Bubble tip Anemone

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

Hi, all decided to start a fresh post as I wasnt getting any feedback on an older thread. Anyways decided to try an Anemone again. Just ordered a large green bubble tip, will be arriving tomorrow. I have a few questions as I want to do everything I can this time to be successful.
I plan to use fiberglass window screen to cover intakes and powerheads, but are pantyhose better?
I think I am going to be pulling rock again to get a camel shrimp and damsel out of my tank, so question is how high in the tank should I place the nem? Tank is 20" tall with 2-3" of sand.
Also I have an AI hydra(4 puck) light on the way, coming tomorrow. any ideas on what intensity I should use to acclimate?
anything else I'm forgetting? just really want this one to make it, last time was not fun

jsker · Sep 22, 2016

pantyhose are easier to cover the power heads, I do not cover mine,
The anemone is going to move were it want to
I would use the acclimate setting. The Hydra light are pretty intense and the system needs to get used to the new light
My settings, I use the lunar setting and it is a really cool effect. You can see the tank a night so there is no need to have a long light cycle or need to change the natural light cycle. I have my light set at 1% for the lunar setting

Lunar setting

AwildcatsZ · Sep 22, 2016

When I got my BTA I learned a lot of things. The biggest thing I learned...they do what they want.

When I got my BTA it was attached to a small piece of rubble. I read somewhere that they do not like to travel across a sand bed, so I tried to isolate it on its own island in between two larger islands where I keep the majority of my coral. I woke up the next morning and it was gone! Luckily it did not find a powerhead (didn't cover them

) but had moved to the backside of a larger piece of rock. For the next 3 days it continued to move around the aquarium, until it found a comfortable spot at the base of a piece of rock. It has been there for about 2 months now and seems to be very happy! The placement doesn't seem to matter as they will find a place they are happy at.

I have an AI Hydra 26 (2 puck). I added my BTA into the aquarium during the "sunset" period of the lighting schedule. The intensity was not at its highest and the tank went dark within 2 hours after introducing the BTA. The light then enters its "sunrise" mode in the morning and this seemed to be a fine method for acclimating the BTA. My settings are 70% (Blue, Lt Blue, Violet) 50% (White), 45% (UV), 0% (Red, Green). My light sits 10" above my 18" deep aquarium. Sunrise is from 8am-11am and sunset is from 7pm-10pm.

Everyone has their own methods and stories with BTAs. After my experience with a BTA I've realized they seem to make themselves happy. All you can do is provide good water quality, lighting, and the occasional feeding. I hope you enjoy your BTA!

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

jsker said:
pantyhose are easier to cover the power heads, I do not cover mine,
The anemone is going to move were it want to
I would use the acclimate setting. The Hydra light are pretty intense and the system needs to get used to the new light
My settings, I use the lunar setting and it is a really cool effect. You can see the tank a night so there is no need to have a long light cycle or need to change the natural light cycle. I have my light set at 1% for the lunar setting

Lunar setting

I see you have the 26, the one I am getting is just a plain hydra, got it from a fellow reefer, it has the soft touch controller. Do you have the director controller to get the ipad control

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

AwildcatsZ said:
When I got my BTA I learned a lot of things. The biggest thing I learned...they do what they want.

When I got my BTA it was attached to a small piece of rubble. I read somewhere that they do not like to travel across a sand bed, so I tried to isolate it on its own island in between two larger islands where I keep the majority of my coral. I woke up the next morning and it was gone! Luckily it did not find a powerhead (didn't cover them ) but had moved to the backside of a larger piece of rock. For the next 3 days it continued to move around the aquarium, until it found a comfortable spot at the base of a piece of rock. It has been there for about 2 months now and seems to be very happy! The placement doesn't seem to matter as they will find a place they are happy at.

I have an AI Hydra 26 (2 puck). I added my BTA into the aquarium during the "sunset" period of the lighting schedule. The intensity was not at its highest and the tank went dark within 2 hours after introducing the BTA. The light then enters its "sunrise" mode in the morning and this seemed to be a fine method for acclimating the BTA. My settings are 70% (Blue, Lt Blue, Violet) 50% (White), 45% (UV), 0% (Red, Green). My light sits 10" above my 18" deep aquarium. Sunrise is from 8am-11am and sunset is from 7pm-10pm.

Everyone has their own methods and stories with BTAs. After my experience with a BTA I've realized they seem to make themselves happy. All you can do is provide good water quality, lighting, and the occasional feeding. I hope you enjoy your BTA!

Thanks, I have heard they like a crevice or a depression in the rock to attach, I know it will move, just hoping to place it somewhere it will like and not move too much. About how high up in your tank did it settle in at? I was thinking of starting half way up, i have a nice spot for it, but may end up re-rockscaping the tank since I cant catch the shrimp and damsel.

happyhourhero · Sep 22, 2016

I usually try and find a spot that would meet all of the anemone's needs to prevent them from moving. I usually place them just inside a cave so they can extend into the light or flow or stay out of it if they wish. I have yet to have one move so far. I also do not cover my power heads.

AwildcatsZ · Sep 22, 2016

Double J said:
Thanks, I have heard they like a crevice or a depression in the rock to attach, I know it will move, just hoping to place it somewhere it will like and not move too much. About how high up in your tank did it settle in at? I was thinking of starting half way up, i have a nice spot for it, but may end up re-rockscaping the tank since I cant catch the shrimp and damsel.

