Tonz of fun
Member
Im bringing home a RBTA tomorrow, I only had to pay 20 bucks for it. At any rate I have done lots of research already but I wanted to know if there is any advice that you guys can give me...Thanks in advance guys.
Some Anemone help
- Thread starter Tonz of fun
- Start date
chriswho
Member
Make sure your tank is really stable. Anemones are very fickle. I am learning the hard way. My anemone looked fine today when I went to work, and I came home to find him shriveled almost to nothing, and his mouth gaping wide so that I can see his insides. It's not pretty. I think what happened is the temperature rose in the apartment due to crummy insulation. It would be sad to lose such a beautiful creature this way. Only time will tell whether or not he'll recover.
Tonz of fun
Member
The tank they are going in ha been up for 18 months, its got over 150 lbs of lr, i have mh and t5 for lighting. Im more concerned with what you guys have done that has worked and not worked. Placement ect...
reef dummy
Member
When you first put it in your tank he will roam around a bit until it can attach itself underneath a rock. Once it attaches, it will stay there as long as there are no reasons to move. Once it establishes itself you can feed it different types of meat such as shrimp or silversides. My rbta is doing great and growing very large under mh's. Good luck.
cbrownfish
Well-Known Member
Does it come with a rock that it is attached to? If so, you may have an easier time. Try adding the anemone to an open and high light area with a good selection of rocks to attach to. I have always had good luck getting anemones to stay put. One trick is to start feeding it right away if it is attached to a rock AND in a desired location. This seems to give the anemone the sense that it is "in a good spot" IME.
It sounds like your tank is well established at 18 months.....I would expect it to support the anemone. Just be prepared for a stressed anemone that may roam, hide and act wacky in general. If you are lucky, it will stay put and be happy from day one.
It sounds like your tank is well established at 18 months.....I would expect it to support the anemone. Just be prepared for a stressed anemone that may roam, hide and act wacky in general. If you are lucky, it will stay put and be happy from day one.
nikkipigtails
Well-Known Member
It sounds like your tank is perfect for an anemone. The most important thing to make sure is that your parameters are as perfect as possible. My BTA wasn't attached to a rock when I got it. I put it in a low-flow, high light area at the top of the tank when I got home from work and in the morning, it had attached to a spot almost at the bottom of the tank but it hasn't moved since. It's bulbed and happy. Just don't try to interfere with it. It will roam where it wants to until it finds a happy place. Anemones are the "queen bee" of the aquarium and will do whatever they want to do when they want to do it.
Tonz of fun
Member
well i have to wait one more week, my lfs suppliers did not get it in. I will wait until next week. I am planning on putting him on the bottom middle of my tank in a low flow area. I hope he doesnt move around too much and piss off my coral.
chriswho
Member
When I first put my BTA in my tank he looked fine for the first day, but the second and third days he looked kinda piddly. Don't freak, because that's what I did. I thought for sure he was going to die, which he did not. Remember when he starts looking weak you don't wanna start trying to move him around, or pull him off of rock. Let him go for a couple of days and see how he does. Good luck to you.
ReefSki
Member
As with all Inverts make sure you do not medicate the tank with anything. They are very sensitive to changes in water quality.
Avoid large amounts of flow, and if the Anemone starts to roam watch out for powerheads that have open intakes. Bad things can happen :explode:
If you have a Clownfish watch that he/she is not to aggressive with your new Nem. You don't want your new addition to get stressed.
You shouldn't have to feed the anemone too often; at least I do not with mine. I usually feed mine once a week.
Good luck
Avoid large amounts of flow, and if the Anemone starts to roam watch out for powerheads that have open intakes. Bad things can happen :explode:
If you have a Clownfish watch that he/she is not to aggressive with your new Nem. You don't want your new addition to get stressed.
You shouldn't have to feed the anemone too often; at least I do not with mine. I usually feed mine once a week.
Good luck
lcstorc
Well-Known Member
I'll second what Chris said only stronger.
Do not try to move the nem unless absolutely necessary and even then try to persuade it to move by pointing a powerhead at it or worst case using ice on the foot.
If you try to move the foot you are very likely to tear it. If it is on the glass then you can try carefully with a credit card or something but if it is on a rock you are better off moving the rock or using the methods listed above.
Keep in mind that anemones will go where they will go. They can also stay in one place for a long period of time and then decide to take a walk. It is just what they do so be prepared.
Do not try to move the nem unless absolutely necessary and even then try to persuade it to move by pointing a powerhead at it or worst case using ice on the foot.
If you try to move the foot you are very likely to tear it. If it is on the glass then you can try carefully with a credit card or something but if it is on a rock you are better off moving the rock or using the methods listed above.
Keep in mind that anemones will go where they will go. They can also stay in one place for a long period of time and then decide to take a walk. It is just what they do so be prepared.
Tonz of fun
Member
Thats what im afraid of the most, it moving around stinging everything in site. I am hoping he he will be happy were i first put him that way he wont want to move.
I am hoping to put him where the blue mushrooms are on the bottom of the tank. I think there will be enough light from the MH there and it has the least amount of flow. What do you think?
I am hoping to put him where the blue mushrooms are on the bottom of the tank. I think there will be enough light from the MH there and it has the least amount of flow. What do you think?
cbrownfish
Well-Known Member
How deep, what is the light wattage? YOu also appear have glass tops, which can take away intensity. I personally would go top right where the GSP is.
Tonz of fun
Member
150 watt mh and 4 24w t5s, no more glass top. I do have eggcrate now. i cant move the gsp but the main toadstool is gone so there is that space there, can it have too much light?
Snelly40
Well-Known Member
great to see that you have waited to get one. my new tank just hit 18 months too and it is so true what they say, everything has just matured and things look great.
Your tank looks great and i think he would be ok closer to the bottom like you mentioned, they like to wedge their foot in between rocks and suction on.
I have alwasy had good luck with them not moving around much, place him where yhoulike with good light and turn off your flow. Give him time to get comfy...
Your tank looks great and i think he would be ok closer to the bottom like you mentioned, they like to wedge their foot in between rocks and suction on.
I have alwasy had good luck with them not moving around much, place him where yhoulike with good light and turn off your flow. Give him time to get comfy...
cbrownfish
Well-Known Member
My RBTA is about 10-12" under my 250W MH. Egg crate does block some light as well.......the higher the better IMO.
Tonz of fun
Member
So the anemone went into the tank and I shut off the power heads for the night so it could get secure, I noticed two things though. The anemone has a bunch of white marks on it. Its not part of the pattern, It was really happy for 2 days and now it went into the cave that I have, could it be possible that I got a sick specimen or is it just dealing with the stress of the move?
Tonz of fun
Member
Well the anemone is back out and look way happy, problem is he is in a crappy spot. im going to buy some shrimp from the market for his first feeding tomorrow.
cbrownfish
Well-Known Member
Sometimes they hide for a bit and lay under a rock or in a corner. Give it some time and target feed it as you intend to. Not huge hunks but smaller pieces.