The Travelling Anemone

[CoralineCori]

Lately it seems my Rose Bubble Tip is having a hard time finding a place it likes. In the last 2 days he has almost travelled my entire 40 gal reef tank. There is no loss of color and the nem is fed variety of Krill, Silversides and anything left from feeding the rest of our fish/corals. Any ideas why he is moving so much? I suppose a number of things...lighting, flow etc.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by CoralineCori

Lately it seems my Rose Bubble Tip is having a hard time finding a place it likes. In the last 2 days he has almost travelled my entire 40 gal reef tank. There is no loss of color and the nem is fed variety of Krill, Silversides and anything left from feeding the rest of our fish/corals. Any ideas why he is moving so much? I suppose a number of things...lighting, flow etc.

could be a number of reasons everything from light to water parameters to flow or it simply is looking for a place to die.its going to move around untill it feels comfortable enough to stay put and grow/reproduce.feeding it silversides isnt really necessary bubble tips get all the food they need from light and rarely need to be target fed with meaty foods plus silversides isnt really a healthy or natural food for a bubble tip you would be better off giving it a very small amounts of mysis or brine once a week.im sure he will find a spot and stay put.

what kind of lights do you have?

hope this helps.cheers

[Reefpins10]

With my experience, they don't like too much flow around their base. If I adjusted to the low flow and put rock around to cover their base, ususally I put 2 or 3 rocks, then I don't have a problem anymore. I don't think light makes them move around too much, but if the light is too dim, they may extend to reach the light.

[reefwars]

light will indeed make them move if they arent getting any they will move to where they are you wont see many bubble tips hiding in the dark if theres light to be had, now im not saying its the cause but there are a number of things an anemone needs and light is def one as is water chemistry and flow.

bubble tips are active movers and can be found moving around alot they are also active reproducers most people who have bubble tips know that it isnt uncommon for them to split constantly and the first thing a split nem does is go for a walk looking for a place to feed and then do what it was meant for....reproduce again

beautiful species

[CoralineCori]

Originally Posted by reefwars

could be a number of reasons everything from light to water parameters to flow or it simply is looking for a place to die.its going to move around untill it feels comfortable enough to stay put and grow/reproduce.feeding it silversides isnt really necessary bubble tips get all the food they need from light and rarely need to be target fed with meaty foods plus silversides isnt really a healthy or natural food for a bubble tip you would be better off giving it a very small amounts of mysis or brine once a week.im sure he will find a spot and stay put.

what kind of lights do you have?

hope this helps.cheers

Hmmm, ok, we will stick to the krill/Mysis/brine...those we definitely have been feeding him. We have a moderate flow in the tank but the original place he was (he seemed to stay there for a while) was in the middle of surrounding rocks so he didnt get a whole lot of flow. We have 2 dual lamp T5 HO's (aquaticlife fixtures that can be paired together). each duals have 1 actinic and one daylight each).

My water params are pretty much perfect all the time and we use only r/o water for adding and changes.

I read somewhere tonight that one actinic and one daylight is usually good for up to 30 gal, is this true? I am running 2 fixtures for a 40 gal, so maybe too much lighting. The anemone kind of went to the backside of the rock he was originally on at first almost like he was trying to get out of the light so it is possible I suppose.

Thanks for the input!

[CoralineCori]

Maybe I should be looking for "split" anemones in my tank lol. Maybe thats what it was doing out of sight!

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by CoralineCori

Hmmm, ok, we will stick to the krill/Mysis/brine...those we definitely have been feeding him. We have a moderate flow in the tank but the original place he was (he seemed to stay there for a while) was in the middle of surrounding rocks so he didnt get a whole lot of flow. We have 2 dual lamp T5 HO's (aquaticlife fixtures that can be paired together). each duals have 1 actinic and one daylight each).

My water params are pretty much perfect all the time and we use only r/o water for adding and changes.

I read somewhere tonight that one actinic and one daylight is usually good for up to 30 gal, is this true? I am running 2 fixtures for a 40 gal, so maybe too much lighting. The anemone kind of went to the backside of the rock he was originally on at first almost like he was trying to get out of the light so it is possible I suppose.

Thanks for the input!

Originally Posted by CoralineCori

Maybe I should be looking for "split" anemones in my tank lol. Maybe thats what it was doing out of sight!

i think your fine on lights i mean im running a 250w halide on a tank thats only 12 " high but nems are a broad species so what yours likes mine may not and vice versa.i wouldnt be worried about your nem moving around its gonna pop up sooner or later once its settled its prob just looking for a more comfortable area.do you have any clowns?

nems that arent healthy are dis coloured cant grab a foot hold on rocks have gaping mouths and wont eat so if you think your is fine it probably is.nems that are gonna die usually do so quickly within a couple days so just keep your eyes on it and have good water and you will be fine.

moving is their nature and out of all the nems in our hobby bta's and mag's are the fastest ol buggers lol chers

[intarsiabox]

I don't think you have too much light. My anemone parks itself most of the time at the highest point in my tank directly under a 250w MH. It's other favorite spot is being squished up in a powerhead But amazingly enough still lives every time.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

I don't think you have too much light. My anemone parks itself most of the time at the highest point in my tank directly under a 250w MH. It's other favorite spot is being squished up in a powerhead But amazingly enough still lives every time.

o man they are brutal for that eh lol loves the powerheads they are like magnets to em lol over the yrs ive lost quite a few little babies that found their way to a powerhead and like you said alot survive i think they just like it rough lol

[CoralineCori]

Ok, that makes me feel more at ease then lol. He def has still has very pretty fluorescent pink color, his foot is for sure getting hold of rocks and his mouth isn't gaping. He looks healthy! I have a Cinnamon Clown pair of which the female has taken over and claimed the nem as HERS lol. the male is making due with either my duncans or brain. It is amazing how nems and clowns rely on each other. In fact the most amazing thing I witnessed was a month ago....my nem somehow had a spine from my urchin sticking straight out of his mouth. (I told my son he had something stuck in his teeth so he was using a spine for a toothpick lol) anyways I didn't know if I should attempt to pull it out with risk of tearing the nem or just leave it. Well by gosh that littl clow kept picking and picking until she finally got good grasp of that spine, pulled it straight out and swam to the farthest point of the tank and dropped it!!! I was in complete awe. Besides that it's neat to watch her bring the nem food during feedings as well