LTA vs. BTA

[Reefing Newbie]

So I keep having a battle back and forth in my head with my tank. I need to make up my mind before I get sand because if I go with the LTA, I need a 4" SB. Adding sand later really is not my preference, as I would imagine that it would take me out of the stableness of a tank mature enough for an anemone... Could I get some pros and cons of both nems? Thinking along the lines of how fish predatory it is, what one is more bothersome to corals, most likely to host a pair of B&W ocellaris clowns, etc... stuff along those lines. If need be, I will post a list of what I plan on stocking both fish and invert wise. My biggest concern is the LTA eating the mandarin I want or the Randall's Watchman Goby/Pistol pair that I have(heard they tend to find one area and stick to it...). Thanks in advance, would love to hear experiences from people on both species!

 

[Toddrtrex]

Just my personal opinions/experiences...

I will never have an E. quardricolor in a mixed tank* again -- I really didn't have issues with the main anemone moving, but the clones sure did - and stung the heck out of my corals. Plus they take up a lot of rock real estate.

* -- now if I was just going to keep some sandbed corals, thing would be different. Also, if I had a really really big tank I might try it again -- that way I could create a full island for them. Though, there still would be a risk, have had clones go across the sand.

Now for M. doreensis -- could be an issue with an SPS tank, just getting the flow right -- I've done it in the past but it does trail and error.
I have added sand to an existing tank without any real issues -- was cloudy for 12 hours, but that is no big deal. You could make the sandbed that deep just locally. Or use a piece of PVC filled with sand and put rocks around it.
It is nice knowing that an M. doreensis isn't going to split and have its clone wandering around the tank.

For your clowns, back when I had a pair of B&W O's, they were hosted by 2 M. doreensis -- took them about a month.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Could you explain the flow issue in an SPS tank? I am more so going to have LPS with some SPS corals mixed in because of their beauty and different shapes. I had an ocellaris be hosted by an LTA, but for some reason it only went to the nem at night... During the day he was an open swimmer with the sergent major damsel I had... I have had three nems but no long term experience. I have BTA's but I will be selling them, had a LTA but it moved and got stung by the S. handdoni I had which led to its demise, and the S. handdoni I had was doing okay think it needed more than the VHOs I had with the tank... I will have LEDs over the tank by the time I get a nem, the equivelent of a 400 watt MH, think that should be enough??? Lol.

 

[sqwat]

i love lta and the good thing is they stay put if happy and you can bennifit from a proper dsb.i have both but for a begginer i choose the lta .you can find a bright spot on youre sandbed with a par meter then get a pvc joint from home depot the one with a large end on one side about 4 to 5inches and a smaller end on the other 3 to 4 inches it is for connecting a small pipe to a large one.you dig it in the sand to a 1/2 ich off the bottom of the tank then put lta in and add sand slowly around nem for a snug fit.after a couple of months you can slip the pvc off at night when he is retracted a little and attached to the bottom of the tank.then you can ste everything in the tank around him without worry.i have done this many of times with out one going on walkabout but make sure lta is healthy.gl

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Sounds like the LTA is a better choice thus far. I don't want to do a dsb in the DT with a goby pistol pair digging..

 

[rssjsb]

I think your concern about keeping a mandarin with a sand-dwelling anemone is valid.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I know that handdois are really good at catching fish, I don't know how LTAs are about catching fish... I have heard that a pair of clowns help keep other fish away and Todd had opposite experiences with a handdoni and dwarf angels... So input on the would be great

 

[atreis]

I have both...

LTAs are good at catching fish too. I used to have two yellow tangs, for about a year, both added at the same time. The LTA caught one. It got free, but the damage was fatal.

LTAs are more likely to wander around until they've found a spot they're happy in. BTAs can wander too, but are less likely to and will generally not go far.

It seems to me that BTAs tend to be healthier at the local LFSes.

Overall, for someone on the fence, I'd recommend a BTA.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

Thanks for the input atreis!

