Question about bubble tip anemone

Hello, I am pretty new to actually owning a saltwater setup for myself. My cousin has had one for several months now and a buddy of mine has had one for about 5 years so i try to get advice from them also but here is my question.

First off, i bought a green bubble tip anemone about two weeks ago. A few days ago, he died. He was closed up for a few days and i begun getting nervous. Everyonce in a great while a few of his tentacles would enlarge but only a few. Then after being closed for a bout 4-5 days, brownish white puss looking stuff started coming out of him. A lot of it too. Someone told me he could be pooping but i seen him do that and i dont think that was the case. Like i said a lot of puss or whatever it was, was all over him for a couple days. My LPS gave me vitamin C drops but i think it was too late. The next day he died. I brought a water sample in and the only thing was my nitrates were a little little too high. Everything else was fine. I dont know why he died.

Anyways i just got another one 2 days ago. I put him on a rock and shortly after he sucked right to it. I woke up the next morning and he had moved to the bottom of the rock. Now he is upside down under the rock getting little to no light at all. Ok so this was yesterday morning (3/9/09). He is still there today. I mean, shouldnt he want some light? I would think if he were uncomfortable he would move out from under the rock. I know not to move him because his plate could get easily damaged. I just want advice on how to take good care of him. I feed him frozen shrimp.

Hope someone out there can give me good advice and guide me in the right direction.

 

How old is your tank and what type of lights do you have? What is the temperature of the water?

 

My tank is about 2 months old, I have a double strip t5 lighting system. I keep my temp at 78-80. In the beginning of my tank i used that live bacteria that is supposed to speed up the whole cycle. I've heard good things about it. But like i mentioned im new at this and try to get any advice i can.

 

well i am new to the saltwater aquairium as well.. i dont really know hwat to tell you... however i do have 2 anemone's in my tank..one tends to sit in a dead pipe organ coral and seems to love it he/she/it has been there 2 weeks and not moved... something good there right... how ever i have one that tends to roam the bottom of the tank as well stickin its so called foot under the rock crevices....acting normal i was asked once... well being new to this i would say yes its normal. until it finds a place it wants to call home it will wonder.. i have also read here n there, that depending on where you got your anemone it will "open" at different times... just watch and see what it does for the next few days. make sure its getting food.. you can move it by hand but be very careful not to peal it off but slowly work under it so it will release the rocks... as i have been told by many people>

 

I am kind of nervous to peel him off though, the first anemone i had, i moved him a lot. I dont know if this is true but i read that its not good to move them a lot. Maybe thats why my first one got stressed out and died. But he seems to open up at night when the light is off. Because when i wake up in the morning and turn on the light he will be open. But then i go to work, when i get home from work he's closed up. Idk, i jus hope this is normal. I got him on sunday afternoon. Ever since monday morning he has been underneath the crevise of a rock.

 

That is weird how ur BTA opens at night. I bought my first green BTA a month and a hlaf after my tank started. It moved once and has not moved ever since. When i switched from a 29 gallon to my 55 gallon, i removed the BTA from its location; It had moved to the same rock some how the first night in my new tank. It is very happy where it resides however, it has not grown at all in the last 5 months that i have had it.

 

Well, most of the day, he is closed. It seems like shortly before i am ready to shut off the light, he will open. When i wake up to go to work and turn on the light, he is open. But i mean, idk, i've only had him since Sunday, so who knows if things will change. Maybe he just has to get used to my tank. I just thought they needed light and he's been underneath a rock now for two days. I have two false percula clowns that i've had for a few weeks that i am hoping will pair with my BTA. But i'm also hoping that my bta will come out from underneath the rock. He barely gets any light under there. Also how much should i feed him. Someone told me every other day, is that right?

 

i have been told every other to every 3 days i usually feed mine brine shrimp... throw half a bag n the tank n that food for all for the day just make sure i get some to the anemone's... on the off days however i tend to have a dead guppie or to in my feeder tank so i give those to the anemone's as a snack... they tend to love havin the fresh but dead fish...

 

I bought an anemone when my tank was still 2 months old. Mine kept moving and turning upside down. I just took him back to the LFS. I received lots of advice from fellow 3reefers that my tank was too young. I did lots of research and they are right. The survival rate of your anemone is much lower in a tank that isn't well established.

 

I have been raising btas for years and I would not recommend feeding that often. I feed mine about every 10 days to 2 weeks. Sometimes longer.

It is odd that your bta is hiding during the day and open at night. I suspect that after a few more days he will start opening during the day and less at night. If he does not then the tank conditions might be a problem.

When he becomes used to your tank he will walk until he finds a spot that he likes. Then if happy (water, flow and light good) he will stay in that spot for years.

Good luck with them they are some of the most interesting things we can keep