Encouraging an RBTA to move where I want him

[trilinearmipmap]

Got an RBTA clone 3 days ago (thanks Sam).

Placed him on the rockwork, he went and hid underneath the rocks.

Now his foot is under the rocks and the body/tentacles of the anemone are facing up out of the rockwork towards the light, but it the back of the tank so he is not visible from the front.

My plan for the next week is to wait and watch, but I want the anemone in the front of the tank where he can be seen.

The two methods I thought of were: aim a powerhead at him, or cover the top of the tank over the anemone to block out his lighting and make him move.

Any thoughts?

[G1GY]

Change in flow direction makes them move every time. With that being said, good luck trying to get it to go anywhere close to where you want it to be. I have four of them, two that stay on the same place all the time and the other two that seem to be gypsies and move around almost daily in one area.

[danny zubot]

I have had pretty good luck trying to steer my anemonies, they can be quite stubborn though. I lucked out with my RBTA as it moved to a sopt right out in front. My green BTA insists on being covered, most likly due to the fact that it has bleeched. You could wait until its settled and then move the rock it sits on the where you want, but it will most likey just move again. After a few tries it might stay put, but then again.... :confused:

[Delphinus]

I don't know if I really recommend this unless you're very desperate, but, in times when I have really really needed a BTA to be somewhere else, I took a really small powerhead (like a minijet or rio 60 or something, you know those itty bitty 2" jobs that are good for not much), place it nearby, and aim it pretty close to the anemone (try to avoid aiming it right at at the anemone since a direct stream output can cause injury). But the flow pattern will usually make them walk away on their own.

I have generally had good luck though, getting BTA's to stay put where I put them (within a certain margin, however). I find if they have a spot that matches what they're looking for, they're not too apt to wander. They are looking for a cave, crevasse or overhang that they can sheild their pedal disk from direct light and current, i.e., they seem to only prefer the tentacles out into the light and current, so also they need that spot to be nearby to some decent flow so that they can easily reach into it (and pull out). So if you can arrange your rock such that you can create a spot like this out in front, you should have some luck getting them to stay there.

HTH