Where'd it go?????

[Picasso]

It's been a while since I've updated on my tanks. I've got this really long, skinny bookshelf from IKEA. Amazingly, if you turn the bookshelf on its side, a 20 gallon, a 10 gallon and a 15 gallon fit exactly on this thing. I decided that my 15 gallon tank would be home to my clownfish. He looked really lonely so I got him an anemone. Yes, this is my 3rd attempt at anemone keeping. I pulled all the coral out of the tank except Yucca, my cactus coral. OK, so I've had the clownfish in there for a few months and my LFS gets in a nice supply of BTA's. I got the anemone home and he had a really cool crab in him. I decided that since the tank was only for my clown I would get another anemone so the clown could choose if he wanted to share with the cool crab or have his own anemone. In the tank is LS, flat leaf seaweed, a prizm skimmer, a HOB filter and a nice supply of LR. The LR is all smaller pieces. Over the past few days, the anemones have been moving themselves about the tank looking for their spot. I've had to move both of them because they were either too close to my water flow thingy or were moving somewhere the clownfish couldn't get. Last night I moved the anemone with the crab by flipping over the rock he was grabbed onto. Now, he's gone. So's the crab. I have moved every piece of rock, searched the skimmer and filter, pushed through the seaweed and he's just gone. Also, the water this morning was cloudy. Not thick fog cloudy but definitely cloudy like I had stirred up the LS a bit. He's not on the floor and I looked through the house in case one of the cats drug it off somewhere. Could the other anemone have eaten him? I'm so confused.

Catherine

 

[Sharkie]

hmm strange, did you look in any of your pipes from your filter? my BTA was doing great and one night went through the filter and was stuck in the intake pipe :(

 

[Picasso]

I only have a prizm skimmer and a HOB filter. No pipes. Pulled them apart, nothing.

Catherine

 

[yote]

Anythings possible.But I've never heard of an anemone eatting another anemone before.
Also dont be moving those anemones around,let them find their own spot.It just stresses them when we try to move them where we wont them.

 

[Bifferwine]

They disintegrate pretty quickly if they die, and that could explain the cloudy water, but I'm pretty sure you would have smelled it in that size tank if one died. The most likely scenario is that it shrunk up super small inside one of your rocks. If your water quality and lighting are good, it should come out on its own eventually. If not, it will die in the rockwork. And Yote is right to stop messing with them. It will be very hard to keep an anemone (let alone two) in such a small tank, so good luck with that! Next time if you think the clown is lonely, buy him some hairy or frilly mushrooms instead. They seem to like those as much as they like anemones, and the mushrooms aren't nearly the challenge to keep as anemones.

 

[BigH55]

If it had died it would have smelled like someone put a full diaper in your tank.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 Biff
Probably in the rock somewhere. I had a 4" one disappear in the rockwork for over 3 months. When it reappeared it was about the size of a quarter.