Did what I think happen happen?

[Mabu]

Ok, this is weird. I have a fairly large painted fairy wrasse who has no completely disappeared from the tank. The first thing I checked was to see if the fish jumped out of the tank but it is covered and nowhere to be found.

I am having a nitrate spike in the area of 25-30ppm which is also a bit unusual. I cannot find the remains of the fish anywhere in the tank.

At the same time I have an anemone that kind of looks like it's dead. It's hanging from a rock drooping down. I assume if it were actually dead it would be detached from the rock and blowing around the tank, but it's still holding on and moving on occasion. I did not think this anemone was big enough to consume this fairly large fish. What do you think?

 

[webman]

What type of anenome do you have? Sometimes mine looks dead and let's out this garbage looking stuff that smells very bad, but it stretches out afterwards and continues to move around. I don't think it ate your fish. The only way I see that happening is if the fish died.

Later

 

[Mabu]

Here's a pic - the anemone is to the right middle..

 

[Ben1]

Anemones generally will deflate and re hydrate them selfs with fresh water once in a while although it is possible the fish was injured by the anemone then dove under the sand and died. Many wrasses will dive into the sand.

 

[Anonymous]

That is a bubbletip anemone and does not have a prodigious sting,but does possess a sting none the less. The limpness is a normal occurance. The do this to replenish oxygen and trace elements and to remove wastes. It may have been eaten,but,I would just say it died behind or under a rock. That would attribute for the spike.