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Anemone & Leather strange... under attack?

Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average.
9 Comments
by
snorkeler
, 10-22-2013 at 08:12 AM (6874 Views)
A few days after my last post, when the new inhabitants had been about 10 or 12 days in the tank and I was happy that everyone was nicely extended, I noticed the Leather coral started to extend less its tentacles and the anemone also wasn't extending it's tentacles...

Strange...

I though of several possibilities, water quality, chemical attack from another coral, under attack from crab?

Water quality seemed OK. My PH, KH and Ca tests were normal (Mg not so much more on that in another post) and the other corals were all normal and well extended.

Just in case I put in some carbon GAC in a bag in the sump, to absorb potentially harmful chemicals from a possible chemical war going on. Skimmer operating normally, nothing strange.

My strongest suspicion was attack from the Mithrax crabs. Well, guess what, ended up seeing two different attackers in action.

First, caught my peppermint shrimp attacking the anemone... kind of explains why it isn't extending much. I scared the shrimp away, and hope it doesn't attack it again.

Then, caught one of my Mithrax crabs trying to attack the Leather coral... that explains why it is sometimes contracted, and most of the time not very extended. Also scared it off, hitting it on the head, I hope it remembers that and never tries to attack the Leather coral again... Here is a picture of the crab hanging on the coral, trying to get a bite:
Crab attacking Leather


I had seen its counterpart (another Mithrax slightly larger than it, probably the female of the couple) successfully eating a baby Leather that was at the base of this Leather coral, right after I added it to the tank, but, I thought the large guy was not a target.

I hope the large guy is able to defend itself by being tough, slippery or unsavory...

Living with Mithrax crabs is full of surprises... but with the valonias around, specially the red ones, I don't think I have much of an option. The only option I guess would be to redo the tank, with new sand, rocks and water.... and all the equipment either new or bleached... which I'm not interested in doing right now.

Snorkeler

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Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    Leathers are pretty hardy, and can shut down during their sloughing/growth phase. The crab could even be eating that stuff rather than the coral itself. Obviously, keep an eye on it.

    Be sure to post a picture of your anemone too. You can edit this blog and insert the extra image above. Peppermints may try to steal food, but outright attack an anemone doesn't sound normal.
  2. snorkeler's Avatar
    I'll be out of town for a few days, will post more on the anemone (and the Mg test) after I return. The peppermint was picking on the anemone's side with it's pincher claws, I positively saw that. Not sure if it was being able to do any damage to the tissue, but it was trying, I'm absolutely sure. And the anemone was trying to shrink away from the pinches, I could see it slowly deflating to get away.

    I caught the crab in a similar position today on the Leather, and scared it away again. I guess it doesn't have much "scare memory" when it is hungry..... Oh well, with the auto feeder on for the next couple of days they'll have more than enough to eat, as I'm not able to regulate it to drop only the same amount I give by hand...
  3. snorkeler's Avatar
    The anemone moved around the tank, over the substrate, then strated getting close to one of the Vortech MP10s... dangerous, dangerous.... so I turned it off, and now I'm observing it...
  4. melev's Avatar
    The Vortech pump has a sponge that can be installed for times like these. Less flow will end up causing the anemone to wander more, in my experience.
  5. snorkeler's Avatar
    It actually moved onto the (deactivated) MP10, then moved out and in the middle space between the two MP10s, but almost at the water surface.... I re-activated the MP10 I had turned off, and now I'm watching....

    Is there any safe way for me to remove it from the glass and put it on a rock again? Seems like it is lost, looking for good light and flow, and there is a spot on a rock that would do that just fine....
  6. melev's Avatar
    You can remove it from the glass with a credit card (hotel room key card), and then place it where it can put its foot into a crevasse in the rockwork.
  7. snorkeler's Avatar
    Thanks for the tip melev. I went to check the anemone and it was gone... a chill ran down my spine, could it have committed suicide in the MP10? After searching a while I found it on the substrate holding onto a small rock piece that broke off a rock recently. Not sure how it got there so fast... maybe it "jumped" from the glass? Anyway, it is all shrunk and shriveled, I hope it gets back to normal shape soon. I'm considering if I move it (move the rock it's holding to) to a new position with good lighting and flow or not. Don't want it wandering on the glass again... definitely don't...
  8. melev's Avatar
    Yes, move it with the rock it is holding, and then perhap try feeding it a small piece of krill. Maybe it will think that's a great spot because there's food there.

    Maybe you can put something around the pump to create a protective barrier if you don't have the foam screen that comes with it.
  9. snorkeler's Avatar
    I caught it from the substrate and moved it onto a rock, two days ago. It apparently is staying put for the time being, although short and retracted. What a pity, it was looking great when it was expanded and open.... I hope it goes back to its old behavior soon.