LTA Question

[Deluxe247]

Hi. I just acquired a green long tentacle anemone, which I believe is quite healthy and robust. It seems fairly happy already down in my sand bed, and hasn't moved too much, although I won't expect it to be fully comfortable for a little while longer. Anyway, I was wondering what their typical behavior is at night with the lights off. Do they close up at all, or just do what mine does and lets its tentacles deflate slightly and go longer and straighter. During the day the tentacles are more plump and curved. I just wanted to verify that it is indeed healthy.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Sounds normal to me. That was typical night time behavior for mine when I had one years ago.

What size tank do you have it in? What kind of lighting?

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

Sounds normal,mine will draw up alittle more under the rock at night.

 

[Deluxe247]

Thanks for the help. One more question: everything I read says this nem prefers a deep sand bed - and it seems like I read something about it liking really fine grained sand or mud. Currently I just have regular aragonite sand, grain size about 2mm, about 2-3"deep. Is this fine enough sand, and should I add more sand?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I had mine in about 2" of sand. Aragone as well. Mine was actually attached to the underside of the rock on the sandbed.

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I have around 2.5'',and is a mixture of fine and argonite.

 

[elegance coral]

I don't agree. Anemones do withdraw or shrink at night, but they should not go flaccid. The tentacles may be smaller, but they should still be full and kinda rigid. From you description, it sounds like your anemone is simply going limp. This is a sign of a stressed or ill anemone. Pretty common with newly imported LTA's. If the anemone looks good during the day, has planted its foot, and has a healthy feeding response, it will probably recover.

Here's an old shot of one of my LTA's at night. Sometimes they ball up like this, resembling magnifica behavior, but the tentacles should remain round.