anemone caught in pump

I am upset, because I knew better.  I just got a green bubble tip anemone, and it has been wandering around for a few days.  I have a sponge filter on the power head in the back of the tank, and thought this the one at the top  connected to the glass was safe.  I have been keeping a close eye on the anemone, and finally thought it was attached.  But when I got up this morning it was stuck in the pump.  It took me about an hour to get it out of the pump (including cutting some of the pump shroud).

My question is, is there any chance this anemone will live?  And is there anything I should do to help?

When they get sucked into a pump don't cut anything!! Just turn off the pump and it will get itself out, if not it is dead!

I've had it happen a few times and they survived.

Thanks for the pic. That anemone survived well and will survive really well.
Nothing is needed, no changes to anything.
Did you know that Anemones can extricate themselves after the pump is turned off.
I've posted a pic below showing Plastic Canvas used for Needlepoint which I constructed as an effective secondary basket screen/cage to keep anemones from getting caught in the intake screen. I sew it together with fishing line and tack it in place with a drop of Gel Superglue or Gorilla Glue.

There is so much misinformation on the web, like another thread today where the hobbyist found some people saying that a foam pad is absolutely necessary under an aquarium and others saying not to do it. Problem is, so many hobbyists have limited experience with just their own situation and then think that their limited experience can be extrapolated to cover everything.
  I'm often guilty of this in my own life, so I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone.

Well now it is trying to go down my overflow.  I shut the return pump off the see if it will get out.

Turn a pump to shoot directly at it and it will move away.

Too close?

I tried it again today with the pump about twice as far away, but he is not moving....

The overflow is a slit about 3/8" tall, so I don't think the anemone could go all the way through, but I am not sure of that.  I know none of my fish will fit through (there is a top piece I have off in the picture that encloses it so a fish can't jump in).  I think I will try and put a screen around it anyway.  If it went for a ride down the overflow it would end up going into my skimmer pump which would kill it for sure.

I have been running my return pump, and keeping an eye on it.  It has moved down just enough so it has not been going in like the earlier picture.

Davidwillis wrote: I was hoping it would move to a better spot, but it seems to like it here.  Even though it has to really stretch to get light...

Mine was attached on the back of a rock, and had to extend at least 9 inches to get light on the other side. Sometimes these things find the most awkward positions to attach themselves in and somehow like being there.

Hi Fish Mama.
For y'all reading this, Fish Mama is one of just a few hobbyists that has been with our group since the early days.

To answer some questions, yes an anemone can slip through a 3/8 inch slit, in fact it can slip through a 1/8 inch slit. A screen cage hanging about an inch distance all around the circular overflow would keep an anemone out. The distance is important. The suction flow is strongest right at the overflow and decreases with increasing distance from the point of suction.

Oh my goodness, in that last pic, the anemone is perfectly situated to be scraped off the glass. Using a metal algae scraper blade (Kent Pro Scrapers are awesome) or even better, a single edge razor blade (in the paint dept. at hardware stores a small plastic single edge razor blade holder/scraper for just a few bucks) scrape that anemone cleanly off the glass. In this case you'll want to scrape close enough to get the coralline algae off the glass. The anemone will come off with the coralline algae. Sometimes anemones don't even close up while they are being scraped off with a sharp metal blade.

The reason the anemone has chosen that spot is twofold:
1- They like to live in caves/dark places for protection. They can easily stretch out to reach the light, but shrink back into the dark hole for protection from predators (puffers, turtles and the occasional butterflyfish) and to ride out a storm/rough sea.
2- They like to stretch into smooth moderately strong current where food is flowing past. The food they absorb is most of their diet. Since an anemone is really just one huge coral polyp, it needs dissolved nutrients for the zooxanthellae algae living in their tissue. Secondarily, their tentacles armed with tiny harpoons can catch dead/almost dead meat that flows past in the smooth current.


Oh, I almost forgot. With the rocks, make a cave area where the water flows smoothly past. After scraping the anemone off the glasss, place it there in that cave area. If it's done quickly right after scraping off, holding it in place with your hand for just a few seconds may be enough to let it attach to a rock. Otherwise, just place it between two rocks to hold it in place. Don't worry about squishing it between the rocks. It cannot be squished.



Edited by Mark Peterson - May 01 2012 at 10:42am