BTA will not stay planted

[agruetz]

Ok, so my BTA will plant itself for a few days then opts to walk around the tank rock, and always managed to float away, fall off the rock and end up stuck to the HOB intake. I have managed to shield it some so that it does not cause near the damage the normal intake does and he cannot get sucked into it entirely, however how long is this going to continue before he opts to plant his butt somewhere and stay there? Is there anything I can do to help him want to stay some where? I am worried the getting sucked into the filters even with the added protection is going to hurt him.

 

[bumski667]

you can try to reduce flow. I had just bought a 18" rbta for about 3 weeks, moved maybe an inch or two from where I placed it, then one day i woke up and it had crawled up my glass into my mp40. It was a sad day.

It's really up to the anenome. People say they move around because it didn't like the condition it was in, so just monitor it and hopefully it'll stay put!

 

[agruetz]

I thought about putting a net of his butt, when so he cannot go any where at night when I cannot save him. Anyway I will keep monitoring him. Thanks for the heads up, least I know it is normal.

 

[garygb]

BTAs need their foot attached inside a hole or crevice in liverock. Once they find that, they tend to stay put.

 

[agruetz]

Yea I stuck his foot right in a hole he stayed there for 3 days. I thought we found his spot, but last night he decided different.

 

[garygb]

If water parameters are off, that can cause an anemone to wander also.

 

[agruetz]

I think this may be the reason the water parameters while improving are not perfect, I think that is probably why it is walking around.

 

[hypnoj]

what kind of lights are u running? they're super sensitive to light, too bright or too dim will make them wander around as well.

 

[agruetz]

Running 4 T5 18 watts (10 gallon tank), 2 x blue 2 x 10k whites. 6am - 8pm on the blues. 8 am - 6pm on the whites. I think initially it had a bit of an adjustment because it hit in the shade. Water parameters appear to be in good condition now. So we will see how he does over this next day or two. Seems to be staying put tonight.

 

[wipe]

Turn off flow till he gets a foothold (in good light coral friendly area)then after an hour or so turn on the flow.
I think it is important to keep it confused with a random pattern flow. Like a vortech mp pump on reefcrest or some other wavemaker if you can keep it baffled by the current after it plants itself it wont move.

 

[agruetz]

I will keep that in mind. I am hope the correction of the bad water will keep him planted. If that does not work I will give your random pattern flow a try, I wanted to do that anyway just had not gotten to it.

 

[agruetz]

Well still will not stay planted, but at least he is staying on the rock now. I think I will try that random current thing now.

 

[BairdimusPrime]

when i acclimate my bta's i keep the current off until it finds its spot... then throw it back on a day or two later

 

[leemanz28]

I had the same thing mine found a home and about 4 days later i came home and he was in power head now he is half dollar size ...got a really good hair cut ...

If that happens change your Carbon out that day as t hey do let nasty stuff in the water when then they get stressed bad or die ... Do a water change and then do a second one in couple days ....

 

[wrestle1952]

There is no definitive reasons why anemone's move. My GBTA sat at the bottom of my tank attached to a live rock for months. It decided to move towards my MH light and higher flow. Moved it to where it started it moved back. I was gone during the holiday's it split in two moved a little and killed a bunch of my corals.

 

[agruetz]

Well he finally planted himself, way in the back between the glass and the rock. Cannot hardly see him how well, guess that is how it goes they will do what they want. :headwalls:

 

[Whip316]

a little trick Anthony Calfo taught me which works very well is wherever the spot you want the bta, is you get a good about of rubble and surround bta with the rubble and it will stay put. worked for me 90% of the time with many bta's

 

[rssjsb]

There is no definitive reasons why anemone's move.

Minor correction - there's always a definitive reason, it's just not always apparent to us.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say your lighting is marginal for a BTA. And it's hard to keep stable water conditions in a 10-gallon tank. Do not be surprised if it goes walking again. An anemone that releases and floats in a tank is an unhappy customer.

This may seem harsh, but unless you upgrade to a larger tank, I'm afraid you're going to have a hard time pulling this off.