GBTA Won't Stick to Rock

[nsmith_mma]

I bought a GBTA last Saturday and it really hasn't stuck to a rock or the sand or anything. It just kind of blows around the tank. I have tried placing it into crevaces where the flow is restricted, turning off the pumps for hours at a time and placing it onto the rocks, and just about everything else but it won't stick to anything. The color is great, it has really nice bubble tips during the day, and the mouth isn't gaping. It has eaten krill and brine shrimp.

Ammonia is below 0.25, Nitrites are zero, and Nitrates are about 10. pH is 8.4, salinity is 1.026.

What do you guys think the problem could be? How long can I leave my flow off before it starts affecting the other tank inhabitants?

[NeilFox]

You can't make it do what it dosen't want to. Try putting a plastic cage over him to stop him blowing around until he gets a foothold.

[nsmith_mma]

A plastic cage?

[NeilFox]

Yes. I saw a guy that made one out of a clear Polycarbonate Gerbil cage with holes drilled in it for feeding and water flow in the DIY section. It was part of a build thread, quite an old one. That was the authors solution for the same thing you are talking about. It stopped the nem from getting blown around till it secured itself. I wish I could find the thread. Look around or maybe another poster will chime in...

[tydtran]

You have to let the anemone find a place that it is happy with. Make sure that power heads and intakes are covered with a sponge, otherwise there is a high chance of your BTA getting shredded. Once the anemone finds a place that it likes, it will attach. You have to just let it happen.

[nsmith_mma]

The last time I had one was a few years ago and it attached within a day or so, but this guy is a stubborn one. Do you think I should just turn off the powerheads again in the meantime rather than covering them?

[kenc87]

How long has this tank been setup? You should not have any ammonia

[Cstaricansrfer1]

What worked for me was taking some larger rubble and putting it in a 5 gallon bucket with some tank water and the nem. Within 5 minutes he was on the rock. Then when I put him back in the tank next to my rock work he grabbed on to that from the rubble and has been there ever since.

[billdogg]

Ammonia less than .25??? If it is not 0.0, you are either still cycling a newish tank or are going through a small cycle in an older tank that you have made recent changes to. The anemone has not found a place it likes yet because it is in what amounts to toxic water. I would get it to someplace with proper water parameters while you get your tank better suited to it.

JM.02

[bnumair]

cut a plastic 2 liter bottle of soda. fill the base with some rubble rock place the nem in there and cover the top with net or egg crate till it get its hold on the rock them move it.

[sasharotty]

Ammonia less than .25??? If it is not 0.0, you are either still cycling a newish tank or are going through a small cycle in an older tank that you have made recent changes to. The anemone has not found a place it likes yet because it is in what amounts to toxic water. I would get it to someplace with proper water parameters while you get your tank better suited to it.

JM.02
Hasn't found a place yet cause its unhappy from bad water. It probably won't take hold. I agree with above post have someone hold it for you till you get your water quality better.

[hando562]

Your GBT is stressed due to ammonia

[rjallen]

Been waiting for the questioner to clarify his ammonia reading. But somebody needs to say something to the ammonia police and you may very well be right in this case BUT, since we have not heard from the first poster, let me offer an explanation. This reefer held himself out as an experienced reefer so I am going not jump on top of this dog pile.

If this reefer is using a Salfert Ammonia Test Kit like I have have, a test kit line with a good rep around here, the lowest value shown is LESS THAN 0.25 on the color card thus, if using this kit, and there is no color in the sample, THE CORRECT VALUE IS <0.25. So lay off the guy until he clarifies his value and offer help to his question asked.

RJ

[nsmith_mma]

Yeah sorry for no reply. I've been working all day.

Mine is the Salfert test kit.

The tank is over a month old. Already been through my cycle, diatom bloom, etc. Have had 7 fish in the tank for a couple of weeks. I have 2 pieces of Sympodium as well as a large zoanthid rock. Everything is doing great. As I said before, the anemone had been eating well, had great color, and had really nice bubble tips. Unfortunately, in prophetic fashion, tydtran foretold of my anemone's demise. When I got up this morning, I found my anemone had been sucked into my Koralia. I couldn't save it, but it went in foot first. I did a large water change and everything seems to be doing fine. Definitely a sad situation though.

[Windirmere]

Maybe the foot was damaged, what type of tank did it come from? did the previous owner rip it off the rocks? When I got mine i just purchased the live rock it was on and set it near where i would have liked it to stay, Later in the night it found a place and hasnt moved since.

[nsmith_mma]

I'm not sure. That may have been the case. It didn't look like it was attached to anything when he removed it from the holding tank. It made an attempt to attach to the glass one time as well as on a rock when I turned the powerheads off. It just kept coming detached even when it would try and stick.

Now that this one's gone I'll probably give it a month or two before I try and add another one. I just don't want to go through that headache again. I'll probably try the plastic cage trick next time though.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[Palting]

Now that this one's gone I'll probably give it a month or two before I try and add another one. I just don't want to go through that headache again.

This is probably the best thing to do. Give your tank time. "Finished cycle" is a nebulous term at best, but what it means to me is that ammonia and nitrites are consistently zero from a mature biofiltration system. You added bioload, your ammonia came up, so to me that means your biofiltration is not mature enough. Yet. Give it time.

I don't like the idea of a "cage". Let the 'nem pick it's own spot, so you know it is ideal for him with regards to flow, light, etc., and he will be healthier in the long run.

[nsmith_mma]

Should I turn the flow off for the first day or so then? Just to make sure that doesn't happen again. I guess my only concern about that would be stagnation of the water.

[crpeck]

That it couldn't attach to glass when it tried sounds like foot damage, especially if otherwise color and appetite were good. You shouldn't have to turn off all your flow for a healthy anemone to attach, but any power heads with intakes inside your tank need to be covered or shut off till the anemone is settled - even then intakes should have foam or something on them because anemones are attracted to flow which often leads them to power heads. Even when it attaches, it may migrate around awhile till it finds the light and flow it likes.

Thanks, rjallen for being the voice of reason with the ammonia readings - so many people are too quick to judge. Also, I'm convinced that BTA's are not nearly as fragile as people make them out to be. They're such big polluters themselves that if the tank is not otherwise stable, they can push it over the edge.