floating anemone

[tselios]

hi. i just had a quick question. i've had an ocellaris for a while now, and i decided to get it an anemone, so i got a bubble tip for it. so, i got one on sunday and the clownfish hasn't gotten in there yet. also, the anemone isn't staying in one place. it seems to stick around a spot for a while then detaches and floats around for a long time. i don't think it's pissed off because it's tenticles aren't shriveled up or anyting, but i guess i don't have much experience with anemones so i don't know what to look for. and sometimes it gets stuck behind the rocks and i have to fish it out. any advice on anything would be appreciated. oh yeah, i do have enough lighting, i have vho bulbs and about 7watts/gal. and i have two powerheads so i don't think its a flow problem or maybe it's not getting the right kind of flow? i dont' know. any help is great. thanks.

 

[thomas712]

What you are describing is normal behavior for many anemones, especially a BTA.
Your BTA being new to the tank is checking it out for a proper spot that it likes.
This would include lighting, water flow, rock formation, if water chemistry is off it may continue to move looking for greener pastures, so make sure your chemistry is stable, and water is clean.
First it will look for a spot to place its foot into, they like to plant there base in a crevase or hole. Don't worry if it gets behind the rocks for right now, it most likely will continue on, if he is hidden under a rock for more than 2 days then you can consider moving him, otherwise continually moving him yourself will just cause him stress.
For now don't even worry about the clown, taking to the anemone, this event will happen or it won't, just let the clown figure it out in his own good time.
I've been raising these BTA's for 4.5 years now.
Thomas

 

[edwar050]

good thread, thomas with your expert advice what would you say the ideal lighting is for the bta? As far as your bta Tselios I would not be to concerned, although I wonder if it is better if they find a spot faster? Where do bta's normally find a spot to stick to? mine is dead in the middle of my tank in a perfect location, although I somewhat expected him to take a corner in the sand?

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by edwar050
what would you say the ideal lighting is for the bta?
Ideal lighting? I'll give you what experience I've had so far.
First (and only) BTA that I purchased was placed into a 55 gallon tank that only had 80 watts of Normal Output lighting. This was a bad idea. The anemone began to shrink until it was only the size of a golfball, + my water was not the greatest with crushed coral and heavy DOC's all the time.
I then purchased 380 watts of VHO lighting and the anemone came to life, after a few months it was the size of a softball and then split, I now had two anemones and improved my water quality.
I had about 3 anemones when I changed over to a 90 gallon using the same 380 watts. This gave me 4.22 watts per gallon. Had enough liverock for the anemones to move to the upper 1/3 of the water column and continued to enjoy success with splitting, but they really were not thriving like I would like to see them. With this system there was a sand bed and much improved water quality.
Last year I went to 440 watts of VHO and 500 watts of MH lighting. This was a used lighting system and the bulbs were getting old but they did seem to respond well to them. Just last month I replaced all the bulbs, and the BTA's are darkening up quite nicely. My BTA's are not as large as I'd like to see them but that could be because the clownfish keep laying eggs and they tend to pick on, herd or persuade the BTA's to move a little to suit their breeding needs.
Ideal lighting for BTA's? I would say at least 4 watts per gallon of VHO lighting or PC lighting, will enable them to live with a chance of even splitting. 5 and 6 watts per gallon are better and improve the chance of survival and happiness.
My current combination of bulbs consists of:
2-46.5" (VHO, T12) Super Actinic R, 110W -URI
2-46.5" (VHO, T12) 50/50 Actinic / White, 110W URI
2-250W XM 10,000K
With the combination of bulbs I have now I would call it the most ideal that I have had yet. But every tank is different and there are many many lighting combinations, everyones results may vary.
Thomas

 

[edwar050]

thanks for the response, most of the BTA's I have seen seemed to do alot better under the MH VHO setup than regular VHO or PC. So in basic you can get by with 4 watts per gallon but its better at about 6. It makes perfect sense to me from what I have seen, wish I had vho uri and mh.

