Anemone warfare - advice please

BostonReefer300 · Jun 2, 2021

So I got two small anemones that appeared to be rose bubble tips at my LFS. I got them home and after a couple days, they both were over 6 inches in diameter with long tentacles. I couldn't get pictures of them tonight to get ID help, but that's not my major problem right now. Whether they're RBTAs or LTAs, they are both DEFINITELY the same type---they look like clones. Anyway, they had been sharing a rock for the past couple weeks and seemed very happy living right on top of each other practically. Then, past couple of days, one of them seemed very stressed (small, shriveled, totally eclipsed by the other nem). I managed to get the stressed one off the rock using a small powerhead to peel him off with high flow and I moved him to a far away rock. Hopefully I didn't damage him. Anyway, have others noticed intra-species aggression/warfare with bubble tips or long-tentacles? I've seen plenty of nem tanks where same-species nems are packed tighter than sardines. (I've also seen tanks with different species packed right next to each other.). I'm pretty new to nems so I'm still learning the basics with them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts/experiences!

Jekyl · Jun 2, 2021

BostonReefer300 said:
So I got two small anemones that appeared to be rose bubble tips at my LFS. I got them home and after a couple days, they both were over 6 inches in diameter with long tentacles. I couldn't get pictures of them tonight to get ID help, but that's not my major problem right now. Whether they're RBTAs or LTAs, they are both DEFINITELY the same type---they look like clones. Anyway, they had been sharing a rock for the past couple weeks and seemed very happy living right on top of each other practically. Then, past couple of days, one of them seemed very stressed (small, shriveled, totally eclipsed by the other nem). I managed to get the stressed one off the rock using a small powerhead to peel him off with high flow and I moved him to a far away rock. Hopefully I didn't damage him. Anyway, have others noticed intra-species aggression/warfare with bubble tips or long-tentacles? I've seen plenty of nem tanks where same-species nems are packed tighter than sardines. (I've also seen tanks with different species packed right next to each other.). I'm pretty new to nems so I'm still learning the basics with them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts/experiences!

I have 4 nems, 2 rainbow and 2 rose. They all reside in the same area and touch quite a bit. Never had any issues. My largest nem brushes again a big leather I have every day and no issues there either. I think your nem was just being a nem. There's no need to ever move them on your own. More times than not you're actually doing more harm than good by getting involved. Nems will go where they want.

BostonReefer300 · Jun 2, 2021

Thanks. I got worried because the shriveled one had looked so good for so long and then appeared to go down hill very fast. I've got another RBTA (definitely a RBTA) in another part of the tank and he refuses to move from his original low-light acclimation spot to better light and flow. I'm pretty sure he's been slowly starving to death for months, but I haven't tried to move him because I haven't wanted to risk damaging him. Very frustrating because he only needs to move several inches in any direction to get almost any combo of lighting and flow that he could want---but instead he just sits in the original spot I placed him and stays shriveled up.