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My god!!! what's wrong?!

The problem with actinea is that they are incredibly sticky. While a lot of the native anemones have a more potent sting (snakelocks anemone (anemonia viridis) they are no where near as sticky and thats probably where your octo came short. They are pretty easy to remove from rocks though, moch more so than aptasia so as long as you dont have many then you'll be fine. Be sure to get the smaller ones though as they will grow pretty quickly and bud off into smaller ones and you will keep having to do it. I've had Plumose anemones (metridium senile) kill quite large octos and they are probably one of the most docile of the anemone world.

Something that you do need to watch with actinea is that they are agressive and i've seen them fighting and competing for space before and if they can beat each other up then they can sure kick around an octo.

This should go again to say that anemones should never be kept with octos, this is somehting that we are seeing time and time again and is a needless waste of an animal.

I've kept most anemones with different fish and it's just a case of learning which ones go with which fish...

~Andy
 
Nancy said:
Did the burns from the anemone appear as dark spots?

Nancy

yes they did.

Andy Lister said:
The problem with actinea is that they are incredibly sticky

That I didn't know. at the moment there are a few tiny ones still left in the tank. and 1 that is a bit larger, but he's fairly inaccessible without having to move almost all the rocks. so I'm gonna wait untill he moves to another spot.
 
As far as I can remember actinia only move when they first bud off or if they are in close proximity to another one. You could be waiting a long time!

There is a species of sea slug, the common grey sea slug that will eat them though, well I think it will. Some of them are species specific however i've seen them eat plumose and beadlets so give them a go. Don't think there would be an Octo problem with them but feel free to correct me.

~A
 
after they eat the anemone, the stinging cells pass through the guts and as as a mobile 'borrowed' defense, it a octo accidently touches it, the stinging cells fire off like an anemone's stinging cells do. + Sea slugs move, anemones rarely do. :wink: Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I have seen adult actinia move (since I had the misfortune of having a few) - they were not near any others. But, I've also seen them stay put.

Colin's suggestion of boiling water in a syringe works quite well - you inject them with it.

They do sting octos - I saw my bimac recoil when she touched it.

I'm rid of all of them except for one at the bottom of my overflow. I think I may have to try Joe's Juice, since it will be impossible to inject it. Has anyone tried this yet?

Nancy
 
you're right, as long as I had them, they hardly moved. but what if you starve it? won't he look for a better spot? now I always drop some chops of shrimp or mussel where it's standing

point is: a friend of mine gave me a young moray eel. to soften the pain of an empty tank. so now I'm not to keen on moving several kilos of rock and live rock
 

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