We have had a bubble anemone for about 2-3 months now and are beginning
to understand her behaviour and sensitivities. We have medium lighting,
nowhere near as strong as some in this forum but more than entry level.
Hotlips, as the anemone is called, likes to reside in a cave (there are
several in our tank). She comes out in full bloom (8-10 inches in
diameter) for about 8 hours a day, spreading all around the entrance of
the cave. She retreats to just fill the mouth of the cave for the
remaining daylight hours and shrivels right back at night. The two
clowns are playing in her tentacles the whole time.

Hotlips' mouth swells at feeding time (hence the name) and she feeds
with everyone else on frozen brinshrimp, etc.

Her biggest sensitivity is to water flow. We have a Juwel tank with an
internal filter. You have to remove the water outlet nozzle to change
the pads and sponges in this. Whenever I do any filter maintenance,
Hotlips ups and moves, probably because I have failed to get the nozzle
angle exactly as it was before. The change in water flow is what I
think prompts the change. If I change the flow deliberately, the
chances are she will move as a result, so it is pretty reproducible.

From time to time, Hotlips gets confused and blooms behind the rockwork
(facing the back of th tank). She can only stay there for so long
before she clearly needs the light. The other thing to note is that she
will definately not stay rooted on an exposed rock face - her anchor
point is always hidden well back so she can retreat out of sight when
she wants to.

So, assuming you have a "reasonable" lighting system, I would suggest
you make sure you have enough caves and crevices for your anemone to
anchor in and try adjusting the way the water flows around your tank.

The one thing I would say, though, is be prepared for a degree of
nomadic behaviour. It's a bit like musical caves in our tank - every
time Hotlips decides she wants to change, she normally has to evict one
of the three shrimps (a cleaner, a fire and a boxer). The evicted
shrimp then quite often has a contest with one of the others for their
cave. They then all settle down again until the next time that nasty
reefkeeper changes the flow! Quite an amusing little routine.

Mike wrote:
Hello- I bought a Rose (bubble-tip) anemome about 3 weeks ago and
everything seemed to go O.K. at first. Within about 2 to 3 days it
started
to wander about the tank. Everyday it would be in a new location-
N-S-E-and
W. It's starting to shrivel a little now. Could it be incorrect
lighting
or the wrong intensity. I am currently using power compact lighting.
Is
anyone experiencing the same kind or problem with their rose anenome?
Thanks! -Mike