Long tip anemone closed up

Danny N · May 10, 2016

i put this anemone in my tank 5 days ago. Came home from work to find him closed up. It has struggled a bit finding a home (keeps moving around)
Should I be concerned yet?
SG 1.0235
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5ppm
Tank has been up for 6 months
Temp. 78

CodyRVA · May 10, 2016

sonya · May 13, 2016

Mine went into my gyre over night. So mad. And he was huge too.

Tahoe61 · May 13, 2016

Yes you should be concerned.

A few things I noticed.

Your SG should come up to 1.025 for an anemone.
The gravel or sand looks very course, the anemone needs to foot in the sand bed not on top of it.

Dig a depression in the sand to get to the finer grain sand, use a lower flow area of the tank. Put the anemone's foot or column in a piece of wide diameter PVC pipe in the area of the depression. You can also try a strawberry basket placed over the anemone in the area of the depression.

A floating, unattached anemone is a stressed anemone, it typically leads to their demise.

HTH and good luck.

CodyRVA · May 13, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
Your SG should come up to 1.025 for an anemone.
The gravel or sand looks very course, the anemone needs to foot in the sand bed not on top of it.

I've housed nems at 1.023 with great success.

Why does the nem have to foot into the sand bed, regardless of the sand type?

Tahoe61 · May 13, 2016

BTA foot on rock, LTA foot with the column buried to some degree in the sand often at the base of the rock work. Haddoni like a silty sand in which to foot.

If you want to provide the best chances for an anemone a SG closer to NSW and a substrate/medium that mimics the anemone natural substrate are a good idea. Put a BTA in a tank with no rock work and it's going to wander, a LTA with no sand and it's going to wander. You just increase your chances of success by providing a more natural habitat.

Trex · May 13, 2016

How does the base of the foot look like? Any damage to it at all? Even a pin head sized hole will be an issue.

And yes, M. doreensis are sandbed dwelling anemones, and their foot should be buried in the sandbed.

What do you have for flow?
What size tank?
What lights do you have? (( What lights was it under ))

Bob Escher · May 13, 2016

My anemone was placed on rock he has stayed there and has moved around. He has extended himself retracted all the way in and now he has moved from the front of the tank ( on the rock) to rear of the tank on the rock as well. And it's not for too bright light I don't think or flow my flow is down to 20% on my MP10's and the light is a current-USA marine light ( not pro and two years old) and I was told it would be fine ( my frags aren't doing that well also. I'm running poly-filter ( recommended here) plus purigen.
My parameters as of yesterday are:

Test results 05/11/2016

Aquarium parameters
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 12 by Nyos ( 0 by Red Sea)
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 77.6
PH: 8.0
Magnesium: 1360
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 1370
Phosphates: 0

Danny N · May 15, 2016

I'm thinking it didn't like the amount of light. It seems to settled into a nice spot in between my rocks down in the sand. Thanks for the advice.

Bob Escher · May 15, 2016

Yours has settled down? Mine has also it seems. Between two rocks and at the rear of the tank hasn't moved in three days

Danny N · May 28, 2016

And here we are 2 weeks later. It has crawled out of its' crevice and is just laying on its' side. Extended and happy looking. I don't think it ever really dug its' foot into the sand.