Rock flower anemone disappeared under sand

igvm · 06/15/2014, 06:21 PM

Hello.

My rock flower anemone disappeared under sand ! I saw it literally half an hour ago and now I glanced over and I do not see it any more. I see a little hole in sand about half an inch in diameter and half an inch deep and I see very tips of its tentacles at the bottom of the hole. I carefully poked the hole edges with a stick, and I sense there is something.

I do not have any sand dwelling predators like sand sifting star or anything like that.

I have 2 almost identical rock flower anemones, they have lived close to each other for several months in the sand. They host a porcelain crab.
The other anemone one is fine.

Can anybody tell me what is going on?

Silvergryphon · 06/16/2014, 08:41 AM

I dunno, have you watched Star Wars recently? Maybe it is pretending to be a Sarlac pit!

philosophile · 06/16/2014, 08:57 AM

So your rock flower is probably attached to the glass bottom of the aquarium. It might have just shrunken up a bit, and sand covered it up. But when sand covers them up, and they do t get light... They start to move a lot. So if you don't want it to move, I would put it on a rock. (surround the nem with good rocks to climb on to... Good rocks are rocks with lots of nooks and crannies so at it can get its foot deep into it.)

docstach · 06/16/2014, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igvm

Hello.

My rock flower anemone disappeared under sand ! I saw it literally half an hour ago and now I glanced over and I do not see it any more. I see a little hole in sand about half an inch in diameter and half an inch deep and I see very tips of its tentacles at the bottom of the hole. I carefully poked the hole edges with a stick, and I sense there is something.

I do not have any sand dwelling predators like sand sifting star or anything like that.

I have 2 almost identical rock flower anemones, they have lived close to each other for several months in the sand. They host a porcelain crab.
The other anemone one is fine.

Can anybody tell me what is going on?

Mine do that every now and then when something bothers them (IE a snail or something gets too close).

igvm · 06/17/2014, 08:19 PM

An update, the nem was coming back up slowly shortly after it scared me. My next morning it was fully back up on the surface.

atteb66 · 06/19/2014, 12:27 PM

I have 2 Rock Flower Anemones, as well as 2 Mini Max Anemones.

I find that with either of these kinds of Anemones if they get a hard flow of water on them they will move, they don't like hard water blowing on them so maybe it decided to that or like mentioned they will attach to the bottom of the glass. Both mine tend to be attached to the lower portion of a rock each and prefer to sit on the sand bed, they have never climbed up on the top of the rock.

My one Mini Max is draped over the top of its rock and has not moved from the day I put it there, the other one was getting a bit more water movement than it liked so it its attached to the side of the rock and on the sand bed.

So harsh flow they will keep moving but very gentle water movement they should stay in place.

I don't know if you feed yours but I feed my Anemones and they just love to be fed and are so easy to feed as well.

06/16/2014, 08:57 AM	#3
philosophile Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,149	So your rock flower is probably attached to the glass bottom of the aquarium. It might have just shrunken up a bit, and sand covered it up. But when sand covers them up, and they do t get light... They start to move a lot. So if you don't want it to move, I would put it on a rock. (surround the nem with good rocks to climb on to... Good rocks are rocks with lots of nooks and crannies so at it can get its foot deep into it.) __________________ 90 gallon mixed reef XPS1000SSS skimmer, 2 radions gen 1, tunze osmolator w/ kalk dispenser, 70 lbs pukani, mp40w x2; 1 tomini, 1 clown 2 mandarins. Vinegar dosing, and micro bubble scrubbing.

06/16/2014, 08:41 AM	#2
Silvergryphon Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Seattle, Wa Posts: 540	I dunno, have you watched Star Wars recently? Maybe it is pretending to be a Sarlac pit!

06/17/2014, 08:19 PM	#5
igvm Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 20	An update, the nem was coming back up slowly shortly after it scared me. My next morning it was fully back up on the surface.

06/19/2014, 12:27 PM	#6
atteb66 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 449	I have 2 Rock Flower Anemones, as well as 2 Mini Max Anemones. I find that with either of these kinds of Anemones if they get a hard flow of water on them they will move, they don't like hard water blowing on them so maybe it decided to that or like mentioned they will attach to the bottom of the glass. Both mine tend to be attached to the lower portion of a rock each and prefer to sit on the sand bed, they have never climbed up on the top of the rock. My one Mini Max is draped over the top of its rock and has not moved from the day I put it there, the other one was getting a bit more water movement than it liked so it its attached to the side of the rock and on the sand bed. So harsh flow they will keep moving but very gentle water movement they should stay in place. I don't know if you feed yours but I feed my Anemones and they just love to be fed and are so easy to feed as well.