How to safely remove an anemone from its rock?

[d3rryc]

Hey, there!

I had to take my anemone clone off of the For Sale forum last week b/c the "sessile invertebrate" moved off of a small, sellable rock and onto a big one. Jose (seamonkey2) suggested using ice cubes to tease it loose. What other techniques have people used to get an anemone (happens to be a BTA in this case) to move from its current location?

[SoLiD]

I just keep bothering them until they get upset enough to start detaching. It has taken me as little as 15 minutes and as much as 2 hrs to get my RBTA's to detach without harming them. Just please be patient and don't tear them. :thumbs_up:

-David

[fjr_wertheimber]

Yeah, you just need to carefully "tickle" the foot until it releases.

[Gilbert]

i had one that i removed by aimming a powerhead towards it

[lhoy]

You can take a small piece of ice and hold to foot, works quickly.

Lee

[Andrew v.s wild]

Just touch the the foot alot and it will detach!
But BTA's rip easy so be careful

[Submariner]

Aim a powerhead at the foot, NOT the top. I will slowly begin to detach almost immediately. Start at one end and slowly blow it's footing off the rock. I've done it many times before with no harm to many different types of anemones.

[jroescher]

How do they collect them in the wild? I doubt they carry ice or powerheads, and probably don't spend much time 'coaxing' them off.

[Bill S]

Yeah, and we wonder why so few wild caught ones make it!

[MeteorFlower]

The "tickle" method has worked for me with bubbletips on many occassions. Patience is key, though - better to sit there for hours than to accidentally tear your anemone! The powerhead idea sounds like a good one too, though.