Help Needed With Stuck RBTA ...

[intenseimage]

I posted this in the Anemone section and havent been getting any responses so Ill post here as well (mods please delete if you feel necessary)

Well, I thought I had anemone proof'd the tank and almost succeeded.

I got home last night and the anemone was COMPLETELY deflated and rolling around the tank (he had a large meal the night before so I contributed digestion to some of it) ... but the tank had also gotten up to 83* during the day. I quickly opened the windows and turned on the fan and within minutes the temps dropped to 81* (and I did my half gallon top off during that time as well) and he perked right back up and climbed up on his rock like nothing had happened.

THEN ....

Overnight he got a small piece of his foot sucked through the overflow grating slots. There is about a quarter sized piece of him pulled through the grate right now (wouldnt look so bad it it wasnt inflated). When looking at his base you could see a bit of white tissue (not much) that I am guessing was getting cut up a bit from the edges of the slots. I turned off the pump that was creating the suction through that area before leaving for work in the hopes that he pulls himself back out.

Do you think it will be ok? Will the damage to his tissue heal?


If I get home tonite and he is still there how can I get him out without doing more damage? I dont just want to pull him back out since I fear he will tear apart and I highly doubt I can take a razor and make a clean cut along the grate to free him from his "trapped" section

[Anemone]

If it moves on its own, it will be fine. If it hasn't moved, you'll need to take your thumbnail and slide it along the overflow surface and gently peel back the foot of the anemone. Once you get it started, it will peel more easily. Due to it being partially through the overflow, you may have to peel the anemone away on both sides (inside the overflow and out), but I'd try just the side that has the majority of the anemone first. After freeing the anemone on onside, you may have to genly lift the anemone over the edge of the overflow to free the foot from the other side.

After you have release it, put the anemone back on the rocks.

Believe me, RBTAs can take A LOT of abuse and still survive. The clone below was fully wrapped around a fluval intake tube (first picture) when I removed it and place it on the rocks (second picture - the flat deflated lump in the center of the pic is the clone). The third picture was taken about a week later (the short tentacled one - ignore the healthy RBTAs around it). The clone fully recovered.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/512/1075040102AnemoneAccident_003.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/512/1075040102AnemoneAccident_013.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/512/1075040702AnemoneAccident_006.jpg

Kevin

[intenseimage]

That makes me feel better .... but ...

Well things MIGHT have taken a turn for the worse ... I just have no clue at this point ...

to recap whats been going on ...

he got stucked into the overflow grate a bit and a little damage was done to its foot

pumps were off all day and he pulled himself out and was in fully glory behind a rock - I thought I was in the clear ....

overnight it climbed up a rock and this morning was attached to the rock but deflated and slouching over

Figured it would perk up a bit during the day ... got home and nothing changed but as the night is progressing it seems to be "sliding" off the rock ...

Sorry for the bad pics ... its gettin late, im tired, and depressed - I really dont want to loose this one ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/Saltwater%20Tank/anem2.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/Saltwater%20Tank/anem1.jpg

[Anemone]

No, that doesn't look like a particularly happy RBTA. :(

Kevin

[intenseimage]

If its like that tomorrow night should I just chalk it up as a loss before it destroys the tank?

[wrott]

It should be fine in a few days--I also have pushed/pulled BTA back through an intake (over 1.5 hours) w/ no ill effects.

[Maxxumless]

First off, 83 isn’t that bad (if at all). Changing the temperature rapidly however can cause a lot of stress on invertebrates and is non-too-good for fish either. Secondly, anemone are attracted to water flow. You should do something about that overflow – perhaps place a screen around it. If you have PHs in there you will want to cover their intakes with foam. Anemone are hardy however and can sustain a lot of damage before they are killed.

If his foot is damaged then he’ll likely be floating around again soon. Placing him in a container just under the surface might be a good idea (unless you have MHs then it would be bad). Oh, and anemone regularly deflate about every day or two – but yours looks very stressed. He needs to be isolated and protected until he can recover.

[wrott]

Don't chunk it--it would probably not even effect your tank if it did deteriorate--just have water ready.

[Anemone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7167243#post7167243 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by intenseimage
If its like that tomorrow night should I just chalk it up as a loss before it destroys the tank?

Unless and until it begins to fall apart, I'd leave it be. If it begins to fall apart, use a cup to scoop as much of it out of the tank as you can.

Kevin

[intenseimage]

Just some background on the tank ...

Its a 22 gal cube (small for a full grown RBTA but thats a way off, it will be moved when it grows (praying it survives) )

Temps run around 80 overnight and spike to 83 during the day -- working on trying to get that down

There is 48 watts of PC lighting (stock hood) but I have a 2x40 if need be and would ultimatly like to upgrade to a 70 or 150 watt HQI later down the road when funds allow

All powerheads are behing the wall so thats at least safe ...

Effect the tank if it goes -- I def think it would in a 22 gal :(

But I will try to remain positive and will watch carefully over the next day or so and if its goes south -- its gotta come out.

There is very little in the tank besides the RBTA, 2 SMALL clowns which totally ignore it, and a few small corals ... nothing to really bother it so it can go where it needs to be safe and happy.

I do 5 gallon WC's weekly ... on Sundays ... should I hold off or should one be done sooner to help with water quality?

This is a pic before the tank was setup ... it was sucked through this grate ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/SurfaceSkim.jpg

I have since added a piece of plexi to minimize the open area of the grate

[wrott]

I would set/adjust heater to 82F, and this will stablize your tank

[intenseimage]

Yea Ive tried that so I only get maybe a 2 degree swing ... I need a better heater since it (when set to 80) will spike to 84 - 84.5 -- right now I run no heater at all for the 80-83 swing

[intenseimage]

Update:

This morning it was upright and semi - inflated behind a rock ... looking 100 times better than last night but still not back to its glorious self.

Im itching to get home tonite and see how its doing.

[intenseimage]

This thing is making me go insane ... I know im probably over reacting ...

So I get home from work around 7 pm to find the little one like this ... stupid me forgot to turn the daylight bulb on and the tank only had the actinic on during the day but from 7 to about 10:30 both bulbs were on ... I took the day off tomorrow for some contractors to come out to our house (I cant believe with a brand new house soo much EXTRA work needs to be done!) so Ill have time to get some good timers and get them setup so the tank has a normal light cycle going.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/Saltwater%20Tank/comehome.jpg

Now its almost 11 pm and this is what its lookin like ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/Saltwater%20Tank/laterthatnight.jpg

Now mark my words ... when I get up it will have made its way to the top of the rock and will be slumped over and ill start to worry again ... UGH

All I want is this back ...

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/intenseimage/Saltwater%20Tank/RBTA.jpg