Rose Bubble Tip Anemone behavior

[jcuervo962002]

Let me preface this by saying this is my first reef, its up about 11 weeks.

I have a 50 gallon cube, with T5's and appx 70 lbs of live rock. I test water regularly, took water to be tested this weekend at LFS and it checked out fine. Light is on about 9.5 hrs per day. My tank has 2 false percula clowns, 2 green chromis, a stripe blenny, a strawberry basslet, 3 emerald crabs, a blood shrimp, a condy, a banded starfish, some small frogspawn and button polyps, and 8 snails. 18 gallon sump with protein skimmer, temp is 77 and salt/gravity is 1.024. PH is at 8.2, KH is 9-10. Nitrates, nitrites, ammonia are all clear. All livestock seems to be pretty happy, no one overly aggressive or picking on anything.

I have a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone that I bought about a month ago. I am concerned that I let the anemone pick its own place in the tank, and it seems to have settled in an area that is facing downward, away from the light. It moved around the first day or so, and and settled in this spot. What I think might be related is the behavior that it is closed more often than open. It opens up, but never as open as it was when I first purchased it. I would say on a normal day it is open at like 75% capacity for about 4 hrs during the lighting and closed or partially opened at like 25-40% for the rest, including overnight. It eats when I feed it with the turkey baster a couple of times a week- frozen mysis or cyclopese.

My Condy on the other hand picked a spot in the light and is thriving, wide open all the time.

Is this normal behavior for my rose, or is my concern just a newbie being a newbie?
Should I move it, or anything specific that I should look for ?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Sounds like you have everything you need ste up. Can yout tell us about your flow? How many powerheads, etc...

Also: This tank has been up for 11 weeks, and you got the anenomes about 4 weeks ago? That means the tank was running for about 7 weeks before you got the anenomes. This is honestly a pretty new tank to have anenomes, but let's see what can be done...

Best of luck!!!

 

[cichlidconvert]

Don't move it. It will move on it's own. It is acclimating and common for bta's in the beginning to act like this. Also adjust your flow may spur it to move. They do not like direct current. They like flow passing in front or over their oral disk. And IMO it is facing downward right now because they like to place their feet in a downward/sideways orientation and lift up toward the light and flow. At this point I would look for a decease in the inflation deflation cycle. Not that I know you can affect it outside of water quality control but it's more of an indicator of health IMO.

 

[jcuervo962002]

Sure thing, appreciate the advice!

I had a feeling that I might have added them too early, but I had some other friends with reefs that said said it would be OK if the water was right.

The pump is 500GPH. Its a square tank that is 24" x 24" and 20" high. I have a built in overflow box with one power head. Looking at the tank, the power head is pointed toward just behind the front right corner at about a 20 degree down angle, anemone set up camp in the front left corner about an inch off the sand. I also have a protein skimmer in the sump.

Thanks!