Questions about Zooxanthellae

[Uzair Aiman]

Hi. Currently, I have a bleached anemone (I think FULLY bleached), the disk is white but the body and foot is still red in colour.
Im trying my best to save it, it has also lost its tentacles.
Today I sucessfully fed it some shrimp, which in result made the anemone have some buds in the disc (Im not sure if its just a placebo but I think I can physically see some small tentacle buds appearing).


In my area, I can't seem to find any zooxanthellae in a bottle or something like that. Is it possible that after some time, if the anemone had recovered slowly, that the zooxanthellae will appear back into the anemone? If not, are there any other alternatives I can do to reintroduce zooxanthellae into the anemone?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jda]

The nem will have zoox still that need to multiply and repopulate. I have never seen any evidence that they will take some externally, so just keep it nice and stress free. This is about the best that you can do.

I have mixed feeling about feeding nems. Perfectly healthy ones can take a bit of food, but just a bit. I have heard that unhealthy ones use more energy than they get when people feed them.

In the end, most nems can get all of the energy that they need from the lighting. If you do feed it, keep it low like maybe one mysis or something small.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

The nem will have zoox still that need to multiply and repopulate. I have never seen any evidence that they will take some externally, so just keep it nice and stress free. This is about the best that you can do.

I have mixed feeling about feeding nems. Perfectly healthy ones can take a bit of food, but just a bit. I have heard that unhealthy ones use more energy than they get when people feed them.

In the end, most nems can get all of the energy that they need from the lighting. If you do feed it, keep it low like maybe one mysis or something small.

Alright, so i shouldn't worry about dosing any zoox right? It will regain back if its healthy.

Ive done some research and all the people say the ebst thing I can do is feed is daily or frequently. Ive made sure to cut them small enough to let it engulf the thing.

 

[jda]

What kind is it? That might matter. If it is a BTA, then I have strong doubts that feeding do much. If a carpet, gig or mag, then they very well might. Those are the ones that I have a lot of experience with.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

What kind is it? That might matter. If it is a BTA, then I have strong doubts that feeding do much. If a carpet, gig or mag, then they very well might. Those are the ones that I have a lot of experience with.

Its a BTA. So from what youre telling is, it wont regain its zoox back?

 

[jda]

It totally can. It likely still has some that can multiply. It might not, though. Just have not personally seen much benefit from feeding BTAs, so keep the light good.

 

[PokeFish]

u might wana keep feeding it just to be safe tho

 

[Uzair Aiman]

It totally can. It likely still has some that can multiply. It might not, though. Just have not personally seen much benefit from feeding BTAs, so keep the light good.

Alright thats good to hear. Ive got another question, since the foot and body is red in colour still, does the body or foot have zooxanthellae? Or does only the tentacles have zoox?

 

[jda]

I don't know the answer to that. Probably both, but this is just a guess.

 

[bestfishes]

I would not recommend feeding a stressed out anemone. It can make things worse. One must remember that they are mostly photosynthetic, so the feeding is maybe a 10% gain in energy for them. Get your water quality, lighting and flow right. Dont make too many changes at one time. Dont over rotate on water changes, take it slow. They dont like too much current, and they need a lot of light. Im sure you know a lot of this by now so sorry if I am repeating anything.

As far as zooxs, you cant add them and have the anemone absorb them. I have had many incidents with my carpet over 20 years from getting stuck in the powerheads to a long power outage. The sucker looked terrible at times but has recovered each time.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

I would not recommend feeding a stressed out anemone. It can make things worse. One must remember that they are mostly photosynthetic, so the feeding is maybe a 10% gain in energy for them. Get your water quality, lighting and flow right. Dont make too many changes at one time. Dont over rotate on water changes, take it slow. They dont like too much current, and they need a lot of light. Im sure you know a lot of this by now so sorry if I am repeating anything.

As far as zooxs, you cant add them and have the anemone absorb them. I have had many incidents with my carpet over 20 years from getting stuck in the powerheads to a long power outage. The sucker looked terrible at times but has recovered each time.

Doesn’t bleached corals or anemones don’t have the ability to photosynthesise since zoox are not in their tissue anymore? I’ve read that feeding it is the best I could do since it doesn’t have any other way to produce energy.

 

[bestfishes]

A totally bleached one has lost most of its Zooxs, but probably still has some inside that can reproduce when the conditions return to ideal. Its my experience that direct feeding wont provide enough nourishment to keep an anemone alive if it is reached this stage. Feeding a stressed anemone means they eject the food before its digested and you risk fouling the water further exacerbating the issue.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

A totally bleached one has lost most of its Zooxs, but probably still has some inside that can reproduce when the conditions return to ideal. Its my experience that direct feeding wont provide enough nourishment to keep an anemone alive if it is reached this stage. Feeding a stressed anemone means they eject the food before its digested and you risk fouling the water further exacerbating the issue.

So what is exactly the best thing I could do right now to save my nem? Its great to hear that zoox are still present though thanks for the info.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So what is exactly the best thing I could do right now to save my nem? Its great to hear that zoox are still present though thanks for the info.

He answered this in post 10.

"Get your water quality, lighting and flow right. Dont make too many changes at one time. Dont over rotate on water changes, take it slow. They dont like too much current, and they need a lot of light."

 

[Uzair Aiman]

He answered this in post 10.

"Get your water quality, lighting and flow right. Dont make too many changes at one time. Dont over rotate on water changes, take it slow. They dont like too much current, and they need a lot of light."

Alright. The fact that they need ALOt of light, my nem seemed to move at the top corner back of my tank for some reason, not under high lights of the tank. Should I risk try to move it?

 

[bestfishes]

Leave it for now. Only intervene if its going to clog an overflow or get chopped up in a powerhead. Probably moving due to where it feels the best lower flow rate. They will decide where they want to be. I have tried moving a healthy one in the past and they end up moving again. What you are trying to do is minimize what you are doing at this point as it adds stress. You dont want to do things that cause the anemone to expend unnecessary energy so it can recover. Steady weekly 10% water changes. Making sure temp and other factors are correct. Im hoping your anemone recovers soon. Keep an eye for a meltdown. If he gets mucus strings and starts to fall apart, be sure to get it out of your tank asap.

 

[Uzair Aiman]

Leave it for now. Only intervene if its going to clog an overflow or get chopped up in a powerhead. Probably moving due to where it feels the best lower flow rate. They will decide where they want to be. I have tried moving a healthy one in the past and they end up moving again. What you are trying to do is minimize what you are doing at this point as it adds stress. You dont want to do things that cause the anemone to expend unnecessary energy so it can recover. Steady weekly 10% water changes. Making sure temp and other factors are correct. Im hoping your anemone recovers soon. Keep an eye for a meltdown. If he gets mucus strings and starts to fall apart, be sure to get it out of your tank asap.

Alright. It just moved under a rock crevice. Eventhough it looks sick on the disc I think this ones a fighter, the foot is still strong and is still moving around. Really hoping it recovers soon. Thanks alot

 

[OrionN]

I hope your anemone recovered?
Below is an article I wrote on how to help bleached anemone to recover with zooxanthellea transplant. If you have the same species animal, use that, otherwise use one that is most similar.
Good luck. I hope you did not need to do this and your anemone recovered by itself.
Zooxanthellae Transplant for Bleached Anemones