Anenome

[c130bubba]

I bought my first long tent. anenome a few days ago. He is doing well and is eating. I was wondering how long it will take for he establishes his foot and I can turn my pumps back on. I am only running my protein skimmer at this time and I feel I need to gert my eheim back on but the water flow is too great and he floats away. How long can I go with the filter off?

 

[jacksonpt]

If it's healthy, and your water params are good, I would think it would only take a few hours, at most, for him to set his foot. If he's not anchoring himself, it's probably because he's not happy - I'd be concerned about his health.
At least that's what I've learned about anemones from my experience.

 

[thomas712]

Unless you see a specific danger with your pumps on right now then I would turn them on. Turning them on later may make the anemone decide to move anyway.
Are we talking power heads? return pumps? what?
THomas

 

[c130bubba]

For the last 18 hours my configuration has been;
Power heads off
Canister filter off
Protein skimmer on
The anenome is full and it is not moving around. It seems happy but when a pump is turned on it floats away

 

[c130bubba]

I still can't get this L/T Anenome to grab hold of anything. Where do they like to be placed? Sand or Rock?:scared:

 

[nm reef]

Its common for the foot to be damaged which may be a problem...most of the time a anonome will attach where it is comfortable...I've seen them attach in relatively high currents and do fine. I agree that you may need to be concerned about the health of yours...they can and will attach on either sand or rock...normally in a spot where they are comfortable. So your situation makes me believe there may be a problem with yours.:thinking:

 

[squidd]

As Thomas said..."THEY MOVE Anyway"...
Place the Anemone bottom center of the tank near some rocks...move/aim power heads so they are not directly going to blast him from his position, and turn them on...
The anemone will move about the tank to find a comfortable spot for him...it may be in a corner, or up on the glass, or wherever HE finds the lighting and water flow to suit him...
If thats not where you "want" him it then becomes a balancing act to recreate those conditions front and center(or where ever you want him to stay) and he may move from there anyway...
But you do need to turn the PHs and filter on to maintain circulation and water conditions/temp or the rest of the tank may suffer...
Make sure you have "intakes"protected to keep the anemone from getting "sucked in"

 

[jacksonpt]

I stand by my previous assessment that your anemone is probably not healthy. How long has it been in your tank? I assume it still hasn't planted its foot anywhere?
From my experience, there are 3 keys to identifying an unhealthy anemone. (1) tentacles that are not sticky; (2) won't anchor/plant its foot; (3) faded or pale coloration.
Your anemone meets one of these criteria. Are the tentacles sticky? How is it's colors? Anemones have very, very slow metabolisms, so it takes them a long time to show signs that they are not happy or not healthy. Even if an anemone passes 3 criteria, it's no guarantee that it's healthy. But from my experience, those are 3 dead giveaways to an unhappy/unhealhty anemone.

 

[c130bubba]

I brought this anenome home on 12/27. His color is good. He is a flourescent green. His tentacles are full and sticky, but as you said he does meet one of the criteria - he won't plant. Today I got the pumps back on and was able to place him in a small PVC pipe that I got from the LFS that they used to hold their anenome's and coral. It even had some nice purple algae on it as a bonus.:happy: He seems to be happy where I put him so maybe he will be ok. :nervous: Thanks for all the help

I think the rest is up to a higher being now