moving anemone

[turbosek]

I have a RTBA for about 3 months. He was the first animal in my 9 month old tank...besides the CUC. He keeps moving to an area near the bank of the tank where I cannot see him very well.

What is the best way to try and get him to move...hopefully to a more visible area. I just placed a powerhead right near him in hopes that he will move somewhere else.

What have other tried?

[steelhead77]

He will go wherever he wants. A powerhead is the best way to move him. Chances are 50/50 that he will end up where he is now. Be patient and let him find a place he likes - even if you don't.

[demonnite57]

Think of it like this...Anemones are like cats...they do whatever they want to do. Chances are the RBTA likes that area and even after you move it, he will move back to that one spot. One of my RBTA's seems to like the "wind blowing into his face" as I have a powerhead pointed at him (never moved the powerhead, just that's where he planted himself).

[R33f3r]

+1

Ex. my gig likes lower flow thant most and I have tried to place him/her in a higher flow and all it did was wander back to the original spot. They will go where they want :hmm2:

[Toddrtrex]

If you don't figure out why it is moving to the back, there is nothing you can do -- it will attempt to go back there.

You could have too much/too little flow in other areas of the tank, lights, etc -- so try to pinpoint what the conditions are like back there, and recreate them in the front.

[tubntxawg]

well said todd... +1...
Anemone will move till they find a location where they like regardless if you move them from one end to the other end... :D

[Johndoe0336]

My RBT was in one spot for the past 6 month sence i placed it in the tank. Just recenly he has gotten mobile on me. I dont know what has changed for hi9m to move but I am not going to try and stop him lol.

[bues0022]

Here's my thoughts on the matter of wandering BTA's: (copy and pasted from a different thread)

On the topic of a BTA moving "all the time" as some say...I would argue strongly against this statement. In my experience, from reading, and discussions with other people with far more expertise than me, a BTA will remain in its spot if all of its living conditions are being met satisfactorily. There is no benefit to the anemone (risk of being stung/sliced by corals, risk of not finding another rock in the ocean, predatory animals, etc) to "just move around" IF all conditions are appropriate.

Water quality, light, food, Flow, and foot - the five conditions that must be satisfactorily met for all anemones.

Water quality: In the ocean, if local currents drastically change after storms, rivers dump crap into the ocean etc, the nem may want to move to conditions which better suit its liking. In our tanks, however, there are no other areas which have better water - but the anemone doesn't know that. This is my #1 pick for why anemones move without apparent reason. It may even be something in your water which you do not test for - or it may be BECAUSE you just did a water change and didn't match tank water close enough. The anemone is searching for something it just can not find inside a glass box, hence the so called "anemone's just sometimes walk around for no reason". We can't see the reason - so we assume there isn't one.

Light: Lighting in the ocean is quite strong. Far more than our little electrical lights we use. Even on a cloudy day the par is very high - ever had a sunburn on a cloudy day? When you introduce a BTA, you may have a spot picked out that you really want it to go, but it may decide it is too bright or too dim and promptly move. As it gets light-acclimated to your tank, it may move to a spot that is "just right" for its health in the long term. This acclimating and moving to a new home may also cause confusion to BTA's "moving a lot".

Food: Yikes! There is a lot of misconceptions about the "proper" diet for anemones. I did a write-up on RC a while back about the topic: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1835320 A basic summary of that thread is.....assuming a healthy nem, food is likely unnecessary. If you would like to feed, feed small (pencil eraser max) meaty, raw, SW-found foods. Unhealthy nems need more food to gain energy and should be fed more. Feeding leads to faster growth. Feeding can also in some cases overcome less-than-ideal lighting because the food is supplementing the light source. More in-depth information can be found at that link.

Flow: You need to determine the flow requirements of the species of nem you want, and make it match in order to decrease the likelihood of movement. BTA's will like moderate flow, but not too high or too low. Either of those may cause it to move around. Some can be very picky. I know someone who's Haddoni moved across the sandbed after her cleaned a powerhead and replaced it (he thought) in the exact same spot. Apparently it wasn't quite exact. Haddoni's like low flow - if their oral disk is being moved by the current, it's too much and will cause it to move.

Foot: This is my #2 reason why BTA's apparently move without known cause. The foot of most anemones also requires special concern. Some anemones like to bury in the sand, some at the sand/rock interface, and some directly onto rocks. BTA's like to have their foot in a deep crevice, hole, or cave. Basically, it's a safe zone for them to hide in if they need to retract. It's also a way for them to regulate the amount of sun it gets. These deep holes are key to keeping a BTA happy with it's current spot. They like their foot shaded, and head out in the sun.

Hope that's a good summary of what I think about BTA's.

[Johndoe0336]

I thought the lights we were using had par close to the ocean after reading this I see that was I was very wrong. Thanks for the artical it was ver informative.