I read that most LTA usually bury themselves into the sand bed with a day or so. Unfortunately for me I got the one that takes longer. Rather than having him blow every where and potentially into a part of my rock work that is inaccessable I am attempting to bury the anemone into the sand bed and hopefully it will plant its foot on the bottom of my tank and I can put sand around it body. I used a 64 oz McDonalds cup cut in half and pushed it through the sand bed and used a spoon to dig out the sand that was in side. After wards I put the anemone into the cup. It looks pretty upset. Any advice or other ideas that I can try if this fails?
Someone on another forum said they should bury their foot into the sand bed usually in a few days. Googling showed that they do aswell as these type of anemones usually are found on sand beds. Dunno this is frustrating. This is my second anemone. I gave up on burying and left it sitting on the sand bed but now its spawning (usually not a good sign). No visible damage to its body, but probably stressed due to the the whole burrying fiasco. I am gonna leave it be and see how it does and if floats away again Im just gonna make sure it doesnt go anywhere under the rock work and let it be. My condy on the other hand is behind my rock work and doing well. All parameters in check so I am at a lost. If this one dies I dont think I am going to try another anemone again.
They are sand anemones. Why don't you just bury it yourself? Dig a hole, place it in the hole, and move the sand back gently. You want it covered up to its oral disk. Not sure why you are bothering with the plastic cup...
Yeah I tried that but the dang sand keeps falling back into the hole and the anemone starts to go back up. Tank is 30" tall and pretty hard to get both hands inside or ele I would have used both hand to cup the anemone and moved sand aside from both ends. Regardless I got it out of the cup and just surrounded that one spot with a slot of small rubble rock to minimize flow. I also adjusted the angles of each pump as to not create as much tubulence in the area the LTA is in. Its working so far as there is only enough flow to sway the tentacles up rather than the whole anemone going and flying away lol. I am hoping the anemone will just buty its foot on its own rather than my fat fingers trying to do it for it! Thanks for your help Bonsai hopefully it will settle in as I am not going to bother it for a week and just let it be.
Not quite sure why you're getting snippy responses, they are not representative of the forum but the anemone/clownfish section can get grumpy at times. Others have posted this very same method using pvc piping in the past and have been relatively succesful. I hope your anemone grips on tight for you. I agree that you should leave it alone the way you have it now and let it see how it does. Good luck. Keep us updated.
I have a lta also he seems to be content but he has (well I) have a hard time with the powerheads once he is settled in his spot. I tried the bury technique because I read it somewhere to make a depression... But it hasn't worked. I have heard of pvc technique but not burying using a cup. My tank is 30in too, not fun to work with sometimes.
If you are feeding him that may just be waste coming out and not sperm.
Well I only fed him once and he spit the food out. Four.d him face hugging the front of the tank lol. So hopefully I can find him a spot that he can't be blown away and he will settle. Yes working with such a deep tank has proven very challeging to say the least. I may try the pvc as the half cup isn't working too well. My idea was to push the half cup in and remove the sand from within and when the nem extends up I would remove the cup and allow the sand to fall in around it. Unfortunately the sand and the nem doesn't want cooperate.
Hi James; You're getting some mixed information here and some half-facts, so let me try to clarify. Not all clown anemones are sand anemones. Not all sand anemones will work well with the "PVC method". Generally the PVC method is used when you have a bare bottom tank, or when you have a large anemone (like S. haddoni) and you don't want them to move your rockwork around. It is important to note that the PVC is NOT empty - you place the anemone in the PVC pipe and then backfill the pipe with sand/gravel. M doreensis (your anemone) is a sand/gravel anemone that really likes to bury deep. In the wild, M. doreensis can contract completely below the surface of the sand when it feels threatened. It will not be happy unless the column is completely surrounded by and supported by sand. As you have noted, it is not always easy to "plant" these anemones in the sand. In many cases, when you try to dig a hole in sand you end up with a shallow depression, and since the anemone is neutrally buoyant you often find that it squirts out of the hole before you can get it anchored. I have been successful by using one hand to push sand to the side while gently placing the anemone right next to my hand. Then, while holding the anemone in place deep in the sand pocket, slowly lift your first hand up and let the sand flow back around the anemone. I cannot emphasize enough how this particular anemone (M doreensis) will not be happy unless buried - will not eat unless buried - and will probably die if not buried. For whatever reason, they do not seem to have a very strong ability to dig in themselves. Once dug in, they will STAY dug in. But unless you dig them in they may float around your tank until dead.
