Bleached H. crispa

[ThRoewer]

I found this H. crispa last Saturday at a local store. I was looking for one for a wile but all I could get so far was a very small slightly brown one that was damaged and is still in recovery with uncertain outcome.
I had a white crispa back in 1985 that turned brown again (I suspect zooxanthellae transfer from a neighboring Anthelia colony) and this one was big and otherwise healthy looking so I gave it a try.

Light source: Kessil A360W with spectral controller and max color mix set to 60%
Water: filtered and enhanced natural seawater
Water change: at least 25% every week
I add B-Ionic 2 component calcium buffer system (currently 10 ml of each part) and some Kalkwasser. The pH is in the morning at 8.15 and at the middle of the light period at about 8.35
All the hard corals I have, including Acropora are growing rather fast.

Out of the bag it looked a bit shriveled:


Because of the flow pattern and not to burn it in the center of the light, and in hope of a possible zooxanthellae transfer I placed it in the corner that my green BTA hat chosen (though that one was not at all pleased with its new neighbor)

Tuesday it was still in the corner I placed it. It seems it likes it there so far:


View from the outside of the corner on the underside and foot.




I feed a mix of live food (brine shrimp, tigger pods, daphnia) and frozen food (Spirulina brine shrimp) and the anemone(s) get for sure their share of it. I also target feed it some Mysis that it seems to take.

What can be done to increase the chances that it gets its zooxanthellae back or to speed up the process?

[Winwood]

That looks like a healthy crispa. A little tlc and it should come back in no time.

[ThRoewer]

We had a 4h power outage on Wednesday and the crispa didn’t like it too much. It deflated a bit and hasn’t come back to its old size yet.
And this afternoon the anemone crab deserted the BTA for the crispa. I hope she won’t steel too much food from it.

[ThRoewer]

It's now almost two months and not the slightest sign of zoxanthellae returning - it's still as white as white gets. 100% bleached.
It is deflating and inflating but does otherwise still look ok but I don't think it will live too much longer without some reinfection with zoxanthellae.

Any ideas on how to do it:

In the mid 80s I had a white crispa that got infected with zoxanthellae from a neighboring anthelia colony. It started out with some brown spots (back then I thought the anemone was sick ) and within a few weeks it was completely brown (with purple tips of course)

So far I tried mushrooms and a (formerly) green BTA (which hides from my Kessil LED like it's a death-ray) but no transfer.

Unless someone has a better idea I will next try injecting PhycoPure™ Zooxanthellae with a insulin syringe. I hope she will handle the sting without too much damage.
If this doesn't do it I don't know what else to do.

[OrionN]

You can get some tentacles of another heathy Crispa and stuff it in a piece of seafood and feed it to your anemone. If healthy Crispa is not available I would get tentacles of your BTA

If the transplant take it will color up in 10-14 days

[ThRoewer]

I don't have another crispa and the BTA is currently looking more like a carpet anemone due to avoiding the light. It is also not really accessible at the moment. So the feeding tentacles option isn't going to work for me at this point.

I've ordered a small bottle of the PhycoPure from LA. I will first try just to dose some into the water and see if the anemone gets some color back. If I don't see anything in a week or two I will try the injection.

I keep you updated how it goes.

BTW, what can I do to get the BTA to come out into the light?

[OrionN]

Free living phytoplankton is different from obligate symbiotic phytoplankton. Different genus and species. Dosing free living phytoplankton is not going to help.
There is a whole family of symbiotic phytoplankton. Even the ones for corals is different than anemone

[rathos]

I just fed mine a lot. Having clowns in it also seemed to help. Mine was totally white and was back to full brown in about 2-3 months. This was at the bottom of a 125 with a 150 watt metal halide running a 14k bulb.

[OrionN]

If you can get Crispa tentacles then get that. If not try some other anemones. If not able I would gat some LPS tentacles then Soft corals. Understand that the farther you get from the Crispa the less likely it work. Free living phytoplankton is not helpful

[ThRoewer]

These are live symbiotic Zooxanthellae that were extracted from inverts like corals and clams and then cultured under controlled conditions. So these are the same symbiotic algae that give corals and other photosynthetic inverts their color.
This product is precisely meant to help bleached corals to recover:
"Available for the first time ever: a multi-species, pure, live Zooxanthellae culture! PhycoPure(TM) Zooxanthellae is a blend of LIVE zooxanthellae assembled for use as an aid for marine reef aquarium corals and clams. Aquarists have reported great results ranging from coral recovery from stress events to enhanced overall coral and clam coloration. "

