Yes, anemones do best in a well established tank (6 months plus). Now this is a rule of thumb, and with that know that there are reasons behind this.
1) new tanks are nutoriously unstable - even if you test your water frequently, you are taking small snapshots of a very dynamic system. In brand new tanks, just feeding a frozen cube of food can be a strain on the biological system to break down. A more mature tank will be able to handle nutrient swings much better giving a more stable system - which ultimately is what the nem is lookin for.
2) experience. Especially if you are a newbie reefer, 6 months gives you more time to get acquainted with your tank and learn its signs. Similar to how a dog owner knows if their dog is hungry or has to pee based on how the dog is standing, you will be able to "read" your tank and understand is it running smoothly, or on a decline. Slight declines can lead to an anemone becoming unhappy and potentially starting a downward spiral that can nuke your entire tank.
3) time for research. You can also use the "waiting" period to read about anemones and figure out their behavior. Similar to you people research the death out of fish, people should also do the same with anemones. They are most definitely not the same (some like rocks, others sand, some prefer high flow and lots of light, others more moderate or low flow and not as much light, some don't need any light at all but need to be fed).
4)Furthermore, anemones are not like a coral that you buy, place in the tank, and just admire to look pretty. Similar to point #3, you need to understand that an anemone is a mobile animal that has specific care requirements. Not meeting those requirements leads to moving (my reason for why the OP has a moving anemone). Just as you would not put a queen angel in a 5 gallon nano, you should not put an anemone in a tank that just is not suited nor ready for one.
I know other people will likely be able to build on even more reasons why one should wait at least 6 months to put an anemone in the tank. These are just some of the bigger ones that quickly came to mind right now.
Back to the OP:
What kind of anemone do you have? How old is the tank? What are the parameters (put numbers here)? What are your lights? How old are the bulbs?
Please note that while some anemones walk a little attempting to find a happy spot, they absolutely should not be wandering on a daily basis for a long period of time. A few days might be expected, but beyond a short time this should be a red flag that something isn't right. I copied below what I've written in the past about lt....
Also, wandering BTA's has been talked about quite a bit. I covered it a bit in depth before, here's a cut and paste:
Here's my thoughts on the matter of wandering BTA's:
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/showthread.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.
