up an entire tank!

[ExtremeClownfish]

i have a friend that has a 300 gallon tank. he had a huge tang collection, im talking high dollar stuff. his anemone took a walk one day and got sucked into his closed loop. the anemone was then shredded into thousands of tiny pieces. these pieces continued getting chopped up into even smaller pieces. (this happened while he was at work). he comes home and the only things alive were his 2 clowns which seemed to not be affected at all.

[Felixc395]

Hmm, well I think I know the reason for my tank troubles then.

[Felixc395]

Anybody else agree?

[Toddrtrex]

Two things.

There is a difference b/t an anemone just dying --- which will most likely cause an ammonia spike and an anemone being chopped up by a powerhead. Sure, the anemone could die from being chopped up, but the main issue in the case of a powerhead is all the stinging cells from the anemone being sent throughout the tank. It is the stinging cells that are killing the fish.

[Felixc395]

Ohh, ok. The anemone wasn't chopped up (atleast I don't think it was) so it must have been an ammonia problem.

[bues0022]

There is also a difference between "poisoning" the tank, and an ammonia spike from a dead animal. The former can be things such as cow fish, sea apples etc. that literally have poison in their bodies that is then released when the organs that hold the poison degrade and release. The later is caused from the breakdown of a large amount of organic material decaying in the tank. When anemones die it is the latter to be worried about.

Now, you need to figure out why they died. What kind of anemone was it? What are your tank parameters? (with numbers) size of tank, lights (number, color of bulbs, specs), flow, tank inhabitants, anything else you can tell us. There is a reason why they died, and before you put another one in the tank you should figure it out so it doesn't happen again.

[cdeboard]

If your killed 2 nems it may be due to something else as well. Most recommend you feed them but it is not necessary to keep them alive.

[Felixc395]

Hmm, I can't remeber any of my water parameters because it was a couple of months ago and I didn't have a log then. The only thing that I though might be the problem is my lighting. I have a 4 bulb T5 HO aquaticlife fixture. I don't feel as if the fixture is high quality at all and doesn't put out much light. Also the anemones were both at te bottom of the tank. Maybe not enough light?

[DustinB]

Well that all depends, what kind of anemone was it? Was it faded or still colorful?

If the color was faded or overly brown it could have been lack of light, but they will typically move to the light if possible.

[Felixc395]

One was a carpet anemone that didn't fade just shriveled up and died then the other one was a red long tentacled anemone that also just shriveled up and died.

[DustinB]

And the rest?...................

Did the appear faded at all? Anything change?

[Felixc395]

No they didn't fade at all, just slowly got smaller and smaller until I couldn't find them anymore.

[NaplesFrank]

I just went through the same thing in my reef tank. One anemone died (couldn't find it) and the toxins that were released killed off all of my fish and shrimp. The only survivor was a clown fish. All of my water test results have been perfect and remained perfect throughout this whole ordeal. I sure wish that I could find the anemones remains, hopefully my corals will not be affected.

[mdelp]

Originally Posted by NaplesFrank

I just went through the same thing in my reef tank. One anemone died (couldn't find it) and the toxins that were released killed off all of my fish and shrimp. The only survivor was a clown fish. All of my water test results have been perfect and remained perfect throughout this whole ordeal. I sure wish that I could find the anemones remains, hopefully my corals will not be affected.

woah! Sorry to hear this man. what kind of anemone?

[OrionN]

I agree with Todd.
It is well documented that a chopped up Magnifica or Gigantea will release nematocysts that will wipe out all the vertebrates in the tank other than clownfish. Somehow the clowns are immune to this. Likely the mechanism for this is the same as the mechanism that let clown fish live in the anemone int he first place.
Infected, or poorly care for anemones that died in the tank will release ammonia if not remove just like the rest of the livestock. Biomass of an anemone is a lot less than their size suggest because they are mostly water.

[phender]

Just to reiterate, anemones don't release toxins/poison into the water when or as they are dieing.

The problem is, when anemones start to decay it is not always immediately noticeable. This fouls your water like any other animal dying would. The difference is when a fish decays only the outside is exposed to the water. With an anemone, all of the decaying material is exposed to the water, but not always to you. When a fish dies, you can pull it or it is eaten by crabs/snails/brittle stars, etc. before much decomp. takes place. With an anemone its foot, column, insides or backside of the anemone may have been decaying for days while you are still hoping it pulls through. By the time you pull it, your ammonia levels may be through the roof.

In the case of chopped up anemones, clowns probably survive because they aren't stung. In the case of polluted water, clowns survive because they are a little more tolerant of bad water than other fish.

[OrionN]

Remove dead anemone from the tank I often use a suction tube to suck it out. This keep all the decaying stuff from spread all over the tank. This was years ago. Now, my sick anemones get treated in HT instead of stay in DT so I don't have the need to remove dead anemone from DT.

[GilliganReef]

Originally Posted by phender

In the case of chopped up anemones, clowns probably survive because they aren't stung. In the case of polluted water, clowns survive because they are a little more tolerant of bad water than other fish.

Just do constant 25% w/c everyday for the first week and the every other next week. Add carbon and ammonia detox as well. Dont let it bring you down or you will have worst algae issues ever.