Sebae Anemone and DSB

[Brett]

I just aquired a sebae anemone and from my research I know that they prefer to have their feet in sand. A lot of people talked about letting the anemone attach to the bottom glass of their tank, but I doubt that will work in my tank as it's sitting on 4-5 inches of sand. My rocks are sitting on top of my sand bed, so there's nothing in the sand but sand. Will the anemone be able to just stick it's foot into the sand and be happy or should I put a small piece of rock under the sand for it to attach to? If so, how deep should the rock be?

Thanks,
Brett

[kevin_kramer]

I have had a sebae for 4+ rears in a tank with a DSB (4-5 inches). I can see his foot if I look under the tank. It will dig is self in if it is happy. I have changed the tank twice since I got him and he digs in each time.


http://reef.wrev.org/sump/sebae1.jpg
http://reef.wrev.org/sump/sebae2.jpg

[Dragonlady]

All sebaes have a rather large foot that can easily extend 4-5 inches under the sand. This settling may be very gradual over the course of a few weeks. If the sebae anemone is rather small, say 3-4 inches, you could put a rock about midway down in the sandbed for quicker attachment, but the sebae will likely find its own chosen attachment location anyway. You might be surprised how large of a foot Heteractis anemones have when it is fully extended. The relatively large foot is is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Heteractis anemones. The good news is that once they have found a suitable attachment location, they rarely change locations. My sebae anemone has stayed in the same location for 2+ years now.

[lawndoctor]

It may help to dig a "starter hole" in the sand and place the anemone in the hole. I did that for mine, and it attached on the first day and never moved.