sebae not attaching

[aburtrum]

this is for my brother in law. he got a sebae about 3 weeks ago and it won't attach to anything and it won't die. it just sort of rolls around. sometimes it's upside down, sometimes on its side. he cleaned off an area of substrate, hoping it would attach to the glass, but no dice. water conditions and light levels are good. tomato clown likes him, but doesn't harass him too much. any suggestions?

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

you could take a pvc pipe larger than it's foot in diameter and put it over the bare bottom. then you place it's foot in and fill the pipe with sand. this might help but if it doesn't wanna stay there it will probably not attach.

[jeromieg]

I just tried putting a glass in the substrate for mine and setting it inside so that it can't get blown around. I have the same problem: mine is healthy looking, appears to eat well, but will not attach.

I buried the glass in the substrate and also put a little in the glass since the galss was still too tall. No luck yet, but it has only been 12 hours or so.

[aburtrum]

tried the glass thing, now it is upside down in the glass. we are both at a loss. this has been going on for almost a month now. any other ideas?

[BlAcK_PeRcUlA]

sorry i'm out of ideas

[jeromieg]

Yeah... after a day and a half in the glass and not attaching to it either I woke up this morning to find it upside down next to the glass... Not sure how it got out. I just tried turning off all current, turning on all the lights, and placing the sebae in a spot that looked like it would be optimal for it once the current is back on. There is a nice hole in the rock that it seems to be trying to attach to also. I think this might jsut work. You may want to try it also.

I will report more when I get home from work and probably find it blowing around the tank like every other time :eek2:

[ginntonic74]

What kind of substrate do tyou have. Sebae like sand better then cc.

[phdezra]

Stop and ask: WHY is the anemone wandering around?

Possibilities (I assume water params are OK):

1) Wrong substrate. As far as I know, Sebae's prefer a sandy substrate, which helps it hide its base out of sight. If you have crushed coral, it may not be too happy. LS (sandy) with LR is best, IMHO.

2) Lighting. I didn;t catch what sort of lighting you have. It may be possible that the anemone is looking for a bright spot. Don't forget - Sebae's (like most anem) require strong lighting. What size tank?

3) Water flow. Should be moderate What kind of pumps do you have in the tank? Is it blowing too hard/fast, annoying the guy?

4) Clownfish. I read once that if you have trouble acclimating a Sebae, you can try adding a Clownfish (Clarkii). Not foolproof, but worth a shot if all else fails.

If you can get the anemone to calm down and settle down, he'll be hardy for you. Big IF though.

Just my $2 (adjusted for inflation).

Ezra

[phdezra]

Any update for us?