seabay anemone

[greg97527]

ok i have had this seabay for about 2 weeks or more (u can see him in my gallery) and I can not get him to attach no matter what. He kept flipping upside down and getting wedged in holes so i turned of my power heads and put him in a low flow area and propped him up in some rocks, even built a wall around him so he would settle in but no matter what i do it does'nt attach. Any ideas? I need to get the flow back in my tank and I'm running out of ideas. Can't get him to eat either yet he looks very healthy and the anemone crab is happy to. I've tried brine shrimp, silversides, frozen algae cubes, mysis cubes etc.

[Reef_Angel]

While your Sebae Anemone looks healthy, it actually is not as healthy as you think. Sebae's found in LFS's colored in snow white with purple tips are dyed to be that color. The true color of your Sebae should be a dusty or dirty pink color with purplish brown tips. You will hear a lot of controversy about this, but this is the truth.

Your Sebae is acting quite normal for just being added to your tank as a newbie! When mine finally settled in and finally put it's foot down, it was done in the front corner of the tank. They do not like to be up on a rock at all. She is a mover until she finds the home that makes her happiest. As far as feeding goes, don't fear to much. There is quite a bit of food in the water colony that she will extend her feeder tentacles out for...mostly at night while you aren't looking. After a few hours, once your lighting goes down for the night, introduce some brine shrimp near her, or stimulate her feeding by spritzing in a small amount of cyclopeeze near her. Wait for awhile, and then take a peek into the darkened tank with a flashlight...preferably with a red lense. You will be excited to see many things in your tank feeding in ways you may not be aware of. It can be very exciting! Let your Sebae settle down, and let her choose her home. Don't worry...she is making sure she gets food. Generally they only like low to med flow near them. His little friend "the anemone crab" will also bring your Sebae food to eat as well, hence their symbiotic relationship!

With all the things you have tried for your Sebae has just annoyed him. Let him have his space and find his own home in your tank. They will never sit in the spot you'd like them to. Sometimes they find a hidden spot which I agree is a bummer!! My Sebae started out just like yours...barely 2-3" around, snowy white, and an irresistible buy. When I finally figured out that I needed to just leave the poor thing alone until it settled itself, I thought it was going to die. As time went on and I was actually able to feed mine brine shrimp which turned out to be her favorite, I thought she was going to die because she changed to her correct dull pinkish color. I did my homework and talked with many reefers only to find out that she had been a victim of the bleaching process they put these Sebae's through. She had now settled in to her home in our tank and turning back to her healthy REAL color!! Before I lost her, she was the size of a large dinner plate and eating a FULL baster of brine shrimp every 2-3 days! I miss her, but am afraid to try another one since I know about the dying process they do to make them so snowy white. It's very cruel!!

By the way, as your Sebae starts accepting food from you from a baster, remember some of these tips. Do not feed your Sebae chunks of food. She may have trouble digesting, and you may just see he flip inside out. If they cannot "throw back up" the food they over took in, they can die. Make sure you stick to small foods like brine shrimp, mysis, cyclopeeze, or a healthy blended mush of fresh fish. Make sure the food is ALWAYS room temperature before feeding directly into it's mouth. Eventually you will notice the mouth of your critter and be able to target feed, just don't over do it. Mine eventually sensed my presence near the tank, and would have her mouth open and ready. This of course was when she was about 6-8" around. Just go easy with it and be patient. If yours puts it's foot down in an area of your tank you don't like, please leave it be since that is exactly where it wants to be. I sure hope this helps you! Happy New Year!
....Angel :angel1:

PS. I've added the photo's below. The first one you see has my huge Sailfin Tang trading some food with at least a 6 inch Sailfin Tang. My Sailfin was approximately 5-6" nose to tail at the time of that photo in March of 2005, and just before our 180g crashed on us and I lost the Sebae. :(

In the photo below that, the sebae was quite young (early 2005 & notice the pinkish coloring coming in), and hosting with her was a 3" Clarkii. This was very early in 2005.

At the time our tank crashed, my Sebae was huge when she was open to her fullest. She would easily fit on a 22" platter that I had. The picture of her is in the corner of our 180 gallon tank if that helps you out with her size. I've done my best with the comparison's for you. This is what you have to look forward to when your sebae is healthy and accepts hand feedings. Don't push it though...just take it slow and easy. Look for that color change to the dusty pink, and you'll know she's getting healthier by the day!

[greg97527]

I am familiar with anemone's but thanks for the extra info. I did get her to take some brine shrimp today before reading this post and I will remove the wall and let her go where she wants. All my other anemone's attached so much quicker so i was'nt sure how much different from the bta's and condy's etc she was. Thanks again.

[Dirt4dinner]

my sebae NEVER attached, and finally ended up in a piece of PVC that I use to support my rock....down in the bottom, no light, no food....didn't survive. I wish you better luck than I had. Mine bobbed around for almost 2 weeks before it ended up down there in the pipe.

[greg97527]

ya well it still has'nt attached and keeps winding up upside down so I think I'm going to lose it. Will the crab survive in the tank after the seabay has died (or removed from tank)?

[hummer]

where did you get it from

[carpenterwrasse]

Talk to anthony calfo..He's pretty good with anemones. I haven't had much luck anemones either. I have a new stand and a tank remodel set up for feb. so I hope to try and get it back to where it was a couple of years ago.

[greg97527]

i got it from my LFS. It's wierd, I have kept a close eye on it but it won't attach and remains super shriveled yet no god awful smell so it's still alive. It seems like the crab is the one who keeps flipping it upside down but i dont know what to do. if it dies will the crab die to???

[Dirt4dinner]

Greg,
Did you try to cut a 1 liter soda bottle in half and jam that into the sand, then put the anemenoe in there. That way you can get it to hold still long enough to get it some food and good light (maybe a week in the bottle). Then once he is doing good, let him lose near a rock and hope for the best. If he doesn't grab on, back in the bottle. I kept mine in a bottle for a long time and it did great.

Cut the liter bottle (or similar item) at both ends (making a plastic tube). Shove the plastic tube in the sand bed so that it is secure and there is 3-5 in. sticking out of the sand. Drop the anemone in there so he is right side up.

[greg97527]

i'll give that a shot but i think it's going to die real soon.