Getting an anenome to move

[dpeterd]

I have Bubble Tipped Anenome that has decided to anchor himself to the back side of a large rock. I barely reach him and I am affraid of injuring him if I try to pull. I'd rather not tear apart the LR to move him, but unless someone comes up with an alternative, I guess I'll have to.

Does anyone have ideas on ways to "encourage" a BTA to move? I saw where someone mentioned ice, but I don't know what to do with it. Will covering the area to cut down lighting do the trick.? If I could get him to dislodge then I could move him where I want (n ot that he'll stay put).

Which brings me to my second question: is there a way to "encourage" a BTA to stay put once you have it where you want it?

55g
DIY 24g sump/refugium
4x65 SmartLite w/moons
75lb LR

[joanadam]

Ice is used to get them to let go of something. You just hold it up against the base where it is attached and it should start releasing. As far as putting it where you want it. It is going to move around until it finds a place that it likes. They like to have their bases hidden in rocks. You can try putting its base in a piece of PVC to place it where you want it but if it doesn't like where you put it it may cause undue stress on the anemone and cause it to begin losing health. I don't think the light deprivation is a good idea, IMO they are more concerned about a place they can hide their base than where the light is brightest in the tank.

[dpeterd]

Great info. Thanks very much. I'll let you know what happens.

[vampireshark]

I just have one question...Why would you want to move it from where it abviously wants to be? Isn't the idea of reefkeeping to create a natural "little ocean"? I don't think that to many people go out diving in the ocean and move around anemones so that they can <see them better> IMO just leave it alone and it will move if it wants to!!!!!! I am not trying to be rude but I just don't know why you want to move it.

[dpeterd]

Think what you want, but I actually spent this small fortune on a reef tank because I want to SEE my little slice of the ocean and the creatures in it. I want my children to be able to appreciate learn about the awesome magic of life. Make no mistake, I do everything I can to make things as "natural" and well cared for as possible, but in the end, the aquarium exists for the pleasure and education of me and my family. If the well-being of the creatures was really the number one priority for me, or you, or any other home aquarist, we would not have the aquariums at all. We would leave the sealife in the sea.

It's simple: I want to move the anenome, because I can't see it. It is incredible, fascinating, amazing creation and I want to move it to where we can study and enjoy it in a safe and responsible way.

I, too, don't want to sound rude. I'm just telling it like it is.

[bfillmore]

I hear you on the wanting to see it part...

What I did, is waited till he found a spot he liked. He was almost in the dark, so I had to move him anyway. Once his foot was fixed, I turned the rock so he was visible. He's been there for 3 months, and very healthy.

Not sure how big your rock is.

[dpeterd]

Thanks bfillmore. Part of my concern is also that I can't feed him where he is. I keep hoping he will move on his own, but so far... :cry: He's on the back side of my biggest piece of base LR. I will literally have to tear apart almost all the scaping to turn the rock. Well, I'll try the ice. If that doesn't work, I guess I do some seascaping. :)

[vampireshark]

Sounds fair to me, it is your reef after all, but if you can reach it to ice it, why can't you reach it to feed it? re-Seascaping? sounds like a lot of stress on your reef to me. Oh well, I guess you got to do what you got to due for the education of yourself and your children. Good luck with your relocation efforts.
p.s. Sorry if I sounded rude the first time.

[vampireshark]

dpeterd, just thought I would write and eat crow...The next morning after my post, I woke up to find that my bubble tip had moved to a space in the back of my tank, underneath a peice of live rock. I thought that it was well deserved and maybe I should have been more understanding in the first place...KARMA and all, you know! Fortunately for me though, it has decided to move again and hopefully it will plant itself somewhere good. What happened with yours? :mrgreen:

[CrowBarr]

Just wanted to post something" I had once read on getting an anemone to "uproot" it's foot...
I had read that you can point a powerhead at where it has attached and it will eventually let go. Just sounds like it might be a little more humane than the ice trick....although I guess whatever works....

:D

[dpeterd]

Well VampireShark, I appreciate the comments. And as you rightly pointed out, since I couldn't reach it to feed it, I also couldn't reach it to "ice" it. So I took apart and rearranged the LR without dislodging the BTA. Now it's located front and center in the tank. I was able to arrange it so that its "foot" is recessed into a "cave" as was suggested. We both seem quite happy now.

Now if I can just get my green hair algae under control.... :roll:

.... ah, the never ending challenges of the reefkeeper... :lol:

[vampireshark]

Well I am glad to hear that you got your BTA where you wanted it. As for the hair algea, you might try a sailfin tang. It requires more space, but I put one in my 50 gal and it took care of most of my algea. The fish was fortunate enough that I was able to trade him back to my LFS and now my lawnmower blenny has to keep up with the task, so far, so good.

