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I just stuck my awsome new BTA in my display tank yesterday, and already my maroon clown is hosting him (yay!). The problem is that my clown keeps pushing the BTA around before it has a chance to anchor itself anywhere, so the current + my clown pushing it makes it move around and flip over onto the bottom on the tank. It doesn't seem to have enough weight to just sit there long enough to get comfortable...
Any ideas on how to fix this? Is it alright for the BTA to live on the sandbed, or does it pretty much have to be up on a rock somewhere?
It will go where ever it wants to. Being new to the tank he will definately be walking for a little bit. Let him find his way without trying to influence too much at this point... IMO... protect outlets so he doesn't get sucked in if he's on the move. Be careful of any powerheads.
I know he's gonna walk around and find a place he likes, but the problem is he isn't just walking... he's getting blown around in the current. Sometimes he falls all the way over and is upside-down, and I have to straighten him out.
I've heard one person say when he gets an anenome he puts it somewhere he wants it and thinks it is getting good light. Then he spot feeds it there a few times. He thinks this makes it comfortable that it is getting what it needs in that position and stays put. I don't know if I buy into this but its an idea!
Ugh, my clown pushed him into a little cave now. I think I'm gonna take him out of there in the morning... I didn't spend money on something I'll never get to appreciate.
If he does than I can rotate and move the rocks around, at least. It's a smaller cave that's only held together by 3 or 4 rocks all the way on the left side of the tank.
At least then he'll stop blowing around like a tissue :/
I don't really think he's the problem. He's all snuggly with the anem, but doesn't seem to be actually moving it all that much. The anem is just getting blown around in the current and doesn't have time to plant it's foot anywhere...
Like just now I put it up on a rock near the clowns territory, and it just sat there for a minute and eventually blew over... now it's on it's side in the sand with the foot kinda sticking up in the air (or water, i guess).
I don't really think he's the problem. He's all snuggly with the anem, but doesn't seem to be actually moving it all that much. The anem is just getting blown around in the current and doesn't have time to plant it's foot anywhere...
Like just now I put it up on a rock near the clowns territory, and it just sat there for a minute and eventually blew over... now it's on it's side in the sand with the foot kinda sticking up in the air (or water, i guess).
This is frusterating :/
I think the bold type above is the answer. You need to slow down the flow until he settles in. Anemones don't have squat for brains. On the reef, if they are in a current and can't plant their foot they'll just be blown around until fate settles them against a rock or something else and then they will plant themselves. Once planted they can maneuver much like a snail, only slower, to relocate to a spot with better light or feeding opportunities.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
I thought about that, and turned off all of my powerheads except the return pump from my sump (can't have that off for long... the temp falls pretty fast with that off, since all my heaters are in the sump area). Still seems like too much flow for him. I'll try repositioning the hose nossel things tomorrow so they're blowing away from him, I guess.
Is it okay for him to be on the sand? Like, can he survive there?
My BTA, which I've had for a year, is on the move too. He has crept onto the sand but then moved back up to a rock. I have seen them at the LFS on the sand and they seem to be open and happy. I think that I have read about them digging their foot through the sand to the glass bottom. I don't think that they would stay on loose sand for long because there is nothing to grip.
i agree with carmie jo. my friend has three anemones in his tank and all of them have their base attached to the bottom of the tank onto the glass. he'll (or she'll) find her spot... and it will be where you don't want it to be.
__________________ Sheli Jo Reefkeeping is an Addiction, not a Hobby!
I think my sandbed is too deep for him to dig down enough to find glass :/ It's too bad, cause he REALLY wants to be on the sand.
I'm just moving him around to different places in the tank until he attaches to something. Every time he ends up on the sand he gets blown/pushed into some cave or other and deflates. Thats no good
I'm thinking out loud here; could you make a little depression in the sand since that is where he likes to be and then place a rock just upstream? The rock could protect him from being blown around and would perhaps give him a place to anchor. Also, when he is in the cave how long do you give him to re-inflate? Mine deflates on a regurlar basis but it always re-inflates in a few hours.
I'm actually trying exactly what you just said right now. Great minds think alike
He's hanging out in the sand, and I put a few rocks right near him so he can't get blown on. So far so good... he's moving around by himself now, hopefully he'll go up on the rock and stick to it.
Unless he flips over so he's upsidedown, I've only been moving him once or twice a day, deflated or not. He always reinflates after I take him out of a place he gets stuck in, so I figure he probably doesn't really want to be in the cave.
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