Removing an Anemone

[EZreefin]

I'm looking for some tips and tricks on how to get an Anemone ... Well 2 now out of my tank.

I originally put an Anemone in my new 125 gallon tank. After the first night I woke up to two of them. My guess is that it split due to the stress of moving it from tank to tank. It's been a couple of months now and of course they have both moved to some prime locations where I wanted to place my higher end SPS.

I tried the ice cube method a couple of times. It got really small and just stayed closed for a couple of hours then opened up again. The other one I found the next morning moved to an even worse spot and put it's foot even deeper into a rock crevice.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Eagle Steve over on R2R came up with an ingenious way to remove anemones....and it works! Try it out:

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems​

 

[ericrodriguez]

Just massage the foot with your finger. Just massage slowly for like two or three minutes and little by little keep getting under the foot, this way is safe and not long at all!!!

 

[MadReefer]

Eagle Steve over on R2R came up with an ingenious way to remove anemones....and it works! Try it out:

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems​

Not sure how it stays secure over the nem.

 

[bigyankfan]

Take a non-serrated butter knife and put it in the freezer. Put in under the foot and it will easily detach.

 

[EZreefin]

Thank you for the info guys. I'm going to try and apply some of these this weekend when I get some free time. I'll keep everyone posted when I do. Thanks again!

 

[amado]

I always use an old credit card without the micro chips. Or a hotel room key plastic card are good to scrap them off. I don’t remove anemones from rocks. I only remove them from glass.

If the anemone is on a rock I will remove the whole rock and chip around. Trying to get anemone off a rock will kill it.

 

[EZreefin]

I know same here. Only on the glass. The problem is that my aquascape is all glued together. I would have to remove it with a bunch of Acropora on there. I don't want to risk killing them in the process.

 

[Subliminal]

Yeah. You’re screwed. Hehe. My nem found a tunnel thru the rock and split and came out on both ends. Definitely was not part of the plan.

 

[EZreefin]

Well, I am going to try and see if the tube with the sponge trick will work. The little bugger is in a tight spot to try and peel off. Thanks redfishbluefish for the article.

Using the whole sponge in a tight area was a problem, so I figured maybe some filter pads the help create a bottle neck to funnel him in there.

So here is what it's looking like for the night. Side note: totally pissed off my clown. I had to put rubble on top. He kept on trying to bulldoze the sponge out of the way.

 

[EZreefin]

Yeah. You’re screwed. Hehe. My nem found a tunnel thru the rock and split and came out on both ends. Definitely was not part of the plan. View attachment 50357

That's crazy!! I REALLY hope that doesn't happen to me. Lol

 

[ericrodriguez]

Try the ginger very slowly and always going under the anemone, you’ll be surprised how easy it is and no damage at all!!! I done it at least 6 times and never damaged the foot

 

[ericrodriguez]

Try the finger sorry

 

[Rueric]

Try the finger sorry

You really had me wondering what effects does ginger have on anemone lol

 

[ericrodriguez]

You really had me wondering what effects does ginger have on anemone lol

lol my bad lol

 

[Rjmul]

I don't do nems just because of stuff like this. Hopefully one of these methods works for you

 

[EZreefin]

Mission accomplished!

It took a while and last night I thought it was all the way in the tube, but the foot was half on the tube and half on the rock. Soon as I moved the tube it retreated half way up. I quickly put it back and decided to wait till tonight.

When I got home I checked right away. It was hanging half way out the front of the tube! I figured it was now safe to pull the tube.

I tried to take pics along the journey to show you guys and gals what I was seeing.

 

[amado]

This is great news. I am going to try this method next time I need to remove anemone.

 

[radiata]

How do I delete this post?

 

[radiata]

If you don't like your anemones moving around, there's the "Anemone Nest". I just posted my experiences with them...