Tentacle Damage
- Thread starter LucidGoblin
- Start date
LucidGoblin
New member
Can't we all get along? My anemone will be fine. (Unless it eats itself.)
zooman72
New member
1. I though we were, for the most part... :lolspin:
2. Yes, as long as you practice normally sufficient husbandry, it will...
3. I wouldn't worry about that theory going forward... :uhoh2:
4. Last but not least - my only issue with LTA's has been their prodigious growth, as they would grow quite big without any direct feeding, and I typically have not had larger aquariums for some time. Your's looks good and appears to be anchored well - good luck! :wave:
2. Yes, as long as you practice normally sufficient husbandry, it will...
3. I wouldn't worry about that theory going forward... :uhoh2:
4. Last but not least - my only issue with LTA's has been their prodigious growth, as they would grow quite big without any direct feeding, and I typically have not had larger aquariums for some time. Your's looks good and appears to be anchored well - good luck! :wave:
Fish Friend
New member
I am not actually the author of the claim that anemones can consume their own flesh so I will just take your disbelief as a compliment 
I guess you thought they do something else than stick their tentacles inside their mouths and consume them.... Loosing bodyweight due to starvation and self-consumption is not actually the same.
I am a woman with no children who works from home. The hobby is supposed to take all of my time and it does. I have observed the livestock aprox 87% of the last month and had a great time wondering what was going on until I saw. It was too late in the evening to get pictures of the flesh coming out of its mouth but I have pictures of the tentacles inside it's mouth earlier in the evening and before and after pictures of the tentacles
Your disbelief in strangers is not something I can really adress over this forum.
They stick their tentacles inside their mouth and chew them. Don't disturb them when they are in the act - it will only make the endings more wound-like than if they "finish their meal". Just correct the background for the behaviour if possible.
I guess you thought they do something else than stick their tentacles inside their mouths and consume them.... Loosing bodyweight due to starvation and self-consumption is not actually the same.
I am a woman with no children who works from home. The hobby is supposed to take all of my time and it does. I have observed the livestock aprox 87% of the last month and had a great time wondering what was going on until I saw. It was too late in the evening to get pictures of the flesh coming out of its mouth but I have pictures of the tentacles inside it's mouth earlier in the evening and before and after pictures of the tentacles
Your disbelief in strangers is not something I can really adress over this forum. They stick their tentacles inside their mouth and chew them. Don't disturb them when they are in the act - it will only make the endings more wound-like than if they "finish their meal". Just correct the background for the behaviour if possible.
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sde1500
Active member
I am not actually the author of the claim that anemones can consume their own flesh so I will just take your disbelief as a compliment
I guess you thought they do something else than stick their tentacles inside their mouths and consume them.... Loosing bodyweight due to starvation and self-consumption is not actually the same.
I am a woman with no children who works from home. The hobby is supposed to take all of my time and it does. I have observed the livestock aprox 87% of the last month and had a great time wondering what was going on until I saw. It was too late in the evening to get pictures of the flesh coming out of its mouth but I have pictures of the tentacles inside it's mouth earlier in the evening and before and after pictures of the tentacles
They stick their tentacles inside their mouth and chew them. Don't disturb them when they are in the act - it will only make the endings more wound-like than if they "finish their meal". Just correct the background for the behaviour if possible.
Providing sources for said claims would help a lot. Otherwise, I'd say the LTA moving the tentacles towards its mouths is most certainly eating, just not eating itself. Just food stuck to the tentacles.
zooman72
New member
I am not actually the author of the claim that anemones can consume their own flesh so I will just take your disbelief as a compliment
I guess you thought they do something else than stick their tentacles inside their mouths and consume them.... Loosing bodyweight due to starvation and self-consumption is not actually the same.
I am a woman with no children who works from home. The hobby is supposed to take all of my time and it does. I have observed the livestock aprox 87% of the last month and had a great time wondering what was going on until I saw. It was too late in the evening to get pictures of the flesh coming out of its mouth but I have pictures of the tentacles inside it's mouth earlier in the evening and before and after pictures of the tentacles
They stick their tentacles inside their mouth and chew them. Don't disturb them when they are in the act - it will only make the endings more wound-like than if they "finish their meal". Just correct the background for the behaviour if possible.
1. I am not sure were to go with this TBH, but what author claimed that anemones consume their own tentacles through their oral disc opening? I have been keeping aquariums and anemones for many years, have a Master's degree in Marine Biology, and have never come across a scientific paper describing this behavior. I have seen it postulated by hobbyists in various forums, but I am afraid that does not necessarily make it true.
2. Yes, I do think they do something other than stick their tentacles inside their mouth and chew them - one, body mass loss (and concurrent tentacle shrinkage) is commonly observed in anemones that suffer from insufficient light and/or food, and two, they don't chew anything - they have no teeth or keratinous plates to grind with.
3. No offense, but I don't care who you are - if you posit strange anecdotal observations as fact, you are probably going to get "called out" for it, or simply ignored. Saying my "disbelief in strangers" is a negative quality doesn't further your strange argument. If you have clear sequential photographic evidence of this behavior please post it up for us - don't insinuate you have it and then fail to produce it.
4. How would one "correct the background for the behavior" in this case? Feed them something else? What makes them do this? I have had LTA's triple in size within a year with no direct feeding by me - simply provided enough light and a hosted clownfish (and its wastes). Are you insinuating they eat their tentacles in response to starvation, or something else?
zooman72
New member
You are both being reasonable, and I have tried not to be too harsh - I can understand repeating something seen online (or misinterpreting an observation), but to then continue to "defend" it, and then insinuate that I am or have the issue/problem because I won't take her word for it rubbed me the wrong way.
I do get a bit tired of inexperienced aquarists proclaiming stuff that doesn't "pass the smell test" (or repeating blatantly false information), and try to keep my responses light-hearted for the most part, hopefully trying not to be too snarky...
Moving on...:beer:
I do get a bit tired of inexperienced aquarists proclaiming stuff that doesn't "pass the smell test" (or repeating blatantly false information), and try to keep my responses light-hearted for the most part, hopefully trying not to be too snarky...
Moving on...:beer:
I'm going to let it ride for a bit. There may be good information coming.
