Anenome placement

I am having a terrible time figuring out how and where to place my anenomes. I have 3 total with 2 being Sebea Anenome and one a Pink Tip Hatian Anenome. I am running a 29g Oceanic Biocube with 34lbs of live rock piled in the middle. I have a nice aquascape that has quite a few large holes in the middle that are big enough for the anenome to go into. The largest has crawled from the top to the inside of the cave and the smallest has found a nook in the outside wall to stick to. The problem is the middle sized one. He refuses to stick to anything and the Hydor is making him go everywhere. I have placed him in many calm flow areas and in the substrate to see if he would stay but everytime he lets go and when he begins to puff up the current cathes him and tumbles him across the tank.

From what I have read on numerous website is that these guys are living animals with a sense for their position and will move to a place they want. In the mean time, until he finds his perfect little hidout, how should I go about caring for him? Should I just let him tumble around the bottom or should I wedge him in somewhere so he can grab ahold? When he tumbles around he occasionally gets stuck in the back of the live rock where the weeds are growing.

Thank you all in advance for the help.
My first post on this forum and my first post about the saltwater hobby.
I am here to learn and help others with anything I can offer.

 

Unfortunately, when an anemone refuses to stick its foot down and tumbles everywhere, it often means they are dieing.

 

Ugh.... OK, thanks for the reply.

 

Try shutting the Hydor off for a day or re aiming it at the surface or somewhere else temporarily until it attaches. You can also try putting the anemone in a butter or tupperware dish with some live rock rubble in it to see if it will attach to the rock then you can move it into the main rockwork somewhere.

 

That's a great idea AZDesertRat. I will give it a shot and see if they grab hold. I don't think he is anywhere near dying because he is eating, pooping, and he inflates to a huge size and is so full of color. He looks and acts really healthy other than the fact his foot won't latch on. My wife did make a funny observation. She said that the anemone is chasing the clowns because the clown always go to the opposite side that particular anemone is on.

 

Also, the anemone will go wherever it wants to go. You can place it on one end of the tank, and you can be sure it will most likely move to the other. If the anemones are not the same genous, they will declare war on each other and sting each other (and anything else it their way) until the last one stands. Another thing to keep in mind is that Haitian anemones are not fish friendly, they will eat any fish that comes into contact with it.
Lastly, sebae anemones need pretty strong lighting to survive on its own, meaning where you don't have to feed it meaty foods daily. I hope your tank is prepared with adequate MH or strong T5 lighting for it?

 

How long has the tank been up and running?

 

Tigermike according to my LFS the Sebae will do fine with the compact florescents pushing 140watts. I don't know if it is true or not but that is what she told me. The Hatian anemone was in the same tank as the sebae and there were plenty of fish in there with it so the question of compatibility never came up. Damn it... now I wonder if they will take them back and refund my money?

Beaun, the tank has been up for 2 months but the water, live rocks, and filter media were transfered from another tank to carry over the biological system. According to a book I read that essentially ages the tank by double for the first 6 months, after that the tank is back on the regular time. Hope that source is correct.

 

Unfortunately, as a poster before me pointed out, the sebae needs much stronger lighting, and compact florescent lights will not cut it. They also are rather sensitive to poor water quality. Have you checked your parameters recently?

Not sure about the other anemone, I'm sure someone else will chime in with more information about that.

 

Agreed with previous posters about the sebae. No chance under the biocubes PC's, they need to go back. And if the employees are telling you otherwise to get you to buy something like that, I would look for a new LFS personally.