hiding anenome question

[jiriki]

I just got a GBTA about a week ago and it has been wandering around. I thought it might not like my flow so I had my wavebox turned off now and then.

It is now hanging upside down under a ledge. I can barely tell see its tentacles. But it is definitely dark underneath. It's been there for 3 or 4 days.

Should I continue to leave it alone? I'm not sure how long it can live without light.

-Jon

 

[MarineFishGuy]

Our NGBTA went into hiding for about 2-3 months. It was in the back under a ledge where it didn't get much if any light. I was worried about it for the first few weeks, but there was not much I could do.

Eventually it moved out front. They are going to move where they want to be. If you are lucky it is where you want them, but not usually.

Where mine is now it is in the flow of the return line.
After it moved out front the clowns finally hosted in it, after being in the same tank for over a year.

I have never fed mine directly, the clowns do it for me now. Before we moved (and it hid) it was positioned in the flow next to where I fed the fish so it caught a bunch of scraps.

Now it is looking as good as it has ever looked. The tentacles have bubbled up again since the clowns started hosting.

 

[jiriki]

It's in such an awkward position right now that it is virtually impossible for me to directly feed it. Where it is at right now, it is essentially pitch dark.

Did you feed yours at all during its hiatus?

 

[MarineFishGuy]

I have never fed mine directly, even when it went into hiding.

I was quite worried at first, but decided I was more likely to hurt it trying to get it out of the cave, than to let it come out on it's own when it got hungry.

I would have had to remove a lot of rock to be able to get a powerhead near it to coax it out with heavy flow.

At one point I had not seen it for almost a month. Eventually it came around on it's own and now sits up front in the middle of the tank. At least until it decides to move again.

 

[jh2pizza]

I am no expert on them, but one would think that it will move to where it feels comfortable and that would include a food source. It may be picking up food through the water stream there.

I would not sweat it yet.

 

[jiriki]

Thanks guys. I'll leave him alone then.

 

[oz07]

I had one that did the same thing went into hiding - over a month and half what was great looking rose came out bleached - he's finally getting some color back but it's been a long time coming. I also recently picked up a small rose - it disappeared can't find it anywhere...

 

[greddy1]

it's the nature of the animal. My gbta has never stayed in one spot more than a month. It's frustrating but noone on the forums has been able to figure a way to keep them in one spot short of gluing their foot down which i've been tempted a few times

 

[RokleM]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14992008#post14992008 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greddy1
short of gluing their foot down which i've been tempted a few times

Wha wha whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?! :eek2:

I've found about 90% of the time, if it's happy it will stay in one place. However there is always that chance it will move. Mine stayed in the same position even moving tanks and splitting multiple times... then one day decided to roam.

 

[jiriki]

That's pretty funny. One of the RC thread of the month involves a tank with numerous clown fish and numerous rbtas. She uses powerheads to create invisible fences to keep the rbtas on one side of the tank.

My GBTA is still hiding.