Poll: How long did it take your nem to settle down?

[potatocouch]

How long it took your Nem to settle down to a spot?

From the moment it went from your plastic bag to your display tank to the moment it settles down and stay there "permanently".

 

[Kremis]

some of mine never really settled and continued moving around, not much but it kept moving. I eventually isolated all of mine onto a rock. Every once in a while one of them tries to escape the island and moves along the back wall, but I can usually catch it in time before it makes it to the main rockwork and put it back

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I got lucky. When my nem (Weirdo) an rbta went in. He stayed in the same spot for about a year or so.

When I put him in his new tank, he immediately moved and found a spot within two days. He’s still there (with a few babies). It’s been two years.

 

[Birddog]

Put mine in (rbta) and within a day it found its spot and hasn't moved an inch since, and that was about three years ago. I've had to harvest about 6 splits... the original is still in there along with a one clone just a couple of inches away.

 

[rkpetersen]

Like most people, it seems to vary widely. One rose bta I put into a hole 9 months ago, and it hasn't moved from it for a second, while tripling in size. Another green bta I put into what I thought was a decent place, but it just didn't like it. Started going walkabout. Went all 'round a large pinnacle, stopping at a couple different places for a few days each before moving on. And then around again. With me moving corals out of its way the whole time. It must have been unhappy, right? Then why was it still colorful and bubbled-up? After two months of this, I was not pleased, and when it started moving yet again, I gently coaxed its foot loose and placed it in a beautiful hole in a nicely lit rock at an entirely different part of the tank. Stayed there for two days. Success! Oh wait, then it started moving again. OK, enough of this, sorry buddy, I have too many nice corals here to have you be this fussy. Back to the store with you!

When I took it back to the store, it was almost comical. So much richer color and darker zooxanthellae-rich background than the newly arrived bta's. They sold it the next day. I hope it found a place where it can settle down.

 

[adam finley]

I’ve had a rbta for a 1 1/2 weeks and he’s moved quite a bit. Just when you think he’s found his happy place he moves again.

 

[potatocouch]

Another green bta I put into what I thought was a decent place, but it just didn't like it. Started going walkabout. Went all 'round a large pinnacle, stopping at a couple different places for a few days each before moving on. And then around again. With me moving corals out of its way the whole time. It must have been unhappy, right? Then why was it still colorful and bubbled-up?

I have to catch your phrase there ... why do people say moving BTA is unhappy BTA?

 

[rkpetersen]

I have to catch your phrase there ... why do people say moving BTA is unhappy BTA?

It is something that I have seen stated in books and articles. "They also use the “foot” to move around if conditions are not ideal." I personally have only had experience with btas, which seem to thrive best when they've settled on a good location.

 

[Jason mack]

I don’t think they mean unhappy , rather not settled .. maybe it’s the light , or the flow , or just the parameters being slightly different...

 

[Brien]

I hate to say it but there is no set time it takes for them to settle into a spot. I've had anomies take over week to find a home. The last one I added stayed right where I put it and hasn't moved an inch.

 

[Jason mack]

Adding an anamone too a young tank can also play a part , IME it’s beter too add them when a tank is more mature 8-12 months minimal ...

 

[Tallison]

With my first ultra rose I set it into a crevice then lost track of it for 2 weeks freaking out the whole time. It ended up finding its own spot but it was pretty stressful. With my most recent 2 I placed them in a crevice with the powerheads off for 30 min and they firmly attached. They move an inch or so but have stayed in the general area where I put them

 

[Caswal]

My bta came from my local coral aquaculturist. On a piece of liverock with the foot well hidden in a crevice.

I trust that his tanks are good, and I know he quarantines all new arrivals. So I put the bta into my tank. Has not moved at all. She loves her rock.

 

[Reef Jeff]

Mine found a spot and settled in the same day, but at one point I took a business trip and my wife didn’t want to feed it for fear of getting stung. He decided to walk all around until I got home, presumably looking for food. Moved it back to same general spot, fed it and has been there ever since. Once it finds a spot, feed it once or twice a week to keep it happy. Assuming flow, light, nutrients are all good, it is more likely to stay put.

 

[potatocouch]

Brilliant stories from you folks there .. on the same day, 2 days, 3 days, 1 week .. and stay forever ... am so envious.

Mine ... walk .. walk .. and walk ... never settled ... unhappy? not really .. fishes are all good, corals are all good, water parameters are all checks out ... the BTA itself bubbly but yet to settle ... going 2 weeks now (to be exact, 17 days now).

 

[Corey Baker]

This little guy started out the size of a quarter. Took a while to find its perch but it did and now has been through three new tank changes and all the other bumps that come with the hobby and has never moved from the same rock and its been now 2.5 years or so now.

 

[potatocouch]

How long a while is @Corey Baker ?

 

[Myka]

I put a RBTA on a rock in 2007 and there it stays! It has stayed on the same rock through 3 tank moves and 4 pairs of Clowns. Once every few years it splits and the split leaves the rock. At one point I removed it from the rock and put it somewhere on the reef,and it started shuffling around so I put it back on its rock and it's been back there for a couple years now.

 

[RtomKinMad]

Hi! I have a watermelon Bta and it moved to the side of a rock that faces the morning sunlight from the patio door. It moves less than an inch up and down the rock every week or two but mostly stays put. I do t think it is getting enough light but is firmly attached so I haven’t try to move it. It looks sad. I target feed one krill a week to help it. Water parameters ok. Tank 1yr 300gal but update from 3yr old 75g.
Haven’t really had good luck with anemones. Have 3+yr old breeding clowns 2 pairs and non will host the anemone. Lay eggs every 15 days. Have 4 AI lights.

 

[davocean]

One thing to keep in mind here is not all anemone species will behave the same or have same needs.

BTA's are the most common, so many people just group their experiences as the same, all nems wander, all that jazz.

This is not really true when it comes to other species of anemone.

I've been keeping anemone's for almost 33 years now, many species, and probably the last 8 or 10 years I've put my anemones where I'm pretty sure they will be happy, and I'm on a pretty good roll that all have stayed right where I placed them, but that was w/ LTA, Malu, which are sand dwellars, and magnifica, which given a proper perch up high not able to touch anything will typically stay put.

I actually scape my tank specifically for that.

BTA's, while most popular, and often called more forgiving as far as light and care needs, typically come w/ the offset to that as they just wander, often even after being good for a year or more in same place.

When it comes to BTA's, I don't think permanent is in their vocabulary!
I will not keep a BTA in a mixed reef w/ corals anymore for that reason.