My BTA found a spot directly at the bottom, all the way to the left corner of the tank. I would guess this spot does not have a very high PAR, but what I also noticed is it gets a constant flow from the powerhead on the opposite wall of the tank (not a strong flow). It also is wedged up in a crevice and it reaches out to the light.

My brother was successful it getting his BTA to attach to a rock that he wanted. His strategy was to isolate the BTA on an island, like I did, but then he put a container around it, so the BTA could only move on that rock until it found a comfortable place. Just make sure the container has plenty of holes for flow and is clear so it gets enough light.

Another thing to think about with redoing the rockscape is that it may cause a spike in nitrates by stirring up the tank. Just something to think about and monitor.

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

happyhourhero said:
I usually try and find a spot that would meet all of the anemone's needs to prevent them from moving. I usually place them just inside a cave so they can extend into the light or flow or stay out of it if they wish. I have yet to have one move so far. I also do not cover my power heads.

thanks! thats good to know, i have some small caves, but may try to re-arrange for a nicer one in a better spot. im thinking of just covering the powerheads until it finds a spot. also really hoping this is the last time i move rocks, fingers crossed!

LandenB · Sep 22, 2016

jsker said:
pantyhose are easier to cover the power heads, I do not cover mine,
The anemone is going to move were it want to
I would use the acclimate setting. The Hydra light are pretty intense and the system needs to get used to the new light
My settings, I use the lunar setting and it is a really cool effect. You can see the tank a night so there is no need to have a long light cycle or need to change the natural light cycle. I have my light set at 1% for the lunar setting

Lunar setting

Not trying to hijack this thread, but is there a reason you have your green and red lights down so low? do they cause algae growth or do you just like the coloration better with them down?

AwildcatsZ · Sep 22, 2016

LandenB said:
Not trying to hijack this thread, but is there a reason you have your green and red lights down so low? do they cause algae growth or do you just like the coloration better with them down?

Corals do not utilize light in the Red and Green spectrum as much. Corals have been found to utilize white, blue and purple light for growth. However, algae and bacteria utilize green and red light and therefore will grow more under lighting spectrums high in these areas.

LandenB · Sep 22, 2016

AwildcatsZ said:
Corals do not utilize light in the Red and Green spectrum as much. Corals have been found to utilize white, blue and purple light for growth. However, algae and bacteria utilize green and red light and therefore will grow more under lighting spectrums high in these areas.

I will be adjusting my lighting, thanks

AwildcatsZ · Sep 22, 2016

LandenB said:
I will be adjusting my lighting, thanks

This video has a great take on the light spectrum. The entire video is helpful with LED lighting, but around the 22:50 mark they begin to talk about the light spectrum and you can tune your light to meet this.

jsker · Sep 22, 2016

Double J said:
I see you have the 26, the one I am getting is just a plain hydra, got it from a fellow reefer, it has the soft touch controller. Do you have the director controller to get the ipad control

I use the AI app on the Ipad mini and also the PC since the 26 HD's are wifi. from what I understand is the light that you have, have the same features just not the wifi ability.

jsker · Sep 22, 2016

LandenB said:
Not trying to hijack this thread, but is there a reason you have your green and red lights down so low? do they cause algae growth or do you just like the coloration better with them down?

Good question, The red do tend to accelerate the algae growth. The greens I have no idea and there is not allot of information out there either. This setting that I have and posted, I downloaded and have had great success and growth

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

jsker said:
I use the AI app on the Ipad mini and also the PC since the 26 HD's are wifi. from what I understand is the light that you have, have the same features just not the wifi ability.

cool, im pretty excited to get the light, will be a big upgrade from the orbit marine-non pro. I think that was part of my problem last time, im not sure why they say it is good for coral when it is so weak. Also thanks for the guidance on power levels!

jsker · Sep 22, 2016

Double J said:
cool, im pretty excited to get the light, will be a big upgrade from the orbit marine-non pro. I think that was part of my problem last time, im not sure why they say it is good for coral when it is so weak. Also thanks for the guidance on power levels!

It will be, I had the Orbit marine light and the light did well, but when I went to the Hydra I was blown away. If you get stuck tech support is very good.

Double J · Sep 22, 2016

New light will be here tomorrow, was really hoping to have it today, since it was only a 45 minute drive away at 1:30.
I also caught the camel shrimp and found him a new home, I have a couple feather dusters coming also, and he irritated my other one enough he left his tube, saw the worm the other day and the shrimp was eyeballing it.
Got my intakes and power heads covered, the pantyhose work so much better then window screen, it was so easy, I almost felt bad, haha.
Well off to bed, will update with pictures once the new livestock gets here.

RudyB · Sep 23, 2016

First the anemone will move to where it wants to go. So where you place it may not be where it stays. So I would use the pantyhose to cover the power heads until it settles on a spot. I have two and one moved to the front of my tank and the other decided to go to the back of the tank where I barely see it. But they have been there for close to a year now. As for the lights I would cut down on green and reds as they do tend to grow more algae. Found that out the hard way. Have fun and good luck this time.

Oksana Kudina · Sep 23, 2016

Placement really doesn't matter, as anemone will find its own spot. The best site that is really helpful to me is http://www.karensroseanemones.net/
There are tons of info, pretty much all you need to know. For acclimation LA Fish guys videos are great.