Anemone identification

[Bnteasley]

We purchased this anemone a few months ago and everything was going great. We had a pair of clowns that were hosting in it, etc. 120gal tank, and all parameters have been great. We feed the anemone jumbo shrimp, raw, every day and he always ate well. Now, within the past week he's gone rogue and killed three clowns, three damsels, powder brown Tang, flame angel, and a lawnmower blenny. We're suspicious that it may not be the type of anemone that it was sold to us as. Can anyone help us out with an ID?

 

[DSC reef]

Looks like a long tentacle anemone. Macrodactyla doreensis

 

[Bnteasley]

Looks like a long tentacle anemone. Macrodactyla doreensis

Do you know of any reason a LTA would suddenly get aggressive and start eating and regurgitating fish?

 

[kapnkush608]

Do you know of any reason a LTA would suddenly get aggressive and start eating and regurgitating fish?

Most Anemones don't normally eat healthy fish, it's usually the weak or dying fish that get caught. That said, they can and will trap healthy fish.

 

[huckjai]

Wow, that thing killed that many fish and you still left it in your tank? Did it kill all those fish in a day?

 

[kapnkush608]

Do you QT your fish? Any signs of illness? What size tank?

 

[Jon Fishman]

I guess an Anemone is a predatory fish after all

 

[huckjai]

I guess an Anemone is a predatory fish after all

I think it's one of those that are a hit or miss. You won't know until you try it in your own tank. My lfs keeps telling me an anemone will be fine in my tank and won't kill corals or fish. Reading horror stories makes me not want to take that risk. So I bought a tube anemone.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I think it's one of those that are a hit or miss. You won't know until you try it in your own tank. My lfs keeps telling me an anemone will be fine in my tank and won't kill corals or fish. Reading horror stories makes me not want to take that risk. So I bought a tube anemone.

I have two very big and healthy BTAs that have never strayed from their rock. I have a ton of flow and not a single powerhead is covered.........

They surprisingly haven’t killed off any nearby coral either

 

[Bnteasley]

Wow, that thing killed that many fish and you still left it in your tank? Did it kill all those fish in a day?

It was over the course of about five days, after three months at least of being fine. Water parameters were fine, he was eating the shrimp well. No changes, no new fish introduced. It's bizarre!

 

[Bnteasley]

It was over the course of about five days, after three months at least of being fine. Water parameters were fine, he was eating the shrimp well. No changes, no new fish introduced. It's bizarre!

We have nowhere to put him or the other fish so we haven't moved anything yet.

 

[huckjai]

Weird that it would go rogue if it was eating fine. Any change to the lighting?

 

[Bnteasley]

Weird that it would go rogue if it was eating fine. Any change to the lighting?

Actually, we did decrease the white lights a bit because we're also fighting some algae.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

Yeah, I’m surprised it would kill healthy clowns. How do the other fish look?

 

[huckjai]

Actually, we did decrease the white lights a bit because we're also fighting some algae.

That could have been it then. They move to a spot where they like the lighting. But they don't normally go out of their way to kill fish.

 

[Bnteasley]

Yeah, I’m surprised it would kill healthy clowns. How do the other fish look?

The remaining fish still look healthy, and all the others were healthy and active prior to being eaten.

 

[Bnteasley]

That could have been it then. They move to a spot where they like the lighting.

He's still in the same spot. He's just suddenly started eating the fish.

 

[kapnkush608]

Here's the thing, it's not randomly eating fish though. In theory none of those fish should have ended up as food if they were healthy and active. The anemone doesn't have the ability to target and attack fish. They have to swim into it. Could we get some more information about your system? Tank size, parameters, Incoming fish treatment method (Do you quarantine?). What fish are left?

 

[kapnkush608]

Reread and caught that it was a 120g, you state parameters are fine but you're fighting algae? You could be getting false readings from your test kits. What brand of test kits do you use?

 

[Bnteasley]

Here's the thing, it's not randomly eating fish though. In theory none of those fish should have ended up as food if they were healthy and active. The anemone doesn't have the ability to target and attack fish. They have to swim into it. Could we get some more information about your system? Tank size, parameters, Incoming fish treatment method (Do you quarantine?). What fish are left?

120g tank, parameters are written down at home so I don't have them with me, but they've been within good range, although now the nitrates are a little high after pulling out dead fish. We haven't added any new fish, the anemone was the last addition to the tank, but we only buy our fish from one reputable store, then drip acclimate them for about 2 hours before adding to the tank. He's killed a powder brown Tang, two standard clowns that were hosting with it and a cinnamon clown, a flame angel, a lawnmower blenny, and three damsels. Surviving so far is a wrasse and two fire guppies. We never noticed any decline in health before finding them missing or regurgitated in the tank.