Bleached Baby Bubble-tip

[AJ_77]

Bummer - this one might be of the same family, Deb?

Good thing it's reagaining some colour, then... You trying to scare me?!?

[EmilyB]

No

[Delphinus]

Blue BTA's exist. Wai's has had them in the past. And for considerably less than $1000 too

[Delphinus]

Originally Posted by AJ_77

"Bleached zooxanthellae are healthy." So, a bleached anemone can be healthy.

That might be a bit of a leap. What I understand from the article is that the zooxanthellae continued to live after a heat stress or expulsion incident. Once expelled however, it's of little consequence to the anemone or coral if the zooxanthellae continues to photosynthesize. The only saving grace would be a reabsorption, but that's a different question.

But don't get me wrong. I am encouraged by hearing the progress with the feedings. Have you tried chopped small pieces of prawn at all? Might be worth a quick check if it will take some. Good luck with the continued recovery.

[Jack]

Corals release zooanthellae when stressed in hopes of catching a different strain that is more suited to its new/current environment. I've read many articles on this but that's my basic and personal perception of coral bleaching ect.

[Delphinus]

I'm just taking exception (sorry Alan ) to the conclusion that a bleached anemone is healthy after all. There are a lot of subtle nuances that are being missed when I read that line. I know Alan knows this, but my concern is that someone who might not have the experience to fall back on, sees that and draws the wrong conclusions about that white anemone they see in the store. To be clear: it is possible that a bleached anemone may recover and become a healthy, vibrant, robust, etc. (insert favourite adjective here), individual, but, the fact remains that it is stressed at that point and recovery isn't guaranteed. I wouldn't recommend a bleached anemone to anyone who isn't 100% certain they are willing to take on the TLC of nurturing such an animal back to healthy robustness, and I would venture to say that it really ought to be tried only by people with some experience with anemones in particular. I do believe that Alan knows what he's doing, so don't take any of my comments as a criticism levelled against him, he's doing just fine from what I can tell -- I'm merely going after the syntactic/semantic issues.

[AJ_77]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

To be clear: it is possible that a bleached anemone may recover and become a healthy, vibrant, robust, etc. (insert favourite adjective here), individual, but, the fact remains that it is stressed at that point and recovery isn't guaranteed. I wouldn't recommend a bleached anemone to anyone who isn't 100% certain they are willing to take on the TLC of nurturing such an animal back to healthy robustness, and I would venture to say that it really ought to be tried only by people with some experience with anemones in particular.

Very good point, Tony. I guess I should have qualified my position initially - I certainly wouldn't jump all over this anemone unless I had a previous arrangement with the seller. It was in the interim that the bleaching occurred, and I didn't feel right backing out of the deal.

Hopefully the little ghost will continue toward "robustness" as it continues to take food. I don't think I have any fresh prawns though... can't imagine the tiny piece that would be necessary - this BTA is maybe 6cm across.

[Quinn]

Ok that makes sense. I wasn't aware that zooxanthellae could be reabsorbed, or that there were different types of said organism.

[eposer]

You shouldn't have felt bad if you didn't want it Alan. I certainly wouldn't have cried about it or anything. If it doesn't make it let me knot and I'll find you a replacement

BTW: My half is still kicking. Actually it's doing quite well now and eats like a pig! I'm feeding mostly mysis right now.

[AJ_77]

Hey, Evan! Not to worry, it's been a good experience so far. Heck, even the clownfish is starting to notice it. Is yours coloured up at all?

Cheers, good to hear from you.