LTA woes

[czieler]

I have an LTA in my 65 gallon that my two false percs host in... for a year and a half was doing great..

I have two other anemones in my tank ... a small bubble tip...that I had gotten for them that they refused to host in..and a florida condi...

Those anemones are doing great..so are my xenia..frogspawn..hammer corals... and zoos..

About 4 months ago now...my LTA stopped filling out ... and has taken its foot out of the sand... it looks miserable....although its mouth is not gaping.. I will say that.

I tried moving it up into a rock to see if it like that better... no luck... so I placed it back in the sand bed. Still won't bury its foot. It won't eat anything... I try silversides and mysis... and it just lets the hermit crabs take it.

The clowns still go by it all the time..but it just looks miserable.

All my water params are normal.... and everything else is doing good...I have a 46 gallon tank with a maroon clown and LTA that are doing good... I thought about putting the other LTA in there to see if it perks up...but really hate to move it out of the 65..as my clown fish there are attached to it.

Anyone else ever have this happen?

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

I have an LTA in my 65 gallon that my two false percs host in... for a year and a half was doing great..

I have two other anemones in my tank ... a small bubble tip...that I had gotten for them that they refused to host in..and a florida condi...

Not uncommon, my friend, what you are experiencing is a chemical war between your different species of anemonies. This is called allelopathy, you should not keep 3 different species in the same tank.

This mix will result in dead anemones, you need to remove 2 of them immediately.

 

[czieler]

Ok...well... the only one that isn't really well attached is the sick one...
and thats the one I definitely want to keep in there.

The bubble tip is attached to a rock... how do I go about getting him off of that...can I gently try to nudge him off of it?

I can't get the condi out... he is completely embedded into my largest piece of Fiji rock in the tank... basically..his boddy is inside..and his tentacles are sticking out of all of the holes...

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

As for getting the BTA off of the rock, you can try any of the following:

1. rubbing an ice cube on its pedal (foot) and then gently peeling
2. using a strong PH to blow the pedal and hope it doesn't like it and comes loose.

Your best bet is to remove the piece of rock the anemone is attached too. Perhaps another reefer in your area will trade you # for # plus cash for the anemone.

As for the condi, you are running a risk keeping him in there with any other cnidarians. I read an article just this morning about some in situ research done w/ gigantea showing it exudes a chemical that inhibits the growth of and is toxic to certain benthic algaes in its immediate area (and mind you this is on a reef where massive amounts of water are moving around). The study also mentioned laboratory tests where the same anemone exuded a chemical that altered the behavior of some coral polyps.

I suggest you remove the condi and his rock, and replace it w/ another piece.

 

[czieler]

Yeah..I'm going to try and get him off the rock if I can ......if I can find someone that wants to trade him...

Only because it took me forever to get the rocks the way they are..and some of them are epoxied together....

The one he is attached to forms the bridge in my tank..

The Condi anemone is on the rock on the right...the large pink thing above that is a toadstool leather ( some people have thought it was another anemone ).

 

[czieler]

Btw...I'm planning on upgrading to a 220 gallon in Jan.

If the LTA improves after trading the Bubble Tip...perhaps I can try keeping the condi with him in the 65 until I upgrade... the 220 should be better..I would think...?

 

[czieler]

Until I can trade the bubble tip..would temporarily moving the LTA that is sick to my 46 gallon be beneficial to him?

There is another LTA in there hosting a maroon clown... but since they are both the same type of anemone..wasn't sure if this was a good idea in the short term..or no?

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

hey, sorry for the delayed response...

the LTA w/ the other LTA in the 46g is probably a better choice for right now, but you may see the clowns beat up the LTA you add, they can be pretty rough w/ anemones and this one is already doing poorly.

imo, you should never keep 2 anemones of a different species in the same tank, they will try and kill eachother, even in that 220 it will happen eventually, you will merely delay the process by having a larger water volume for their toxins to diffuse into.

If I were you, I'd try and split the condi's rock (if possible) and sell him back to an LFS or a local reefer.

I think your best bet, assuming you want to keep the anemones, is to keep the 65g after you get the 220 (not always possible, but if you can...) and designate the 65g to the bta (or LTA whichever you decide to keep) as a species tank. Then let the 220 be the garden variety mixed reef that everyone else has...