What's going on with my anemone?!

[chewitback]

So I broke down and purchased a rose anemone at a frag swap on Saturday (it is now Tuesday). I placed it in my 180gallon reef tank, and since it was not attached to any rock, I set it on one of the rocks, which it would attach to, detach to, then roll about in the current for a bit. It finally found a hole that it seemed to like, and stayed attached in it for 24 hours, before detaching and vanishing for a day. Now it's attached again to the bottom bit of a piece of rock, but for the past day or so it hasn't puffed much and is black and only the tips of it are rose colored. When the morning lights cut on he was flat and deflated, but perked up a bit shortly afterward. I'm worried because it won't accept food (krill, mysis, brine shrimp) and still looks nowhere near what other bubble tips look like. 8.2 ph, 7kh, 500cal, salinity was at 2.7 - now 2.5, ammonia, phosphates, nitrates, and nitrites are all at 0 with the temp at a steady 80F. The tank has been up and running for a while (Feb) and I have kept 60+ species of sps, lps, and softies growing for the 4 years I have been doing this, but I have never had an anemone before, so I'm a newbie in that regard.

 

[Che]

I have a number of rbtas and keep them in less than stellar water conditions (not saying that they like this, just saying that I don't have the best husbandry practices). I think that the main thing for them to stop walking is to find a location that has 2 main features. A rock that has a hole or impression that is fairly deep to protect the foot with a crevice that it can retreat into and the right water flow. You need moderate water flow (a well oxygenated tank) and enough flow to move gently move all of the tentacles on the anemone, but you do not want the tentacles whipping around. Also, anemones do not like any stray electrical current passing through the tank.

I hope this helps.

 

[chewitback]

Ok, it seems to have made itself a hole of sorts, as it's partly under a rock and nestled In the sand. The current isn't all that strong there, but it seems that the tips move about a bit. Is it common for these guys to look this way for the first few days? It looked great up until it detached from the hole it was in, then it started looking like hell. Think I should see if it wants back into the hole? I don't want to mess with it too much if it's trying to adjust, but I want it to be happy and healthy just the same.

 

[Che]

Take a peek at the foot if you can. You will get a good sense of the health of the anemone by looking at its foot. I notice that when my nems get stressed (heavy tank maintenance) they pull back into a small tight spot and all the tips get the pretty bubble tips. When I leave the lights off or on too long I get that slightly deflated look with the dark base with most of the tentacle being the correct color.

Did you approximate the nems lighting and lighting schedule as well as water parameters when you introduced it to your tank?

 

[Che]

When introducing an RBTA I usually cut back a bit on the lighting initially.