Rose Bubbletip Question

[shrimpstick]

Like all questions, this one begins with a story.

We recently added a Rose bubble tip anemone to our 33g, about 2 weeks ago. We sat him down in a corner on top of some rubble. The first night he walked half way across the tank to hide behind a pile of live rock, with only his tips poking out when the light is on. In the last three days, maybe four, I have noticed that he is lossing tips, mostly along 1/8 of the outer edge, as evidenced by the loose tips on the substrate in his general vicinity.

The lights we are using are T5s, on for about 8-9 hours. There are two clowns in the tank, that have yet to host, as well as two bengai cardinals. Water parameters are as follows: pH 8.3, Alk 9, Calc 475, s.g. 1.026.

Here come the questions:
-Is the dropping of tips related to stress, or part of a normal cycle of anemone life?
-Other than photosynthetic energy, what do you prefer to feed them and how often? The info I've found is 50/50 on those that supplement feed.
-Will clown fish always host an anemone? If so how long does it take, and how can I encourage this behavior?
-What can I do to make this little guy happier?

Cheers,
ShrimpStick

 

[s_kelley]

It could be stress that is causing your problems. I had my clown and anenome together for a year and they still wa t nothing to do with each other. It has decided to host hairy mushrooms instead. I occasionally feed my anenome table shrimp or clam strips. This is only once every two weeks or so though. Good luck with yours.

 

[this is me]

-What you mean by dropping? deflating? If it's deflating regularly, you'll have to watch it carefully.
-A healthy anemone will not need any feeding. If the anemone is deflating, it's best not to feed the anemone.
-NO, YMMV
-Don't do too much. Leave it alone. It will stabilize if your parameter is right.

A lot of great info can be found here.
http://www.karensroseanemones.com/

Here come the questions:
-Is the dropping of tips related to stress, or part of a normal cycle of anemone life?
-Other than photosynthetic energy, what do you prefer to feed them and how often? The info I've found is 50/50 on those that supplement feed.
-Will clown fish always host an anemone? If so how long does it take, and how can I encourage this behavior?
-What can I do to make this little guy happier?

Cheers,
ShrimpStick

 

[shrimpstick]

Dropping, as in falling off onto the substrate.

How would you qualify/quantify deflating?

He closes up when the lights are off and is not fully open when on, about 2/3 open, mostly because of the rocks he is behind.

 

[this is me]

I've heard of anemone budding and splitting but not falling off. It's best to post a picture.

Deflating is when the nem is all shriveled up.

 

[JohnK]

I've seen something similar a few times, but on a smaller scale. Every once and a while I used to find a tiny little bit of what appeared to be RBTA tissue, sitting on the sand or blowing around the tank. It would look like the tip of a tentacle torn off or something, but I never figured out for sure where it was coming from or how it got detached.

My best guess was that the sometimes agressive way my maroons would tend and pick at the RBTAs, might have led them to nipping a few tentacle tips off. That said, I could never locate any injury or other indication of where these bits of tissue came from. Final explanation? I don't know, but I never lost a nem because of it.

Another thought, I have heard (somewhere, I forget where, maybe joyce wilkerson's book?) that in some cases BTAs are capable of mouth breeding/brooding (whatever the correct term is?). I suppose it might be possible that you just happened to get a nem that was carrying a bunch of babbies inside :: I wouldn't count on it, but you never know???