Sabae Anemone help pls

SnowManSnow

SnowManSnow

Member
HEy guys. I bought a sabae the other day and can't seem to get it happy. It actually ISN"T bleached (imagine that!), but it keeps getting blown around in the current and flipped upside down somewhere else in the tank.

I was thinking that these anemonies normally reside on the sand bed.. isn't this correct for a sabae?

Water parameters are fine in the tank... lighting is a Aquactinics Constellation T5, so I should have plenty of usable light.

Any suggestions to help this guy get happy and plant the ol' foot?

Thanks for your help.

B
 
What color is it? (( Hope it isn't yellow )).

What are the actual parameters? (( Sorry, but "fine" doesn't tell a whole lot, number do )).

And yes, they to tend to prefer the sandbed.
 
I don't think T5's are good enough, They prefer an intense pointed light, which halides provide. I have both on my system. When I first got my sebae I was acclimatising it in a bucket and it stuck its foot on good in there so I cut the bucket up and stuck the nem in the tank bucket and all. After a week under halide lighting it still wasn't letting go of the bucket. I turned off the halides but left the T5's on and after half a day it sulked and let go of the bucket. Turned off the pumps, placed it in the sand where I wanted it, turned on the halides and 20 minutes later it put its foot down, and hasn't moved for a year since
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14567843#post14567843 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PRDubois
Sabae suck. Mine tries to kill himself all the time by flipping upside down
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This is not just a problem exclusive to sebaes, most anemones have been known to do this.

I have two H. crispa's which I have had good luck in getting the foot to attach with one and not the other. Sometimes its fairly easy and sometimes its pretty difficult mainly determined by its overall health I believe. So first of all I am not so sure on how we are defining residing in the sandbed as to what they attach to. I would agree that H. crispa's do bury their foot in the sand, yet it is always my experience they do this beside a rock and eventually attach to the rock. This is almost always what I have read about them too. But for smaller ones(3''-8'') I have experienced like to reside on rocks or rougher sand. I believe this is because they can't anchor themselves as well as larger specimens. Also one of the H. crispa's I had one partially bleached when I got it but it soon it regained its color. This anemone for some time had lots of trouble at choosing a fixed location. I had more than enough light, flow, good water levels and was eating well too. It wasn't until one day that I came home late and the lights hadn't turned on that day for some reason, that I found the anemone had finally attached to a large rock. The point of my story is I believe since the anemone was partially bleached and still had just begun adjusting itself to brighter lighting again, it needed to find a spot where it wouldn't be too bright but still bright enough. So I would maybe try adjusting the lighting cycles for your tank by giving it a little more light. May I ask how big it is? And What color? Pictures would be great.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14568264#post14568264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by myxsptlk
I don't think T5's are good enough, They prefer an intense pointed light, which halides provide.
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I partially agree with this. I agree that SnowManSnow your lighting may not be sufficient for the needs of an anemone. I believe your T-5's offer 7X54W or 378W for a 120g tank isn't much, even granted they are T-5's. I don't necessarily think at all that you need metal halides to keep H. crispa's or any anemone for that matter. I kept many H. crispa's under PC lighting for many years and they all did just fine. I just made sure I had enough watts/gallon(usually anything over 4W/g was fine)
 
When I got my sebae, I dug a hole at the base of a nice rock and set him in it kind of leaning against the rock. It's the one spot in my tank that gets natural sunlight every day and he's never moved more than an inch or two. I think I was lucky with the fact that my clowns didn't bother him for the first month he was in the tank, so he had plenty of time to get a grip.

Do you have clowns?
 
Watts/gallon is NOT a good way to decide on what kind of lighting to use for a tank. The depth of penetration and the intensity, temp of the light etc. are better ways to determine your lighting. Watts/gallon means nothing.
 
Hey thanks for the responses so far. The size of the anemone is about the size of a baseball when it is open.

The color is greenish with purple tips.

The water parameters are FINE. No offence. Bad things = 0 good things = fine. haha

I'm thinking the flow may be too intense. Im running 2 MP40s on the tank which is only 48" long. I'll scale down the reef crest mode today.

I would think that the lighting would be adequate (but I'm not an anemone expert by any means). SpS's and so forth are growing great (even more than when I had halides).

I can't remember off the top of my head WHICH lamps I'm running.

Also, are they most common on the sand bed or I MUST keep them on the sand bed. If I could get it to foot into a rock a little higher there's no doubt the t5's would offer enough usable PAR.

Thanks.
 
if your sebae is H. crispa you have enough light, however maybe not so in a 24"d tank if H. malu. they like to be on the sand and can retract under the sand like a S. haddoni carpet. H. malu are found on sand beds in calm shallow waters. it's o.k. to position H. crispa higher on rocks but not needed, they seem to like the rock/sand interface. it's trying to adapt to your tank. everyone else summed it up.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14572099#post14572099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
And you expect to get help?
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I don't need help with water parameters. I wanted advice on how to help my sabe adapt to a new tank.

If I wanted water parameter advice, I would have posted in the chemistry forum. IF there was ANY DOUBT that I had less than optimal water parameters I would seek advice in that area.

water conditions are FINE.
____________

MARC, thats kinda what I thought... I think it's just trying to adjust to new lighting / flow.

I'll tone down the flow a little and try to keep him in one place.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14578778#post14578778 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SnowManSnow
I don't need help with water parameters. I wanted advice on how to help my sabe adapt to a new tank.

If I wanted water parameter advice, I would have posted in the chemistry forum. IF there was ANY DOUBT that I had less than optimal water parameters I would seek advice in that area.

water conditions are FINE.
____________

MARC, thats kinda what I thought... I think it's just trying to adjust to new lighting / flow.

I'll tone down the flow a little and try to keep him in one place.
Click to expand...

Wow, you really should reconsider. 90% of all problems in this hobby are related to water parameters. Just post your parameters just to be safe. They may be perfect, but on the off chance they are wrong, you will have figured out your problem and possibly saved other life in your tank. After all what is there to lose, it only takes like 30 seconds.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14584083#post14584083 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SlukBunWalla
WOW. Maybe your anemone is terrified of your ego.

The more info you give the more chances people have of narrowing down the problem. Even if your parameters are just a *little* off that can have an effect when a few other things in the tank are also just a *little* off.

Outright refusing to give more information to someone trying to help you is incredibly ridiculous. You're a self proclaiming non-expert when it comes to anemones, which is why you're here looking for guidance. Accept the advice you get graciously, and indulge us a little if we need more information to help you.

Working in a fish store I'd say more times than not when a customer is adamant that they're done everything perfectly, and even go so far as to balk at me for even asking such a question...they've missed something key.
Click to expand...
 
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