Newbe question

[aetaylor]

OK, I have my second 1/2, needless to say it's full of life and things are still popping out. However I do have some big questions. Being new to this hobby, I think I'm about to hit the panic button. I put the cleaning crew into the tank as per instructions and everything ran off to their own rock. Now the serpent stars are acting a little strange to me. they have crawled under a rock and have parked it there for two days. They move around (very slowly) in the shadow of the rock but never leave its protection. Is this normal for Serpent stars or am I just getting to anitcy to see life crawling around? also I had gotten two ananamies (???) the one with purple tips has filled its self up and is crawling all over its rock. The other is white with a smooth center and its mouth is dead center of that. It has attached itself to the rock but has not filled its tentecals (???) with water. As I was watching it, it spit a white mucas out of its mouth into the water. Is all this normal for this creature? I will try to post a picture of it later tonight.

Thanks

More question to follow

 

[liverock]

Normal!

Normal!

All normal behavior!

TBS

 

[aetaylor]

WHEW!

My wife keeps looking at me asking "what did I do wrong". Now I can tell her its all normal and it's under control.

Thanks TBS

 

[AquAsylum]

Go to the Anemones and Clownfish forum and read some of their articles about anemones. It will really help you understand the behavior of your condylactis/rock anemones.

 

[docklink]

Pretty normal. The creatures have been yanked out of there previous environmrnt, bagged, boxed and flown far away and plopped into a new, totally unfamiliar living environ. You'ld run and hide too .
Everybody will search for a comfortable spot, one that has the right amount of light (or lack of it), water flow and protection. They may settle on a spot that meets their minimum immediate needs for a few days (till they get over the shock of travel) and then move again as they explore their new environment. The serpent stars normally stay under a rock or overhang, coming out only for food (or the promise of it). The purple tip anemone is a condilactis and may continue moving about till it is satisfied with a spot. The other anemone, I would guess, is a flower anemone and "lost its lunch" or defecated. They have only one opening to the digestive tract so what goes in eventually comes back out the same way. Both anemones will periodically inflate and deflate. As an aside, make sure any intakes on exposed powerhears are covered with some kind of protective screen to make sure free moving anemones and curious cucumbers don't get sucked into them.
HTH.