My first Anemone question.

[Donivan2009]

Hey guys! So last Saturday I picked up a beautiful RBTA from my favorite LFS. I have been researching them for months and decided to bring one home. He looks just as beautiful in my tank as he did in the store, but there is one thing that concerns me. He moves every time the lights go out. Usually between the same two spots. When the lights go off, he will close completely up and move through a cave and park on the back side of a rock. When the lights come on in the morning he makes his way back through the cave and parks just at the entrance of the cave where there is more light. I think he likes the cave because there is a bit of a water flow through it and it looks like a great place to catch food as it travels through it. Other than that, I cant figure out why he likes that place so much, but if he's happy then i'm fine with it. Im just worried about him moving every night.

He looks great during the day. Great color, nice plump bubble tips, and he stays open during the day. At night, everytime i get up to look, he is closed completely to the point that you cant see any of his tentacles. Should I worry yet? Or is it too soon?

Ive checked water chem. everyday since i've brought him home with everything checking out perfectly!

 

[gavinbree]

Shouldn't worry, they can take weeks to find a spot they like, hopefully you don't have too many corals in your tank because they aren't fussy where they park themselves.

If it's expanded and isn't bleached it sounds healthy.

A happy anemone will be quite sticky try blowing some mysis shrimp on it with a pipette and see if it picks them up.

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[Donivan2009]

Thanks for the reassurance. The only other corals I have is a leather Kenya Tree, and a Zoa + green star polyp garden. The BTA has been on the opposite side of the tank for the most part. I was gonna try the mysis shrimp feeding in a couple days when he might not be as stressed. I have seen him grab a little shrimp from the formula 2 I feed the other fish. He put it in his mouth and ate it pretty quickly.

 

[oahureefer]

Shouldn't worry, they can take weeks to find a spot they like, hopefully you don't have too many corals in your tank because they aren't fussy where they park themselves.

This!

You could try adjusting the flow in the tank to give more flow up front where you want him to stay but ime they really go where they want to go. I have several RBTA's and they typically deflate at night some more than others

 

[Donivan2009]

I've been experimenting a bit with water flow, but it seems that he runs away from moderate to higher flow. That was part of the reason he would always run into the cave and go behind the rock. Yesterday I swapped some of my T5 bulbs around and turned off one of the powerheads. The anemone then perched on the front of the rock (right where I wanted him) and has been there all night. He looks really good. He still closed up super tight as soon as the lights went off but at least he didn't start moving again! He closes up to the point where you cant see any of his tentacles and he looks like a big, soft barnacle. Is that normal for them to close up to sleep at night? I don't remember reading that anywhere. And if so, does that mean that any clownfish hosting in it cant sleep in the anemone? This morning as the lights start ramping up and turning on he is opening up again.

Sorry if I sound like a complete idiot, LOL. All the research couldn't have prepared me for the anxiety I feel about trying to keep it happy! HAHA... thanks for your guys advice!