Deflating/Inflating anemone

[dzarras]

Hi,

A curiosity question...

I have a rose bubble anemone that occasionally deflates to about 1" across, while otherwise staying at about 5" across. What does the deflation signify?

My reef tank is otherwise doing extremely well. It's 110 gallons (75 in display, 35 in sump), 260 watts lighting (130 daylight, 130 actinic), 120+lbs of live rock, 3" live sand bed, excellent water flow. The only issue I'm slightly suspicious of is my nitrate level, which isn't 0 but is around 8-10.

I'm feeding the anemone every couple days and it eats well. It's in a stable location high on the reef, about 10-12" below the lighting.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Unarce]

Is this a relatively new addition to your system, or have you had the RBTA for awhile?

 

[dzarras]

A few weeks now. Currently, it's seemingly fully inflated and looking great. I watched it catch and contract on some mysis shrimp during the most recent feeding of the fish....

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know of an anemone that doesn't do this, some you can practically set your watch by, others very occasionally. Most often it's associated post-feed (my experience, anyway). Also associated with being "unhappy", so if it's in a new tank (under one year), especially one that's not generous on the live rock, you'll need to watch water parameters closely.

 

[fishfanatic2]

What goes in must eventually come out-anemones have realy only 1 'hole' in their bodies, so the anemone is most likely expelling waste. My anemone also folds up at 'night' when the lights are off and inflates in the morning.

 

[dzarras]

Thanks for the replies thus far... sounds like perhaps I can relax a bit

But seamaiden, I need to ask... is 120+lbs of live rock for a 75 gallon display "not generous"? I mean, short of adding rock to the sump, there's not much room left :wink: And now that you mention it, the deflation does have a rough pattern to it.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh! Sure it is, but I don't know how old the system is. I couldn't tell you why it makes a difference when keeping anemones, but the empirical evidence seems to show that well-established systems are best.

If you see a pattern to the in/deflation, and no other bad signs (bleaching, disintegration), then I'd chalk it up to this particular animal's normal behavior.

 

[dzarras]

seamaiden,

The tank is almost 9 months old -- so not quite the year you were looking for, but it's been a very healthy, "well behaved" tank thus far.

Thanks for your comments!