Long tentacle anemone problems

[geckofrog]

Alright so I bought a Long Tentacle anemone for my nano (12GAL, 9 Useable, 48WATT PC lights, Live rock filtration, bare bottom)

Here he is:

One day passes then he starts to look like this:

My water paremeters are fine. Salinty is 1.024. The only thing is I have gotten a Nitrate spike of .002. So i did a 25% water change and it brought it down to .000. (I'm using seachem test kits)

I can't get him to eat silversides, he'll grab it, he will continuely to grab it for hours but never eats it, and then just drops it below him which then I remove it from the tank.

Here he is as of this morning:

I know he is probably dying, my quesiton is why. Did he not acclimate to my water paremeters? What is the puss around the foot of the anemone? (look at the arrows)

I've been keeping reefs for 9 years and ugh Anemones seem to give me the worse headaches.

 

[boogie1986]

Hi,

Mine does the exact same thing. It won't attach it's foot into the substrate, and it keeps floating around. My LTA does accept food however. I purchased from Blue Zoo (wonderful company by the way), and one of their livestock managers told me that sometimes an anemone might shed its base as a defense mechanism. It still hasn't buried it's base yet...which has me worried.

Have you tried feeding Mysis. Sometimes mine won't accept large foods like krill and silversides, but it will accept mysis shrimp for some reason.

 

[dantodd]

1) 12 gallons is too small for an LTA
2) 48 watts is too little for an LTA
3) LTA DO NOT LIKE bare bottom tanks
4) that LTA looks to be very ill already.

A) Try to find that anemone a good home.
B) Read the anemone FAQ stickied to the top of this thread
C) Consider leaving the 12 anemone-less and look at the 55 if you're set on keeping an anemone.

 

[55semireef]

Not trying to start anything here but weren't you the guy that made a thread that complained about people posting questions about their dying BTAs? I think so.

Keeping a reef is totally different than keeping an anemone.

I would take the anemone from you but you live in Texas.

 

[traveller7]

Re: Long tentacle anemone problems

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7758179#post7758179 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geckofrog
I know he is probably dying, my quesiton is why. Did he not acclimate to my water paremeters? What is the puss around the foot of the anemone? (look at the arrows)

Too many variables to guess at reasons and some likely observations have already been provided.

The mucus is normal for most of the sand dwelling anemones, most folks just never see it. It really wants to be in sandy substrate with it's foot attached to a hard substrate under the sand. That species will not be happy with out it and will continue to wander.

It is actually a positive sign the anemone even holds food for a short period of time, but I would not expect it to be eating under the current conditions.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7758179#post7758179 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by geckofrog
I've been keeping reefs for 9 years and ugh Anemones seem to give me the worse headaches.

Anemones are like any other specialized reef critter, they want something tailored. In my experience, a "reef tank" typically does not cater to anemones and they let us know it by dying.

IMHO, find that anemone a good large home with established DSB and without a lot of irritating critters while it still has a chance to survive. Leave it where it is, and the odds are dismal.

Best of luck.

 

[55semireef]

When you say "without a lot of irritating critters" are you talking about hermit crabs, snails, starfish, brittle stars or certain types of fish?


Thanks

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7762448#post7762448 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef
When you say "without a lot of irritating critters" are you talking about hermit crabs, snails, starfish, brittle stars or certain types of fish?

and leather corals, mushrooms, etc., in the "chemical" warfare dept...

Shrimp, "eunice" worms, and cowrie snails are often over looked as predators.....

etc.

 

[55semireef]

Oh, I see. So soft corals and most mushrooms. Hmmm...I have lots of mushrooms, a leather and Xenia. Maybe thats whats irritating my nem.

 

[55semireef]

But then again I do run carbon so it can't be chemicle warfare.

 

[traveller7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7762567#post7762567 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef
But then again I do run carbon so it can't be chemicle warfare.

We are off on a new thread, but I am not aware of any test kit to ensure my carbon is still or ever pulling "chemical warfare agents" from my tank.

All the proof we need is in the Red Flatworm treatment threads, many folks "ran" carbon, but still whacked their livestock during the treatment due to improper carbon usage.

We should not rely on carbon to protect our critters from each other, we can't be sure when it is used up, we don't change it frequently enough, it indiscriminantly removes/adds things, we don't use enough, and we typically deploy it in passive nearly useless designs.

IMHO of course

 

[sarahkucera]

Long Tentacle Anemones are not suitable for such a small aquarium. A LTA can grow to be anywhere from 8 to 16 inches across, with the tentacles extending another four to six inches from the base.
An LTA needs to set its foot into a Deep Sand Bed, your aquarium simply isn't a suitable place for it to live.
It's not puss around his foot, it's slime, and he's shedding it because he has no place to put his foot to make a nice home.
I think you should do some research before you get another anemone. This one should come out of your tank immediately because it's going to die and when it dies it's going to bomb your tank.

 

[55semireef]

Thanks traveller for clearing that up.

So have you moved the anemone yet geckofrog? I would just put it in your 55 gallon even if the CBS is in there.