Anemone training for a marathon.

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

I purchased an anemone from WWC and I can't seem to make it stay in one spot. It has found a spot behind the rocks and won't come out. Do you guys have any tips or tricks to make the anemone to stay in one spot? It's like a little kid running through the house and can't seem to make it stop unless you give the kid candy. Soo what's the candy(tips or tricks) for the anemone? Thank you.

Auto-pilot · Dec 2, 2020

Ive been told to feed them when they are where you want them.... Although none of my anemones are where I want them either

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

Auto-pilot said:
Ive been told to feed them when they are where you want them.... Although none of my anemones are where I want them either

I know some people keep them in a container in the sand bed but that also doesn't look the best. I have one question how long does it take approximately for an anemone to split?

Auto-pilot · Dec 2, 2020

They will often split if they are stressed. I have had rock anemones for years that never split. I believe it depends on conditions rather than time

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

Auto-pilot said:
They will often split if they are stressed. I have had rock anemones for years that never split. I believe it depends on conditions rather than time

I know some people feed the anemones alot and in a week they will split. I will try that and see how that works.

James M · Dec 2, 2020

What type of anemone is it ?
Never feed a anemone that’s stressed or new as they are still acclimating to the tank. Adds more unwanted stress

James M · Dec 2, 2020

Auto-pilot said:
They will often split if they are stressed. I have had rock anemones for years that never split. I believe it depends on conditions rather than time

Rock flower nems don’t split

Auto-pilot · Dec 2, 2020

James M said:
Rock flower nems don’t split

Now that I did not know!

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

James M said:
What type of anemone is it ?
Never feed a anemone that’s stressed or new as they are still acclimating to the tank. Adds more unwanted stress

Its just some kind of bubble tip anemone.

Katie M · Dec 2, 2020

Auto-pilot said:
Now that I did not know!

They only reproduce sexuallly... normally fall and spring.

Auto-pilot · Dec 2, 2020

Katie M said:
They only reproduce sexuallly... normally fall and spring.

Wow! mine must be practicing abstinence because I haven't seen any new ones in my tank

James M · Dec 2, 2020

Eagle. said:
Its just some kind of bubble tip anemone.

I would give it time to find a happy spot in the tank then began to feed it.

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

Thank you guys.

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

Thank you. I will wait sometime to see what the anem does next and went it looks comfortable and stable I will feed it.

Katie M · Dec 2, 2020

Auto-pilot said:
Wow! mine must be practicing abstinence because I haven't seen any new ones in my tank

It's not that easy, you need to have both male and female nems and when you do, they need to be mature enough to spawn and then spawning events usually occur in Spring and Fall... theres several people who've gotten the right combination, but I've got no way of deciphering which are males vs females..

mindme · Dec 2, 2020

Leave it alone. The only thing you will likely accomplish by messing with it is to kill it.

Lucky for me mine went in the exact spot I wanted it too. But for the first couple of days it stayed on the sandbed against the glass. It found the spot it's in now and hasn't moved since.

At best you can change the flow around and see if likes another spot better, but this seems more like it needs time to adjust.

As for splitting, my BTA is almost a year old and has never split. I know it produced a tiny baby right before I bought it, as I actually tried to buy the split first(it was sold). So I guess it's never been happy or stressed. It's just big, about 1 foot across when it's expanded. Hosts 2 clownfish.

Eagle. · Dec 2, 2020

mindme said:
Leave it alone. The only thing you will likely accomplish by messing with it is to kill it.

Lucky for me mine went in the exact spot I wanted it too. But for the first couple of days it stayed on the sandbed against the glass. It found the spot it's in now and hasn't moved since.

At best you can change the flow around and see if likes another spot better, but this seems more like it needs time to adjust.

As for splitting, my BTA is almost a year old and has never split. I know it produced a tiny baby right before I bought it, as I actually tried to buy the split first(it was sold). So I guess it's never been happy or stressed. It's just big, about 1 foot across when it's expanded. Hosts 2 clownfish.

Thank you. Some people just cut them in the middle but that is too risky for me.

PicassoClown04 · Dec 2, 2020

Hi! I have many bubble tips and rock flowers so let me help

Bubbletips will walk until they find these 3 things
1. Optimal light
2. Optimal flow
3. A deep crevice/hole for the foot

If this is a biocube with stock lights, that's not going to keep the nem happy and it will continue to move. I suggest a minimum of an AI Prime (non-HD is fine).

Flow is usually okay in any tank. If you have some kind of euphyllia doing well then theres enough flow for a nem dont worry about this one too much

If your rocks are very smooth, boulder type, or artificial then chances are that you will need to place some holey live rock in there to provide a secure place for the anemone to attach its foot. Pukani is my favorite but rubble, wet live rock, dry rock, just any kind of rock with deep crevices will be perfect. If you can see it's foot, chances are that the nem isn't really happy and will continue to move. When my nems settle permanently I cannot see the exact point of attachment. When they shrivel up at night to sleep, they almost disappear because the foot is so deep in the rock. This is true for rainbows, CSB, Sunset Strip, Black Widow, etc BTA and probably all of them since the names are just color morphs and they are all the same species.

I do recommend feeding at least 1x per week but this is not necessary and many people dont do it. Personally, I feed mine every day or every other day with LRS nano reef frenzy or mysis shrimp and it produces large bubbles, vibrant colors, and extreme speckling.

Rock flowers are unlike bubble tips in that they do not split to reproduce. They will only reproduce through timed spawning events which according to the Rock Flower thread by Ron Reefman, may coincide with the equinoxes. These also need the Big 3 of the BTA but do not need as much light. Pretty much any light will keep a RFA happy. I recommend feeding them at least 2x per week (I use just one mysis shrimp per nem) so they keep their colors. I found that mine began to wither away when I did not provide this feeding and now they are all happy and healthy.

Hope this helps!