Flower Anemone Experts: I need your help

[Anonymous]

Flower anemone does not tell me for sure which anemone you have. So if you could clarify with a latin name I would appreciate it.

Milky substances are not zooxanthellae.
More likely it is sperm or nematocysts or cnidae.

If it is sperm it should end shortly. But,sperm does not usually(or ever)cause such a response from other species. The releasing of sperm could be triggered by a temp or salinity change as well as lunar phases. Once again this does not usually affect other specimens.

Now if it is nemoatcysts or cnidae you would certainly have an adverse reaction from other specimens. If they are too close this could be the anemones way of backing them off. If this is the case seperate the specimens and use GAC(granulated activated carbon).

The worst case sernario is that the anemone is dying. And is actually melting into the water. This is the case if the tank begins to smell awful and your ammonia spikes hard and fast. BEWARE!! It can happen fast!!!

Oh yeah,if you are gonna move a specimen,move one of the other specimens or the whole rock the anemone is attached to.

GL

Dan

 

[Jazzcat]

The Latin is Actina Equina. It is not a true anemone, but a genetic link between the coralimorph and the anemone. It does closely resemble an anomene though, having short radial tentacles and a central mouth. Also, I should mention that, as far as I can tell, my shrooms started looking ill before the anemone began ejecting this white matter. Is it possible that it could be dying, yet still look healthy (eg. fully inflated)? I only have a 20g tank, so if that damn thing dies and fouls the water, I'm up a BROWN creek!

 

[Jazzcat]

Yesterday I bought a flower anemone and a cup coral. They both seem fine. The anemone has inflated to three times the size he was in the LFS.

At the moment, the anemone is excreting a milky white substance from his mouth. He doesn't look ill (he's fully expanded). Could he be expelling excess zooenthellae(sp?)? Is this substance toxic to tank inhabitants. Something about the anemone seems to be disturbing my mushrooms and my bubble coral. Many of the mushroom downstream of the anemone are expelling their guts and some are shrunken. The same is not true for shrooms upstream of him. The bubble coral is positioned about 4" from him, and refuses to open (which is unusual).

Any ideas as to what's going on?