Sabae Anemone Wont Put Its Foot Down!

[MoshJosh]

So I got this Sabea anemone about a week and a half ago. I have tried a bowl of sand, wedging him between rocks, wedging him between rocks and glass, letting the flow push him into a corner, and turning off the flow altogether (for hours. . . like 8 hours), and NOTHING!!! He just ends up floating around in the flow. My last idea (that I stole from someone else) is putting him in a shroom cage? But he is pretty big and not sure that will work out. . .

Kind of ironic that I was just posting ideas in a thread about this very topic. . . and none of those ideas worked for me haha

 

[Seancj]

I would put it in a plastic basket clipped to the side of the tank, in good flow and good light, until it sets its foot and fully expands for a couple of days. I have had good success using this method with ritteri that won't initially set their foot.

 

[MoshJosh]

Any recommendation on type of basket? My tank footprint is small (29 gallon tank) so I may not be able to use the pond baskets I usually see people using.

Also, rubble or rock in the bottom of the basket?

 

[Seancj]

I use those 8"x8" pond baskets clipped to the top edge of the tank, tilted so it gets decent flow, but not so much that it pushes the nem out. For a sebae, I would put some small rock rubble or the larger size rubble substrate in the basket.

 

[Seancj]

This is far better than letting the nem float around inside the tank. That very rarely ends well.

 

[MoshJosh]

I use those 8"x8" pond baskets clipped to the top edge of the tank, tilted so it gets decent flow, but not so much that it pushes the nem out. For a sebae, I would put some small rock rubble or the larger size rubble substrate in the basket.

Once it's got it's foot down how to you suggest I move it to the scape (bare bottom tank)

 

[Seancj]

In my experience, once it has eventually settled in and set its foot inside the basket and fully inflated over a couple of days to a week, I take that as a sign that its has fully acclimated and is ready to move into the tank. It should quickly reattach to the rock scape or to your bare bottom. It's very easy to gently work its foot loose from the basket with your fingernail. If you put small rock rubble substrate in the basket, it may attach its foot to that so it would be easy to remove while it's attached to that. That would also allow it to keep anchored in your tank until it decides to move itself.

 

[Seancj]

Also, having a bare bottom may be part of your problem. In my experience, Sebae prefer to plant themselves primarily at the rock/sand interface, liking at least an inch or more to dig into. I've only had one Sebae plant its foot on the rock.

 

[MoshJosh]

Thanks for the advise @Seancj this is what I came up with:

 

[Seancj]

You are very welcome. I would tilt, or lower, that basket so that the anemone gets some decent flow, at least enough to moderately move its tentacles.