[OrionN]

As I understand it, there are species of the genus Symbiodinium that are free living. The ones that are symbionts are difficult to culture and so far not able to be culture at least to any extended.
Regardless, best of luck and keep us updated. Best to inject it into the food. From my experiences and from other reefers if you are able to transplant the zooxanthellae will take off visibly in about 14+/- a few days

[ThRoewer]

Symbiotic, normally non free living, Symbiodinium species have been successfully cultured too:
BURR Cultures
"We maintain approximately 750 Symbiodinium cultures, representing the most of the currently described Symbiodinium clades. Many of the zooxanthellae were isolated from adult cnidarians from the Caribbean and Pacific (scleractinian, anemones, octocorals, and clams). However the vast majority of our cultures were isolated from newly infected polyps. ..."

[OrionN]

For sure you got a 100% bleached anemone. If this cocktail of Zooxanthalle works we should be able to see the effect in 1 month. Best of luck and please make sure you keep us update as to how you inoculated your anemone and how long it take for you to see the result

[ThRoewer]

By now it's not just 100% bleached but also seems not too healthy either. It's deflating way too often for my taste and sometimes has its mouth open.
The only positive side is that it isn't moving around and has no mechanically injuries.

I probably need to treat this anemone before trying to reinfect it with zooxanthellae.

Which would be the appropriate treatment/medication for a crispa?
I have Ciprofloxacin (500 mg tablets) and Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (80mg/400mg tablets).
What would be the right dosage?

[ThRoewer]

OK, the experiment is on. I injected a mix of the PhycoPure and some frozen food directly into the mouth/stomach of the anemone to be sure it got it all.

As for the PhycoPure - it looks just like clear water and under 90x magnification the cell count looks rather low.
How large are symbiotic Zooxanthellae?

[addictedreefer]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

OK, the experiment is on. I injected a mix of the PhycoPure and some frozen food directly into the mouth/stomach of the anemone to be sure it got it all.

As for the PhycoPure - it looks just like clear water and under 90x magnification the cell count looks rather low.
How large are symbiotic Zooxanthellae?

Snake oil??

[ThRoewer]

I contacted AlgaGen and asked if this is normal and they responded that it may have died while in the mail. They've sent me another bottle which will arrive tomorrow.

Unfortunately last night the crispa decided to move a bit - to the back of the tank where I can't reach it. The BTA was following her but I could get that one and put it for now into the flower pot of the percula - it will be hard for them to ignore it now.

I may have to remove both anemones and put them into one of my 10 gallon QTs until my new tank is set up and cycled.
Is it ok to put a BTA with a crispa? So far they got along well.

[addictedreefer]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

I contacted AlgaGen and asked if this is normal and they responded that it may have died while in the mail. They've sent me another bottle which will arrive tomorrow.

Unfortunately last night the crispa decided to move a bit - to the back of the tank where I can't reach it. The BTA was following her but I could get that one and put it for now into the flower pot of the percula - it will be hard for them to ignore it now.

I may have to remove both anemones and put them into one of my 10 gallon QTs until my new tank is set up and cycled.
Is it ok to put a BTA with a crispa? So far they got along well.

Even if the zoo died off, you should have seen many dead cells on the scope.

[ThRoewer]

I just had a look inside the bottle and they are all clumped together at the bottom of the bottle. AlgaGen told me that can happen when they are stressed.
Let's see how the new bottle looks like.
Since she is on the move I will try to remove the anemone and place her into a QT for treatment.

[ThRoewer]

OK, got the new bottle and it is a whole different story. The solution has a clearly brownish green hue and under the microscope I can see lots of zooxanthelae in their stationary and motile forms. I suppose what you want the most for infecting bleached corals and anemones are the motile flagellates, but I hope the stationary forms will work too if mixed into the food.

[allendehl]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

OK, got the new bottle and it is a whole different story. The solution has a clearly brownish green hue and under the microscope I can see lots of zooxanthelae in their stationary and motile forms. I suppose what you want the most for infecting bleached corals and anemones are the motile flagellates, but I hope the stationary forms will work too if mixed into the food.

Well, way to dig up a thread from 3 years ago!..I have a bleached HMag and I was wondering your results using AlgaGen PhycoPure Zooxanthellae.

Were you able to recolor your nem?...