Wonder why or how anemones are able to catch fish... Don't fish normally know danger if it is present, hence knowing to stay away from an anemone? Kind of like when you put a person in prison, they don't run for the barbed wire or electric fencing...

 

[sqwat]

ow i didnt no you had a manderin no on the lta then.mine has even eaten starfish.big ones to.i thought he was dieing when he pooped out all the armour plates from the sandsifting star he loved it though.i even lost a small lion fish to him a timy one about 1 1/2 inch i didnt think he could eat one of them and live but he did.also eats baby gonipora.lol

 

[atreis]

Thanks for the input atreis!

Wonder why or how anemones are able to catch fish... Don't fish normally know danger if it is present, hence knowing to stay away from an anemone? Kind of like when you put a person in prison, they don't run for the barbed wire or electric fencing...

They seem to, but the tentacles wave around some... They make mistakes. Also, the LTA tentacles are really sticky.

My comments were for someone who is on the fence (either is fine), and who is concerned about care...

I actually personally prefer my LTA. It's much bigger, prettier, and the tentacles wave around more, which is appealing. It also doesn't hurt that it's hosting my true perculas. The other fish that hangs around it a lot is the cardinal, which doesn't touch it but sits right in the middle of the waving tentacles just millimeters from them... Ends up cardinals and LTAs co-exist in nature.

Size is another consideration. The LTA will intentionally reach out and sting anything that it can reach. Corals, other anemones, polyps... (I've watched it do it! A tentacle was waving around slowly like normal, then slowly extended, bent downard, extended a little more, and stung my BTA, then went back to waving around like normal. The BTA immediately closed up. I moved the BTA later that night.) The BTA seems less inclined to do that. Since the LTA is decent size, it's reach is around a fifth of my 6' tank. In addition to the BTA I've had to move a couple corals too as the LTA grew. (BTW, don't plan on moving an LTA. Once it's settled, adjust other stuff around it as necessary.)


So.... Overall a BTA is a much easier animal to care for, but I still like the LTA more.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I wonder how the anemone can tell that there is another anemone or coral within reach? Sounds very interesting to me. They get up to 20" in diameter right??? Why can't there be dwarf LTAs? This whole fence thing is trying to find the balance between beauty and danger. I think BTA's are okay when the tentacles are bubbled. They look ugly when they are extended IMO. Don't bash me for it, tastes differ lol. The other thing going against the BTA is the large amounts of clones you can get, which move! Before I boutght my tank, the BTAs I have split numerous times. The previous owner said that he yanked out 8 of them prior to my visit to see the tank.

I will have a mixed reef of lps and sps in the tank, but I am not getting 20-50 different species of coral. I rather keep 10-15 species of corals max and let the individual corals grow into larger colonies, therefore less need to frag the corals. Maybe sticking the LTA on a side island(one end of the tank...)

 

[rssjsb]

LTAs are more likely to wander around until they've found a spot they're happy in. BTAs can wander too, but are less likely to and will generally not go far.

Everyone's experience is different, but I've also had both and have found that my LTA has not wandered more than a couple of inches once it was settled in. BTAs, again in my experience, move a lot and can be very destructive since they're on the rocks where most people tend to want corals. I had one that went on the move after staying put for months, and wiped out several colonies of SPS that were encrusted onto the LR and couldn't be moved.

 

[Toddrtrex]

My 2 cents on wondering anemones -- excluding clones finding a new spot, not one anemone is more apt to move compared to another. If given the proper conditions, and that varies per anemone species, an anemone won't move. Some just don't move more than others, they just might be more particular to conditions.

 

[atreis]

Between my two tanks, I've had four BTAs and all have stayed where placed. I've had 1 LTA, bought otherwise healthy but bleached pure white, and it wandered pretty much every night until it started to regrow it's algae (a couple months). That's where my opinion on the subject comes from. My experience is likely specific to having rescued a bleached LTA.

 

[Toddrtrex]

My experiences with a bleached M. doreensis is that it didn't move an while it was regaining its zoax.