wandering nem

[Yankees2519]

Posting for my girlfriend since her internet is down, but about a week or 2 ago she bought a rbta for her biocube. The anemone looks great, its gotten larger and fuller since she's had it, the color is great and it is eating. the problem is, when the lights go out it wanders all over the tank. when the lights are on its settled in one spot, until they go off. The past couple mornings, its been near a powerhead outlet, and when the lights come on, it will just completely un-attach from wherever it is and float around until it attaches to a rock, then will stay there all day. water param's look good except nitrates were a bit high at 20. Any idea's on why it wont settle? or is this just normal anemone behavior?

 

[Lmecher]

Does she have stock lighting? The nitrates should be as close to 0 as possible, they don't tolerate nitrate very well. It may take several large water changes. I am sure others will tell you a 14 biocube is on the small side for a bta. I am an offender also, I have several tiny bta's in mine but I have upgraded lighting and I keep my water pristine, this is only temporary, they are going into a much larger tank soon.

 

[Yankees2519]

she has the 3.24 upgrade with brand new bulbs. The anemone is small, maybe 4", and the tank it was in at the LFS was under PC's also. I dont think the light is the issue. We will try to get the nitrates to 0 and see if it helps. thanks

 

[Lmecher]

Anemones wander for a reason, looking for something it can't find. What kind of flow? Have you upgraded the pump as well? They prefer moderate random flow to keep their tentacles gently moving. I also have upgraded my pump and added a scwd, powerheads are very dangerous in such a small tank, would not recomend one. Is your powerhead intake covered, wandering anemones can easily get sucked in.
http://www.karensroseanemones.com/coverpowerheads.htm

What is your SG, should be 1.025.
Letting go and floating around is troubling. Anemones that wander can get stressed decline and eventally die. Try reducing the nirtates and see if that makes a difference, if not keep looking for the cause.
The lighting upgrade I assume is 3.24 per gallon?? Marginal at best. LFS will keep these in inadequate conditions so I would not use as a guide. I have found they really do best under t5 or MH. Sure there are exceptions but from my experience I would not keep them under pc's.

 

[Yankees2519]

The pump is stock, and there is one koralia nano in the tank that is covered. SG is at 1.025. Also the 3.24 upgrade means 3x24w bulbs. I should have been more specific about that. If you figure it out thats 72w total for a 14g tank, more specifically over just the display part of the tank which is about 12g so figure 5-6w per gallon. I agree that the anemone may be needing something that is isnt getting, i just cant figure it out. I will do some water changes to reduce the nitrates and hopefully that will help. thanks

 

[Lmecher]

Do you feed it? I had recieved one that was a constant roamer, I started feeding it and it has stayed put for me, just another thought.

 

[Yankees2519]

We have been feeding it very small amounts every few days, ill feed it a bit more often

 

[Theomi]

I think the nitrates can be the problem...
My Bta stayed put in the same place for over a year but started wandering because some bad luck got my nitrates up to 10-15...
when ifixed the problem he stayed put again

 

[Megg0602]

ive got my nitrates down to 0 again after some water changes and hes been less mobile so i guess that will do the trick- we will see thanks guys

im the gf btw

 

[Yankees2519]

SO it happened. Just when we thought it was ok to take the cover's off of the powerheads he decides to take another midnight stroll and this time it didnt end well. She caught it around 2am this morning, stuck inside a koralia nano. From what i understand, its about the side of a half-dollar, and still has tentacles, the foot, and the mouth. Its in ICU right now, we'll see how it turns out.

 

[davocean]

That seems to be the issue w/ nems in small tanks, water param stability, and always inches from intakes.
Always keep intakes covered.
Many do recover, as long as foot is intact.

 

[Lmecher]

That's too bad, sorry to hear this. I have installed a scwd in my biocube w/upgraded pump as well, powerheads & wandering anemones = disaster. I hope it heals for you.

 

[Yankees2519]

his foot looks a bit cut up, but its still there. Hes been floating in a specimin container in the tank since it happened, and last night he looked a little better. his tentacles are starting to inflate back. I took pictures that i can post later tonight.

 

[Yankees2519]

and a fts with the new light