One of my weirder maintenance moments

[Donya]

Thought I'd share one of the stranger things I've seen in a while with my tanks. I had to take apart and put back together both of my marine tanks today to move them elsewhere in the house due to possible floor issues. I decided to have a look in the reef's canister filter to see if it needed a clean, since it hasn't been opened in ages and I didn't want it to blow debris all over when I hooked it back up after being jostled around. Cracking open a marine canister filter that hasn't been opened in months always brings with it the chance of surprises and I've seen everything from entire chambers converted to live sponges to mussels burrowing into filter media, but this is a new one to me: a tiny bubble tip anemone. Must have just been eating particulates passing through since there's not a hint of light that gets into that filter. I have other BTAs in the tank and have been propagating BTAs for probably around a decade now; never had issues with this particular canister intake injuring an anemone in years of using it and never seen any evidence of injury on my current nems. Perhaps a very small stray bit of tissue from a split tore off in the current, got sucked down and managed to heal up - but it would've had to survive the impeller chamber to get where it was when I found it. I've plopped this strange micro BTA back in the main tank now since I can't think it actually likes living in the inky dark, so probably I won't see it again for months (if I ever see it again) since it's only about the size of a pea.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Never seen you around here. Weird. Cool. I think it's cool that the anemone is halfway inside the sponge. I find it interesting that you have over 4,000 messages, yet only 187 reactions lol.

 

[Donya]

I find it interesting that you have over 4,000 messages, yet only 187 reactions lol.

I was here way before reactions were a thing, just haven't always been active with posting. I have bouts of activity from time to time. Earlier this year I was pretty absent from the forum since I was both moving and making a career change.

 

[Circus]

Really cool! I didn't know an anemone could even survive without light. Learn something new everyday when it comes to fish keeping.

 

[Donya]

Really cool! I didn't know an anemone could even survive without light. Learn something new everyday when it comes to fish keeping.

Some anemones can live entirely the dark and just feed from particulates in the water; unfortunately Aiptasia are one of them - I've found those pesky things in canister filters plenty of times. Ornamental anemones usually shrivel and kick the bucket though if the light is too dim or the wrong spectrum, let alone pitch black. The last anemone split I had was at least a couple months back, so if I'm right that it's a little sliver that blew away and survived the impeller, it's pretty amazing it managed to close up and grow tentacle stubs (I have to assume that's what it did as I don't see any way it could have survived the impeller chamber in one piece in its current form).

 

[Circus]

Some anemones can live entirely the dark and just feed from particulates in the water; unfortunately Aiptasia are one of them - I've found those pesky things in canister filters plenty of times. Ornamental anemones usually shrivel and kick the bucket though if the light is too dim or the wrong spectrum, let alone pitch black. The last anemone split I had was at least a couple months back, so if I'm right that it's a little sliver that blew away and survived the impeller, it's pretty amazing it managed to close up and grow tentacle stubs (I have to assume that's what it did as I don't see any way it could have survived the impeller chamber in one piece in its current form).

More and more I want a reef tank, but it just isn't in the cards for a couple more years. *Note to self, put cool anemones on want list for future tanks.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Very cool. BTA’s find a way!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I love marine tanks...but I find them equally gross and creepy for some reason can't think why

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Interesting!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Interesting!

Not like you to be a man of a few words!



But yes indeed it’s interesting how things can end up and survive in filters, I’ve had snails, even red cherry shrimps quite happily munching away inside both one of my HoB as well as one of my external filter as well before, even had an endler somehow ending up in a different HoB and I thought it was dead but it was fine, simply scooped him out and put back into the tank none the worse for wear apparently, no idea how long he was in there, probably not very long really.

But for SW reef tank having a anemone surviving in the filter is quite remarkable without light but can understand it would have a decent food source since the filter has a constant water supply and tiny particulars of whatever food obviously gets through.

Cool!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I know so little about saltwater that I don't have much to share. But so as not to ruin my reputation as a long-winded man, I'll share this: Once, when I had an undergravel filter, I put kuhli loaches in my tank, and thought they all had died. Surprise, surprise, when I tore down the tank, there they were, under the filter plates, alive and happy! And once, I discovered a population of amano shrimp living happily inside a canister filter.

 

[FishHobby99]

Thought I'd share one of the stranger things I've seen in a while with my tanks. I had to take apart and put back together both of my marine tanks today to move them elsewhere in the house due to possible floor issues. I decided to have a look in the reef's canister filter to see if it needed a clean, since it hasn't been opened in ages and I didn't want it to blow debris all over when I hooked it back up after being jostled around. Cracking open a marine canister filter that hasn't been opened in months always brings with it the chance of surprises and I've seen everything from entire chambers converted to live sponges to mussels burrowing into filter media, but this is a new one to me: a tiny bubble tip anemone. Must have just been eating particulates passing through since there's not a hint of light that gets into that filter. I have other BTAs in the tank and have been propagating BTAs for probably around a decade now; never had issues with this particular canister intake injuring an anemone in years of using it and never seen any evidence of injury on my current nems. Perhaps a very small stray bit of tissue from a split tore off in the current, got sucked down and managed to heal up - but it would've had to survive the impeller chamber to get where it was when I found it. I've plopped this strange micro BTA back in the main tank now since I can't think it actually likes living in the inky dark, so probably I won't see it again for months (if I ever see it again) since it's only about the size of a pea.

View attachment 147331

Wow! And it’s pink! Adorable!

 

[FishHobby99]

Thought I'd share one of the stranger things I've seen in a while with my tanks. I had to take apart and put back together both of my marine tanks today to move them elsewhere in the house due to possible floor issues. I decided to have a look in the reef's canister filter to see if it needed a clean, since it hasn't been opened in ages and I didn't want it to blow debris all over when I hooked it back up after being jostled around. Cracking open a marine canister filter that hasn't been opened in months always brings with it the chance of surprises and I've seen everything from entire chambers converted to live sponges to mussels burrowing into filter media, but this is a new one to me: a tiny bubble tip anemone. Must have just been eating particulates passing through since there's not a hint of light that gets into that filter. I have other BTAs in the tank and have been propagating BTAs for probably around a decade now; never had issues with this particular canister intake injuring an anemone in years of using it and never seen any evidence of injury on my current nems. Perhaps a very small stray bit of tissue from a split tore off in the current, got sucked down and managed to heal up - but it would've had to survive the impeller chamber to get where it was when I found it. I've plopped this strange micro BTA back in the main tank now since I can't think it actually likes living in the inky dark, so probably I won't see it again for months (if I ever see it again) since it's only about the size of a pea.

View attachment 147331

All I ever find in my filters are poops and mushy pellets.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

All I ever find in my filters are poops and mushy pellets.

That's what you're SUPPOSED to find in your filter! Not these weird alien blobs!

 

[FishHobby99]

Poops are so boring! I want an alien blob. With proper nutrition it may get big enough to eat my obnoxious neighbors.