[Clute0488]

Turbo snails are the way to go with hair algea take a look

[thomas1102]

in a small tank i would get turbos and a big tank mexican turbos. in my 90 i have 5-8 regular tubos and 4 mexican turbos. i got the regular turbos first and they did an ok job and when i got the 4 mexican turbos they took care of my hair algea problem in less than 24 hours and they keep all the sides clean and shiny as well as the rocks :D . they also do an excelent job of keeping the surface of the sand clean too.

[BITEYAHARD]

You ever try obedience school, I have heard they can work wonders with dogs and maybe they can transfer some of that knowledge over to anemones. :mrgreen:

J/K, I have a nice neon green carpet that decided to move around for a month when I got him then found a nice spot in the back near my overflow behind some rocks! :(

[dpeterd]

Well here's the latest: He kept moving every few days or so. Eventually, he attached himself onto a large piece of rock that is donut-shaped (about 12 x 8 x 6 with a 4" hole in the middle). So I moved this off to the far left end of the tank and created an "island" with "his" rock standing on end. and almost up against the glass. There is about 4 inches separating the island with the rest of the LR. He keeps his foot tuck inside the hole and has lots of space to stretch. He seems very happy now and hasnn't moved in weeks. I also now have a clown fish that has adopted the anenome so that may be helping too. They are quite a pair to watch. :D

I suspect that, being marooned on an island, he figures he can't move anyway. I think I read somewhere that they don't like to "walk" on sand beds.

[Nemo73]

Hi,

Yes that is pretty much very true anenome doesn't like sand too much, they mainly like rocks or glass in our tanks, glad to hear your anenome is doing fine and settle down, my move like 2 times so far I hope he stays put for good :D

[dpeterd]

Well guess what. Maybe they don't like sand "much" but not so much that they won't walk across it. :? The little bugger is back in the back of the middle of the tank again! :evil: I give up, I'm just to let him go wherever he wants. :lol:

[Rob and Kim]

I had a bubble tip for a while, then he decided to move around and it went to the back of the tank. So I left it alone. That was the last I saw of him , he disappeared, died I guess :cry: Good luck with yours.

[CRAZY KAY THE FISH KEEPER]

:oops: Hi. I hope I haven't butted in on someones conversation!! I've just signed up because i need some advise about my anenome.

I bought an anenome for my clown fish last friday. It has moved about a bit but hasn't attached itself it anything. The tentacles are all open and the clown fish loves it. The problem is that the foot of the anenome is huge!! It's blown up like a balloon. Is this normal or is it about to blow up or die?? After keeping tropicals for 10 years, I thought marine would be harder, but not this hard!! Please help ASAP before i lose my anenome and the rest of my tank!

Thank you

[phistio]

no worries, it's quite normal for the benthic foot to be large or appear swollen. it's usually indicative of good health. :wink:

[CRAZY KAY THE FISH KEEPER]

:D Thanks alot for the advise. I was convinced it was going to die!! How long does it normally take to find a spot and settle down? It has been4 days and it keeps moving about but hasn't stuck to anything.

[IndysReef]

I know I am a bit late on this post, but from what I know about BTA's, although they will not "walk" across sand very often, they can float themselves like a hot air balloon if they are unhappy and need to cross sand to make it to your main LR arrangement. Hope all is well now though!

[dpeterd]

Well so much for all the theories. I give up. I've about decided to rename him enemozilla or postal -- nothing can stop him. It goes where ever it wants. Back to the back of the tank.

[CRAZY KAY THE FISH KEEPER]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Since writing that message, the said anenome shrivelled up and died :( and so did the next one. :evil:

I have since added extra lighting. I now have 3 4" tubes. 1 white, 1 pink and 1 blue. My 3rd anenome is 2 weeks in the tank, has attached itself and is very happy ( well it looks happy anyway). So i guess the answer is light, and lots of it.

Thanks again

Crazy Kay

[Fishboy]

A friend of mine had a green hair algae problem once and he got a Sea Hare, it worked better than any snail or crab,it was eating the hair algae like a horse eating hay and it was only a matter of days before his bad algae infestation was virtually cleared up...well recommended i would say.

[spookeyfish]

i added turbos to stop my algae and it worked at first but there lazey they suck on the side but most of the time they don't clean it at all. The just sit on the side. I just used a razor and it worked lol did it in 2 mins. Fishboy you friend used a Sea Hare what is that? And can i get one for my 12 gal jbj?

[Fishboy]

A sea hare...It looks like a big slug, it's not pretty to look at but it can eat hair algae like a cow eats grass. Only thing to watch is that it can get stuck in your powerheads very easily. I didn't find them very easily in the pet shops here in Scotland but when you get your hands on one you will not be disappointed.

[phillipm]

:| I think you touch the anemone up with some probes hooked up to a 12 volt battery that might make him move.