bleached red lta

[abereefur]

just bought a bleached red lta and have it sitting right now in a 1 1/2" pvc on my sand in low flow. what can i do to recover the anemone?

 

[bradleym]

0 (or the closer the better) phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Good strong lighting and regular, frequent feeding.

That's pretty much it to be honest.

 

[abereefur]

how long does it usually take? no pictures yet but its a faded pink color right now.

 

[bradleym]

Months, sometimes. Depends on your tank, husbandry, and of course, how bad the anemone starts off.

 

[davocean]

Stable params in an established tank, decent light, and light feedings like mysis will help.
Moderate flow.
Time varies, just leave it alone as much as possible, let it settle.
0 nitrites or amonia is a given for any animal, but some nitrates or phos should not effect it much if any, so don't stress too much on that.
It's common to have some detection of both, just not excessive.
Other corals like sps are more vulnerable to higher trates or phos.

 

[abereefur]

ok im keeping sps right now with no issues

 

[bradleym]

Yeah that's a good sign then. Just make sure you don't blow it away with flow and make sure to feed it often once it settles in and hope for the best.

 

[garygb]

Has the anemone dug into the sand yet? Depending on the size of the anemone, you might need to provide a deeper sand bed than 1 1/2 inches. For a medium to larger size LTA, they prefer maybe 5 inches. If it's small, that might be fine.

Generally, LTAs don't like strong water flow. Gentle movement of the tentacles is sufficient. If you have sps, then you have enough light. For a bleached one, it might be too much light initially. I would probably not locate it directly under the brightest light but a bit off to the side, if that's an option.

 

[abereefur]

right now i have it in ~2" of sand at the base of a rock. the anemone fully inflated is only 3-4" but won't stay in the pvc so i have the return on only right now so i can try and attach it. how can i attach this nem? i've left it at the base of a rock with all the pumps off and it wont seem to attach. been trying to attach it a different way by sandwiching it between the rock and pvc pipe as well. i've never had this much issue getting at nem to attach before.

 

[garygb]

Lowering the water flow is fine, putting the anemone on the sand bed beside the glass of the aquarium, making a depression in the sand and positioning some liverock to fence the anemone in is about all you can do. That along with excellent water conditions.