 

[tselios]

hi again. its been a while and my anemone hasn't found a place yet. i checked my water conditions and nitrate/nitrite/ammonia are all oppm. i read that it might be the arrangment of rockwork. what kind of rockwork should i try to make? or should i just leave it alone for a while longer? what happens if it never finds a place it likes?

 

[edwar050]

its only been 8 days right, he could still be moving around. Sounds like you def have enough lighting -7 watts/gallon. How does its mouth look? How often does it stay shriveled up? Where is the anenome at in your tank, would he have an extremely difficult time moving to another point in your tank, is that why you are consider reaaranging your rock, or do you think that it will allow him to settle down? How far has your anenome moved?
For Thomas, at what point do you let the anemome decide where it wants to go vs. you stepping in and taking the innitative?
Mine moves to and fro a bit but only a couple of inches here or there. I found that if I feed him he tends to stay in the perfect spot alot more.

 

[tselios]

hi. thanks for responding. it's been more than 8 days, i don't think i posted right away, it's been more like a couple of weeks. i think the mouth looks fine, but i'm not sure what it's supposed to look like, i just know that the mouth isn't wide open or anything. it doesn't shrivel up all the way. it just shrinks sometimes. it seems like it'll stay in a sport for a while maybe a few hours or something, but then it'll inflate and move again. the thing is that it seems to pick the same several spots to anchor for a while. it only stays on the left half of my tank. i originally put it in the right side and it stayed there for a day, but then it moved and it hasn't been to the right side since. i'm not sure if it's the way the water movement is or what, but it just doesn't like that side. i was considering trying to change the rocks around because online somewhere i read that btas like to have a lot of crevices to hide their foot, and something like a cliff conformation doesn't favor that. but i'm not too exactly sure what that kind of conformation is or what it looks like. so i wasn't too sure. how long does an anemone last if it hasn't found anywhere to attach? my tank isn't that big about 45 gallons, so i mean, if it hasn't found a spot it likes so far, should i change things around?

 

[edwar050]

I wouldn't worry about it to much, I think he will eventually take a spot in your rock. Mine is doing the same thing, I have heard and seen many BTA's moving around from time to time-
Brad

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by edwar050
For Thomas, at what point do you let the anemome decide where it wants to go vs. you stepping in and taking the innitative?
Personally I've been very lucky in that respect. Most of mine stay on anemone rock as I call it. I have 8-10 on the one rock alone. Then one day one will look around the tank for a place of its own, takes about two weeks and then they really don't move after that, at least with the BTA's.
If one moves under a rock and stays there for a week then I would step in and move it, I would also look for reasons why it was under the rock, changed lighting, water quality..etc.
If one moves on my favorite softies area and stays then I might try to move it right away if there were any threat to anemone or corals. If not then give it a few days and see if it decides to move on its own.
HTH
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by Tselios
[B if it hasn't found a spot it likes so far, should i change things around? [/B]
Nah, don't worry about it, I have several that don't plant there foot into a crevase, just the same ole mother clone, the rest are all tight around it. Except a few that ran to the other side of the tank.
Thomas

 

[tselios]

ok. so i'm just going to leave him alone. is there anything in particular i should be looking for in the anemone? colorations? size? movements?

 

[tselios]

well. i think it's the beginning of the end for my anemone. today when i got back from class i found its mouth pretty wide open. tip tenticles still have color and its body still has some color but it looks a little faded.

 

[tselios]

so i think my anemone is definately bleaching now. it's color is faded to almost white. is there anyway to save it?

 

[thomas712]

Post water paramiters.
Post tank size and total wattage of your VHO bulbs.
What combination of bulbs do you have, spectrum?
Any chance your bulbs are getting old?
Have you been feeding the anemone, if so what and how often?
Give me any info you think might help me/us to help you.
Can you provide a pic of the anemone?
Thomas