help! anemone missing and tank smells!

[Reeflix]

i got a black widow nem recently and i was really happy and didnt move around much, i went on vacation for a week, i came back and it was missing and the tank smelled like death... i thought it got sucked up in the filter but i did a 20% water change (15 gallons out of a 75g which i believe is 20%...) and checked the filter but it wasnt there, i think it crawled into some nook and died, i checked all over the place for about 30 minutes and still didnt find him, i am wondering if i cant find the body will it be fine? it is about 1/5 inches fully inflated and about the size of a penny when deflated...how many water changes should i do and how often and how much? how big of an ammonia spike will this cause? also i have 2 clownfish and one damselfish which i believe can tolerate and ammonia spike but i will try as hard to keep it down. anything else that i can do to help this or do i really need to find its body?

thanks for your input ahead of time!

 

[Jared Bryant]

I would run some carbon if you don't already. Test your water and keep doing water changes when needed.

 

[Reeflix]

i run carbon yes, i will test the water, but the only test i have is api and not very accurate, how long until this thing decomposes? if my test isnt really reliable how often should i do WC without consulting a test?

 

[Jared Bryant]

Being that small of an anemone it should only take a few water changes to settle things down.

 

[Crustaceon]

Yeah, maybe a water change but not much more. The bacteria in your tank is going to do most of the heavy lifting here. If you do weekly water changes, that should be plenty to resolve the issue within a few weeks.

 

[Jared Bryant]

You should really get better test kits. I don't test often but I'd rather have a good test when I do.

 

[vetteguy53081]

i got a black widow nem recently and i was really happy and didnt move around much, i went on vacation for a week, i came back and it was missing and the tank smelled like death... i thought it got sucked up in the filter but i did a 20% water change (15 gallons out of a 75g which i believe is 20%...) and checked the filter but it wasnt there, i think it crawled into some nook and died, i checked all over the place for about 30 minutes and still didnt find him, i am wondering if i cant find the body will it be fine? it is about 1/5 inches fully inflated and about the size of a penny when deflated...how many water changes should i do and how often and how much? how big of an ammonia spike will this cause? also i have 2 clownfish and one damselfish which i believe can tolerate and ammonia spike but i will try as hard to keep it down. anything else that i can do to help this or do i really need to find its body?

thanks for your input ahead of time!

In addition to odor, water will be pinkish/cloudy. Agree on carbon and there may be bits and pieces of anemone which should be siphoned up . Impact will be on ammonia level mainly

 

[Reeflix]

You should really get better test kits. I don't test often but I'd rather have a good test when I do.

i have salifert for KH calcium and nitrate, i didnt expect to need an ammonia test kit... i mainly picked out the really important tests that i need and get the other ones done at my LFS every month

 

[Reeflix]

In addition to odor, water will be pinkish/cloudy. Agree on carbon and there may be bits and pieces of anemone which should be siphoned up . Impact will be on ammonia level mainly

the water was a tad cloudy, not pink but after i did the change it got a bit more cloudy but that could be the sand getting stirred up. i will see how the water looks tomorrow

 

[Reeflix]

In addition to odor, water will be pinkish/cloudy. Agree on carbon and there may be bits and pieces of anemone which should be siphoned up . Impact will be on ammonia level mainly

i couldnt find even an arm or anything. i thought that it might be hiding or really small but that was yesterday so it is definitely dead or really close to dead. it inflated twice every day and it wasnt small when it inflated so i would of seen it. i was definitely going to try to remove as much as possible but i couldnt find it. also do i need to change out the carbon a little earlier since it is absorbing these stuff? i also have some purigen in there and i dont know if that will help or not

 

[vetteguy53081]

i couldnt find even an arm or anything. i thought that it might be hiding or really small but that was yesterday so it is definitely dead or really close to dead. it inflated twice every day and it wasnt small when it inflated so i would of seen it. i was definitely going to try to remove as much as possible but i couldnt find it. also do i need to change out the carbon a little earlier since it is absorbing these stuff? i also have some purigen in there and i dont know if that will help or not

Fresh carbon will last a few days
It’s purpose is to remove toxins, reduce smell and polish the water

 

[Reeflix]

ok so a little update, i changed the carbon and did a large WC yesterday (but you knew that) and the water is not cloudy but really clear and the tank doesnt smell as bad! thanks everyone for your input! i will do a large water change every week, or if it starts to smell really bad again i will do one!

 

[Tub Life]

I've had BTAs pop out of the rockwork after 2 months. Came out completely bleached but survived that and regained full coloration.

However, if the tank smelled like death, then it's a safe bet it did in fact perish.