Just ordered a RBTA for my Picasso's

spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
It's been a while since I had an anemone and I'm expecting a shipment of a 4-4.5 inch RBTA on Friday. It is going into the RSM nano under T5's. What is the best location for the anemone in that setup? Does RBTA like to be on top of a rock or in sandbed?
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
A fellow reefer that tore down his 100g cube tank has now a 20g cube and in that his RBTA is on top of a Marshall Island LR.
:) Thanks Rebel! I shall hope that the RBTA likes the location I'll choose for it.
Oh... what kind of flow?
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Safely tucked into a LR crevis where it can foot deep. When the lights come on it will come out and stretch toward the light. A nice soft indirect flow will also be benificial. I would recomend making a home for it up higher in your tank. The lights on the RSM tank are T5's but they are not HO, placing the animal closer to the lights will increase your success rate. I made a cave for mine where it would feel safe. It has a nice easy flow and is in the middle of my tank. You can see it in my nano tank thread. HTH.
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
I ordered mine somewhere else :) I haven't seen a decently priced large RBTA at my LFS... ever. Getting a Blue Spot Jawfish in the same shipment.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
I got mine for a steal at my LFS... They had a mommy split and her clone was about 3" or so in dia. I asked the guy how much for the small anemone. At the time I had no idea what the difference was between a RBTA, regular BTA or anemones in general. He said ehhh $30.00, i said ok lemme think about it for a minute. 1/2 hr later I bought it, now I think about it and laugh, let me think about it
Mines all of 12" in diameter now.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Spidey, it probably won't matter where you put it because it's going to move where ever it wants to be. I got one from a friend when his split. Started out about 4". Grew to probably 12" within months, and just split in my tank 2 days ago...
I'm glad I have two, but it was much prettier as one big one. About once a week I would put in a cut up cube of frozen algea and the clown would snatch up the pieces and go place it in it's tentacles. I assume this is why it grew so fast.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2818917
Spidey, it probably won't matter where you put it because it's going to move where ever it wants to be. I got one from a friend when his split. Started out about 4". Grew to probably 12" within months, and just split in my tank 2 days ago...
I'm glad I have two, but it was much prettier as one big one. About once a week I would put in a cut up cube of frozen algea and the clown would snatch up the pieces and go place it in it's tentacles. I assume this is why it grew so fast.
I agree to a certain extent. There is no guarantee that the habitat you set up for it, it will be happy with. However if you set it up correctly it will increase your chances of it staying put. I have re-aquascaped 4 times and 3 of the 4 times my anemone went on the move. The after the 3rd time I took notice of the location she picked and how the environment was around her. When I reaquascaped I mimicked those surroundings exactly and she stayed put. She hasent moved in almost 8 months.
I would also suggest that if you do feed your anemone you choose meaty raw marine foods. Algae is not one of their common food types. Lighting is number 1, followed by small microfauna like pods, cyclops etc... small minced pieces of raw marine foods will suffice too, but supplemental feedings are not a necessity if your lighting and water chemistry is ideal. And if your clowns store their food there, there is no need to feed it at all. If not once a week to once every 3 weeks a small amount of the above mentioned food types is plenty. I have gone 4 to 6 months without directly spot feeding my anemone and it has grown to nearly 12" in dia. and has not split in 18 months.
BTW Spidey...
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Sounds nice spiderwoman, I love rbtas, my favorite nem by far. Also blue spotted jawfish are one of my favorite fish as well, good choices, I am a little envious
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Mine has settled up high in my tank after a couple episodes of moving around the tank, disappearing and then reappearing, and it now seems happy. They just seem to want to find that sweet spot and can do a lot of moving around until they do. It is perched on the highest point on my LR reef, as close to the T-5's as possible and it is doing great. They are such beautiful creatures and the clown just loves it. As much as a fish can love an invert
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Update: I received a call from the online vendor I ordered the RBTA and Blue Spot Jawfish from letting me know that the RBTA did not pass the pre-shipment inspection and wanted to know if I wanted the fish now and the RBTA next week when they get a new shipment of them. All 3 that they had left were not the quality they should have been. I'm very impressed by this. They will ship my order on Monday for Tuesday delivery. I guess they have figured out that when the order amount goes past the free shipping amount that they better send out quality stuff or they may end up losing a lot more.
I'll happily wait for Tuesday to arrive and probably move stuff around in the tank :)
 
alexknight

alexknight

Member
wow that's very nice of them!, you know have a idea where you would like to place your RBTA? all though it may have another idea where it would want to be.
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
I've got a great spot for it on top center of the rock work. There is a nice crevice for it and still enough room to move around. Also the clowns have been hovering around that area today :)
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Hehe I wonder how tank raised clowns will *know* that the anemone is the one to go to. They don't try to host a GSP that is in that area.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by SpiderWoman
http:///forum/post/2819835
I've got a great spot for it on top center of the rock work. There is a nice crevice for it and still enough room to move around. Also the clowns have been hovering around that area today :)
That's exactly where mine ended up. I think I started him there, but like I said, he will probably move around a bit first. Mine came right back up to top center, at the highest point. After splitting, one stayed there and the other went all the way to one side of the tank, slightly under a rock, kind of like he's recuperating from the split or something....
 
spiderwoman

spiderwoman

Active Member
Tomorrow is the day!!!! Then in a few weeks I'll be getting a second one for another tank from a local reefer who is taking his tank down. This particular RBTA has a known history from the time it left the waters of Guam in 10' of water off Padi Point, collected by collector he knw and has been in his large tank for 10 yrs and split several times.
 
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