My anemone keeps moving around...

[DeAngelove]

Hey Guys -
I just noticed this morning that my Condylactis Anemone has moved from its spot yet again. This time it has attached itself to my Fat Finger Leather Coral. I have been adding Lugol's for sometime now (since I found out that you need too), twice a week and for a while he was fine and didn't move all over the tank. I hate to pull him off the coral, but I don't think it will benefit the coral if I leave the anemone attached to him. Is there anything else I should be adding to the tank as far as supplements? PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are all at acceptable levels... so I am at a lost on what to do next. Any ideas or suggestions? Or do I just have a weirdo of an anemone? :?

Thanks again y'all!
~Denise

[RobertG]

I have the same problem with my LTA at this time. I would say he is going to move until he finds somewhere he wants to call home. Mine stays put then moves again. Frustrating Watch your powerheads, dont want him in one.

[alexwolf]

my rose is on a completely different side of the 175 every morning :?

[GaryP]

My rose still hasn't made an appearance. Its still in the back of the tank somewhere.

Gary

[matt]

A moving anemone is one that has not found a habitat it likes; usually this is due to a combination of flow and/or light issues, or the proximity of other potentially competing animals. Anemones will seek out and kill other anemones and some soft corals that they sense threat from, usually due to some chemical cues. (I think) It's not a good thing; the best course of action, I suppose, is to research the specific habitat requirements of your anemone and try to create those as best you can in a certain spot in the tank, and hope for the best.

If your leather is a sarcophyton, it too is an aggressive animal, sending chemical "weapons" into the tank to protect it's area. Better notify the international inspectors! You may have to decide which one you want in your tank, and remove the other. There seems to be no rhyme or reason about which anemones and corals can co-exist peacefully in which aquariums.

Regarding the lugol's solution, I don't know who told you to add it periodically to your tank, but I would stop immediately and run some carbon to remove what's in there. Iodine in any form is very toxic to marine life in concentrations slightly over NSW levels, and if you feed your fish any sort of crustacean food, like shrimp, krill, etc, I can bet you're adding more iodine into your tank than you'll ever need. Lugol's solution is kind of an old standby medication for corals, which means it kills stuff. Good for a dip to "disinfect" coral colonies, but very bad in the general water column of a reef aquarium.

[DeAngelove]

A moving anemone is one that has not found a habitat it likes; usually this is due to a combination of flow and/or light issues, or the proximity of other potentially competing animals. Anemones will seek out and kill other anemones and some soft corals that they sense threat from, usually due to some chemical cues. (I think) It's not a good thing; the best course of action, I suppose, is to research the specific habitat requirements of your anemone and try to create those as best you can in a certain spot in the tank, and hope for the best.

If your leather is a sarcophyton, it too is an aggressive animal, sending chemical "weapons" into the tank to protect it's area. Better notify the international inspectors! You may have to decide which one you want in your tank, and remove the other. There seems to be no rhyme or reason about which anemones and corals can co-exist peacefully in which aquariums.

Regarding the lugol's solution, I don't know who told you to add it periodically to your tank, but I would stop immediately and run some carbon to remove what's in there. Iodine in any form is very toxic to marine life in concentrations slightly over NSW levels, and if you feed your fish any sort of crustacean food, like shrimp, krill, etc, I can bet you're adding more iodine into your tank than you'll ever need. Lugol's solution is kind of an old standby medication for corals, which means it kills stuff. Good for a dip to "disinfect" coral colonies, but very bad in the general water column of a reef aquarium.

Hi Matt -

Well, that's what I thought at first too when I first got my anemone, and that's what I was told at the LFS after I enquired about the anemone moving all the time. They asked what what kind of lighting I was using, and figured out that was not the issue, check the conditions of the tank water and the water quality was not it, then asked if I was supplementing my tank with any kind of iodine, and I was not. The LFS (Austin Aquariums - Charley) recommended that I start by adding one drop of lugol's a week, and if the anemone was still moving around after a couple of weeks, to add two drops... but spread it out over the week. Two drops seemed to do the trick, and the anemone was happy until now.

My Fat Finger Leather Coral is actually a Lobophytum. I did end up removing the anemone from the coral... and he has not yet moved, as of now.

Any thoughts....?

Thanks!
~Denise