my anemone doesn't like light

[Japheth]

I can't figure it out, every anemone I've had does not like light.

I had two small anemones and they would only open at night.

Then I got one from a fellow reefer and it walked around until it ended up underneath a rock structure.

Now I have another one that was in a great spot out front and it decided to move into the cave that I made. It barely gets any light in there. It is still opened up so that is good but I don't understand why they all like dark places.

Any help would be great, thanks.

[IslandCrow]

You know, this is my first anemone (a rose BTA), but mine seems to like to live under the rock instead of on top of it. I have a theory, though. It seems like he does it more to get into an area with less water flow than with less light. When I shut off one of my powerheads, he sticks his "head" out much further. Of course, I'm only getting 275 gph with the one powerhead in my 55g, so I'm going to see if I can adjust the direction to make him happier.

[smp]

WHAT KIND OF ANEMONE?

[Genin]

I have heard that BTAs can be sensitive to light and tend to shy away from MH or other intense lighting until they adjust to it. My sebae is happier than a pig in mud with the new MH lighting I put on my tank. I think all anemones feel more secure with a foot hold inbetween or under rock, but if they are comfortable then they should put their tentacles and mouths out into the light.

[Japheth]

I'm not sure what kind of anemone it is. I'll have to try again to look it up tonight. I'll try to post a picture of it.

[smp]

How many anemones have died in your tank exactly and what type were those?!
What other things are you keeping in that tank? What is your water quality like and how is your water movement?

[Japheth]

only one has died. (I think, it actually just dissapeared one day)

I had two others that would stay completely closed during the day and open all the way at night, I moved them to a different tank with less lighting and they did great till the water quality went bad.

The one that dissapeared was one that had just split and my clown was pretty aggressive with it.

I have (2) emperor 400's, and (2) mj900. That is all I have for circulation. lighting is 440 VHO. water quality is great, all the parameters are good.

[smp]

Well, I can't help you. All I know is what I've read and experienced with my own RBTA which seems to be coming along very nicely. Also, sorry if I sounded righteous previously but I feel pretty strongly about anemones and their captive care. I don't know half as much as I should though!!! :)
First thing you should do is figure out what kind of anemone it is that you have. Most hosting anemones (BTA, LTA etc etc) need intense lighting .. I think 440 watts of VHO wouldn't be too much light for any of those type but a newly introduced anemone will sometimes hide in the rockwork for the first little while as it gets used to it's new surroundings. This is all based off of the reading I've done, my anemone moved two inches from where I put it and stayed there.

[shinny]

My new ameneme also is hiding in the rock work. I hope he will adjust to the light. I did acclimate him slowly to the light when i first got him(did increases of an hour a day until I was back to my original schedule). Anyway, he still moved to be covered but I have also heard that this is common. One guy had his for 4 weeks before it ever came out. Anyway, good luck.

[Japheth]

I got some pictures now. Maybe these will help identify it.

The color differences are not bleaching, they are just the differences in lighting from the LFS and my tank. It is also expanded to about twice the size or more in my tank.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/512/54472Image012.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/512/54472brown_anemone.jpg