Ailing Anemone Condylactis?

Question
I am sorry to pester you with this question but am at my wits end.

Over a year ago I was gifted with a "green tipped purple anomone" by my partner. The anemone was placed into a 10 year old reef system and did beautifully for many months. The closest I could come to indentification is based upon pictures and I believe it to be a condylactis. January of this year, I was gifted again with a 125 gallon tank and equipement and moved everything out of the 55 and into the
125. The move went well, no organisms appeared stressed for more than a day or so. All seemed well until a couple of months ago.

When my cleaner shrimp molted, he somehow got himself tangled up with the anemone who proceeded to eat him. I chose not to interfere not wanting to stress the anemone
over much by attempting to yank something from his gullet. About one week after that, the anemone began moving around the tank much more than he had done in the past. (Indigestion?) In the process, the anemone ran afoul of the intake tube for the filter. I do not know precisely how long he was there but I promptly rescued him by shutting down the filters and shifting the intake. The anemone seemed fine and slowly continued to move away from the tubes so I wasn't concerned. Since then, it has not taken any food,(going on two months), has shrunken to less than half of his original size, and is going through a deflate and re-inflate process daily.

My question is this, since I do not want to risk the rest of my corals, should I remove and destroy the anemone or should I continue trying to get it to eat? I can see no visible damage but obviously it is stressed by something in the system. It could be the large morsel of food, it could have been internally damaged when it came into contact with the intake tube, it may have been stung by one of the other corals while traveling about the tank. I am terrified by some of what I read on some discussion boards and would hate to have the "explosion" I keep reading about. Some of my corals have been with me for the whole 10 years and I do not want to lose them but would hate to kill a specimen that might still recover due to lack of knowledge.

Regards
Beth Beardsley


Answer
Hey Beth

Thats a toughie. To be honest, if i was in your situation, i would find someone with a spare tank and ask them to keep the anemone and see what happens. i wouldnt leave him in your main tank, if a condy dies, it expels a toxin that kills every living thing in the tank, which of course wouldnt be good. sounds like yours might have some internal damage from the intake tube, and that could be preventing him from eating. wave different foods for him for a couple of days, and if that doesnt work, try to find someone with a spare tank, the risk for your other livestock is too strong since the anemone could die at any second then.

best of luck!