Anemone help

F

fishnerd1

New member
I purchased a bubble tip anenome about 4 weeks ago and he still has not attached to anything. I'm constantly finding him being washed around on the bottom. I have tried moving him into well lit areas of the tank, tried med and low flow with no luck. He's white/very lt green color, purle disc, purple tips and white base. I've tried feeding him some shrimp and rods food but he does not eat it. It seems as I move him into what should be ideal areas for lighting he closes up and moves away. The last position I tried ws on a rock ledge where his foot was protected and in good lighting. At night he got down and rolled under some rock. Worried he'd die where I could not get at him easliy I just moved him from the DT into my QT tank so if he doesn't make it he won't hit the main system. I have been fighting a cyano outbreak since about a week after I got him and am clearing it up with careful feeding, heavy skimming and 20% weekly WC's, 3 week in right now. Cyano is nearly gone now.

DT - 245 G
Sump 120G

Parameters:
Temp 78 F
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 0
PO4 0
Ca 420
dH 7

I've changed over to reef crylstals about 150 gal ago for the WC.
 
If it's white, it's bleached. It probably needs to be acclimated to your lighting. BTAs need a hole, cave or crevice in a piece of live rock to attached. They prefer their foot to be inside or under something. Pics?
 
Tonight he's all closed down, hopefully just exhausting waste. I'll see int he morning. Here's a pic from mid december whne the cyano was starting to explode.
DSC02291.jpg
 
Are you saying it's never attached itself to anything?
Here's what I think....
Put it where you think it would be happy, put a rock on it (don't smash it with a cinder block but a rock big enough to hold it down and cover about 3/4 of it). It will attach within hours and then start moving to where IT wants to be.
 
That's not a BTA, that's a Heteractis crispa. I have one that has only stayed put once it attached to a hole in a large piece of live rock. They often will attach under a piece of LR at the sand/rock interface as in your pic.
 
garygb said:
That's not a BTA, that's a Heteractis crispa. I have one that has only stayed put once it attached to a hole in a large piece of live rock. They often will attach under a piece of LR at the sand/rock interface as in your pic.
Click to expand...

+1

Also, it's not able to process light due to being bleached, so once it attaches you should try to feed it some mysis. It will need regular feedings to ensure a fast recovery.
 
Today he's partially open but not doing very well. He's in my QT tank and slowly moving around some. Hopefully he attaches soon. I've tried several times to give him pieces of rods food and shrimp from the grocery store, the frozen type my shrimp love with no luck. I place it near his mouth and looks like he starts to consume it but find it the next day on the sand bed like he spit it out. I'll try some mysis after he comes our a little more. How often should I feed him since he can't produce his own food right now?

Agree on the lfs, a bumb deal.
 
I did a 30% WC this moring and moved him higher in the tank. Placed him in a circle of rock about 1" deep with an overhand on the back against the current. I moved my light coser to increse the intensity. The QT tank only has 4 T12 GE 6500 bulbs that are now about 8" above the water. Plan on lowering the light some each day to increase the intensity. From what I was in the DT with T5's was he seemed to move away from the high intensity light. Figure I need to rebuild intensity rather than blasting him with so much light all at once. Hopefully he'll feel secure here. and starts to settle. So far not eating yet. Will try to feed again later after he settles down a bit.
 
thanks for the advise. I got him to eat a small piece of shrimp Sunday. Will try again Wen when I'm back home. I surrounded him with rock and put him in med flow area of the QT tank. He keeps turning over, maybe from the flow. I added another rock in front of him to kind of hold him in place yesterday before I went out of town. Hopefully he stays in the smaller hole and extends out from it. Got my fingers crossed since he ate the shrimp.
 
Got home today and found him upside down again. Rebuilt the rock around him a little higher to block some of the flow. Hopefully he stays upright this time. Don't understand why he won't attach unelss the lfs or distributor damaged his foot. Can't see any obvious damage. Will have to make a decision very soon on finding him a new home or back to the lfs since he won't settle down. Not having much luck with him and it's nt right to starve him to death.
 
Good luck with the anemone. I would try large pieces of liverock, rather than small pieces. Mine put its foot down in a hole in a large piece of liverock and has stayed put. Before that it buried into the sand and attached to small pieces of rock, but would always let go in a day or two. The parameters you listed look fine, I don't see your specific gravity, but for anemones you want to be in the 1.026ish range.
 
My sp gravity is 1.025-1.026 due to evaporation. Try to keep it as stable as possible, set 1.025 and respond at 1.026. When I checked my refractometer against 2 lfs I consistently read about 0.001 lower on my unit. Rather than intentially adjust mine higher I compensate my settings down 0.001 from ideal target. I'm thinking of trying to put him into an area of lower light since yesterday I got home from work and he was upside down, a position I find him in more than any other. Wondering if the light is to intense and he's trying to hide from it, not sure. Will also select a location of lower flow and use larger pieces of lr around him directly on the sand bed.
 
It's probably not the light or anything else, but just an unhealthy anemone.

H. Crispa attach in the sand, generally under a rock or halfway in rock/sand. He keeps moving off the rocks you place him on due to this. The picture you posted is an ideal place for him, or anything similar.

Bringing back a bleached Crispa isn't an easy task, and a lot die. My suggestion is to leave him be, if he is placed between sand/rock, and let him settle for a couple days. Once he is in his picked location and has settled, you can try feeding little bits of food again.
 
Going to move him today to a new location a little lower in the tank, surrounded by rock on the sand bed. Current location is above the sand bed surrounded by rock. I'll place a few more rocks around the sand bed with a hole he can sink his foot into. The fish in my QT tank are finished the 30 hold so the tank will be his alone for awhile. Will leave him alone for the next week, hopefully he settles this time.
 
Well, moved him to the sand bed today with some rock behind him and a couple more rocks for him to attach to. The flow in this area is low and so far he's more open than I've seen him in weeks. We'll see what it is like in the morning since he tends to move at night more than during the day. If he attaches I'll move the HOB filter closer to him to provide more flow in a couple of days. Gave him a small shot of rods food, he closed up on it fairly quickly with I think is also a good sign. Always hopeful with this one. Would be nice to bring him back if I can. If this positive response holds for the next few days maybe I won't have to find him a new home.
 
Today he's looking a little better, upright and more open but not fully expanded. Going to try and give hime some small pieces of shrimp. Hopefully he eats today. Tried some rods food 2 days ago and not to interested but might have been due to the move to the bottom. He's got a low flow right now and staying put. Going to give him another day or 2 before moveing the HOB filter retrun closer to provide more water movement.
 
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