Here's how they look in the wild. You can see how the anemone looks like a cone - the oral disk lies open on the surface of the sand but the entire column is buried and it can retreat quickly under the sand if it is threatened. Bonus points if you can find the clownfish in this photo
Thanks Bonsai when my wife gets home Ill have her help me lift the canopy and Ill try burying it again using both hands and a 'cupped' manner. Is that LTA that big or is that a baby clown fish cause that clown is dwarfed by that nem lol! Also is it neccessary to maybe place some rubble inside the indentation to help the foot attach to something solid under the sand?
Well I may have been successful. The LTA had its foot on the front of the tank and I thought why remove it to bury it when its already well planted. So I just moved sand around it and buried it where it was at. Of course not the most ideal viewing spot, but if its happy then I am HAPPY. Here are some pictures.
As you can see in the last photo the foot is sticking to the glass. However, as I am writing this, the LTA is slowing releasing its foot from the glass and inflating itself. I am hoping it is just positioning itself into a more cofortable positing and that the inflation/deflation is a tecnique to help bury itself more as I am assuming once delfating more sand will bury around the body itself. Thanks again for everyones help and most of all thanks for your help and techincal knowleadge Bonsai. If thjis guy can make past a month I may have the guts to try a Sebae again in the future (hopefully one thats not bleached lol)!
Update: He kept deflating and inflating himself and he just got himself out of the sand. I dont know what else to do. The flow is only moderate in that area and he had plenty of 'spread out' space around him so I cant understand why this nem doesnt want itself buried.
Well I am trying the PVC method again. Using a 2" pip that is 4" long. Have it buried in the sand bed to where its just level of the top of the sand and I put the nem inside. Hopefully its foot will eother grab the side of the pipe or the bottom of where the sand is and it decides to stay put. Pumps decreased some what and have anough rock work to deflect flow so its very very gentle in that perticular area. Will keep everyone posted.
Ok yet another update: He decided to inflate himself back out of the PVC pipe. Being only 2" I noticed he tends to get stalky and he is about 3 - 3 1/2" in diameter on the foot.
With that I decided to a take an ice tea bottle that was about 3 1/2 - 4" in diameter and cut it to about 5" in length. I place it into the sand bed and pushed till I felt the bottom of the tank. I dug out most of the sand inside (left maybe a 1/2") and waited till the dust cleared to be sure. I then popped the nem back into the new hole.
Now this looks kinda like the picture Bonsai post where only the upper disc is exposed and laying on the sandbed itself. When I peeked under the nem there was maybe an 1/8" gad all around so hopefully the extra diameter of the plastic bottle will give it the room it needs to expand and contract with enough depth to where the upper disc is touching the sand bed and allowing the nem to know its at a desire depth into the bed. There is very and I mean very low flow in this area. Only enough to make the tentacles very gently sway back and fourth (had to take one of my tunze offline to achieve this). I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesnt pop itself back out. If it stays then I am going to leave it be for a few days to recover. Wish me luck please as I am going to need it! :crazy1:
Actually I will be following this thread with interest. I am hoping for the best. I know you have to cut the flow a little so that he doesn't blow away, but as soon as he gets anchored, try to increase flow slightly.
Will do. I just checked on it and its very inflated. Infact the last time I saw it this inflated was the first night it was in the tank sitting on the sand bed standing straight up. Ill try to fed it in a few days and see how it goes but so far so good. I left my pumps running since 3 am this morning and its still in the hole I made. Time for bed I have work tonight and again thanks for your help and interest Bonsai!
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