Unknown roomie in my new reef tank

[dstew03]

I set up a new 40 gallon breeder about 3 months ago. Recently added a cleanup crew with a few snails, some hermit crabs and a couple of tiger conch (though the person that sold them to me told me they were turbo snails). I did some cleaning today and had to pull a few rocks out and scrubbed some red algae off, along with a water change. After everything cleared, I saw this guy on the back wall, and I can't figure out if this is a snail that was evicted by one of my crabs or something else. Any ideas?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I set up a new 40 gallon breeder about 3 months ago. Recently added a cleanup crew with a few snails, some hermit crabs and a couple of tiger conch (though the person that sold them to me told me they were turbo snails). I did some cleaning today and had to pull a few rocks out and scrubbed some red algae off, along with a water change. After everything cleared, I saw this guy on the back wall, and I can't figure out if this is a snail that was evicted by one of my crabs or something else. Any ideas?

Can you post pic under white lighting and you said its moving?

 

[bluemon]

I set up a new 40 gallon breeder about 3 months ago. Recently added a cleanup crew with a few snails, some hermit crabs and a couple of tiger conch (though the person that sold them to me told me they were turbo snails). I did some cleaning today and had to pull a few rocks out and scrubbed some red algae off, along with a water change. After everything cleared, I saw this guy on the back wall, and I can't figure out if this is a snail that was evicted by one of my crabs or something else. Any ideas?

Looks like a flatworm or a nudibranch.

But FYI, a snail cannot be "evicted". Their shell has their guts.

It's like a turtle without its shell. An evicted snail is a dead snail

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Almost reminds me of the foot of an anemone. A nudibranch is more likely, though.

 

[dstew03]

Looks like a flatworm or a nudibranch.

But FYI, a snail cannot be "evicted". Their shell has their guts.

It's like a turtle without its shell. An evicted snail is a dead snail

Ah ok. Good to know. Thanks. Should I leave it or take it out?

 

[dstew03]

Can you post pic under white lighting and you said its moving?

Here are a couple under white light. Yeah it moved from the side wall to the back earlier. Has only moved about an inch since my first set of pictures...

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Here are a couple under white light. Yeah it moved from the side wall to the back earlier. Has only moved about an inch since my first set of pictures...

That's totally an anemone, probably a BTA. It looks super unhappy though, it probably doesn't have much longer. It could have come in on the rock or maybe a coral frag if you haven't added one.

 

[dstew03]

That's totally an anemone, probably a BTA. It looks super unhappy though, it probably doesn't have much longer. It could have come in on the rock or maybe a coral frag if you haven't added one.

Oh wow ok. Any suggestions on how to make it happy or possibly revive it??

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here are a couple under white light. Yeah it moved from the side wall to the back earlier. Has only moved about an inch since my first set of pictures...

As I thought- small nem and often like this from immature tank , too much light and/or water flow and even high phosphate
It will need to be in an area of lower light and flow where it can plant its foot

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Oh wow ok. Any suggestions on how to make it happy or possibly revive it??

Honestly, that one looks way too far gone to save. This is the unhappiest living anemone I've ever seen, it's normally brownish with a big crest of tentacles on top. It's quite bleached, which anemones can recover from. However, they can only do that by eating a lot of food to keep them from starving while they recover, and it won't be able to feed itself without tentacles. After it bleached, it probably ate its own tentacles in a last-ditch effort to feed itself.

Also, anemones usually only thrive in tanks older than about 6-8 months. It's still not known exactly why, but it probably has something to do with bacterial populations. A 3 month tank isn't a place where anemones thrive, especially for a BTA as unhealthy as this.

The only hope for recovery that there is, is if it can be transferred to an established tank with a pre-existing anemone population. That way, it'd be able to potentially regrow tentacles/zooxanthellae in time for it to be saved. If you have a friend with a tank which matches these criteria or a LFS, maybe send it to them. The chances of survival are still quite low, there's a point of no return with most animals, and this one has probably passed that weeks ago. Good luck.

 

[dstew03]

Honestly, that one looks way too far gone to save. This is the unhappiest living anemone I've ever seen, it's normally brownish with a big crest of tentacles on top. It's quite bleached, which anemones can recover from. However, they can only do that by eating a lot of food to keep them from starving while they recover, and it won't be able to feed itself without tentacles. After it bleached, it probably ate its own tentacles in a last-ditch effort to feed itself.

Also, anemones usually only thrive in tanks older than about 6-8 months. It's still not known exactly why, but it probably has something to do with bacterial populations. A 3 month tank isn't a place where anemones thrive, especially for a BTA as unhealthy as this.

The only hope for recovery that there is, is if it can be transferred to an established tank with a pre-existing anemone population. That way, it'd be able to potentially regrow tentacles/zooxanthellae in time for it to be saved. If you have a friend with a tank which matches these criteria or a LFS, maybe send it to them. The chances of survival are still quite low, there's a point of no return with most animals, and this one has probably passed that weeks ago. Good luck.

Thanks for all the info. Not sure how this one made its way into the tank. My neighbor has a well established Nano. I'll see if she can take it and maybe give it a chance.

 

[kjkszpj9]

that BTA looks like it dropped its head somewhere. lol.