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FAQs on Long Tentacle Anemone Use in Marine Aquariums 2

Related Articles: LTAs, Anemones, Bubble Tip Anemones, Cnidarians, Coldwater Anemones, Colored/Dyed Anemones

Related FAQs: LTAs 1, LTA Identification, LTA Behavior, LTA Compatibility, LTA Selection, LTA Systems, LTA Feeding,
FAQs on LTA Disease: LTA Health/Disease 1, LTA Hlth./Dis. 2, LTA Hlth./Dis. 3, LTA Hlth./Dis. 4, LTA Hlth./Dis.
FAQs on Anemone Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy...), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Predatory/Pest, Treatments 
LTA Reproduction
,
Anemones 1, Anemones 2, Anemones 3, Anemones 4, Bubble Tip Anemones, Caribbean Anemones, Condylactis, Aiptasia Anemones, Other Pest Anemones, Anemones and Clownfishes, Anemone Reproduction, Anemone Lighting, Anemone Feeding, Anemone Systems, Anemone Identification, Anemone Compatibility, Anemone Selection, Anemone Behavior, Anemone Health, Anemone Placement

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Anemone Success
Doing what it takes to keep Anemones healthy long-term

by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Long tentacle anemone      4/14/19
My long tentacle anemone finally came out of hiding.! Thank you for the advise.
<Ah, good. I do hope it reincorporates zooxanthellae... Bleached specimens don't live long or well. Bob Fenner>

 

Re: Long tentacle anemone      4/15/19
Yes i hope so also. I've been trying to give it food small bits of scallops.
So far no luck but i am missing a baby (1") blue tang . And the nem was closed up at the same time the tang went missing. I think some zooxanthellae have returned. Hoping for the best...
<Please do search/read on WWM re the species... and on the Net, books re placing other animals that will contribute useful Dinoflagellates here. B>

lta retracting. Not using WWM    10/15/14
I picked up a green LTA the other day.
<Oh? Your system, water quality, tankmates, history please>
Brought him home and did a 30 min acclim and slow water add. I put it in his new home and it attached to a
piece of rock. Over the next few hours it moved down to the sand and attached to the bottom of tank and has stayed there. The next morning it retracted down to almost nothing and about 3 hours later it had refilled
and looked normal. Then again last night it did the same thing and this morning it is back to looking fine. Is this normal?
<Can be>
Thought I killed it. 1.024Sg 0 nitrate
<... need some and HPO4. Why don't people search, read ahead of writing us?>
0 nitrite ph 8.2 .25 ammonia. Did a 20% water change. Will it eat raw shrimp and fish. There are 2 oce clowns and 5 damsels 2 sally lightfoot crabs 1 green grab and 3 snails in the tank also. Tank is a 25 gallon
<Too small for a large Actinarian>

and has been running for about 6 months. Thanks for any information. Kent.
<Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/macrodoreensis.htm
and all the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Long Tentacle Anemone, gen.   12/13/10
Hi Bob.
<Srinivas>
its always a pleasure to interact and as usual am restless for your response.
I recently added a long tentacle anemone to my 200 gallon FOWLR.
Not too sure of the exact species but looks very much like a Macrodactyla doreensis.
Had read a bit ( not too much to be honest) and found nothing against having them with tangs (I have a yellow and a hippo)
Hope both my tangs would be safe with this new creature.
<Generally are>
Ever since I introduced this to my tank, it hid itself inside a rock structure. Only the tentacles are swaying from the either side and the entire body is hid between the rocks. Its been like this for the past 40 hours and has me worrying.
It was in the open during the night (when the lights were off). As soon as I plugged the lights on, it moved and attached itself to a live rock and eventually buried itself inside the structure. Surprisingly, it has attached itself to the rock ( and not the base sand) and is a bit upside down.
Is it afraid of light ?
<Not likely; no>
(at the store, it had no place to hide and was under comparatively low lights).
Even after lowering the lights in my tank, it does not seem to budge from its hiding place.
<Leave it. Don't try to move it>
I have a tomato clown and a ocellaris but neither has gone near t so far.
At the store (where I saw it about 2 weeks ago), it housed a tomato.
Hope it would take one of these in my tank too.
<Possibly in time>
Please let me know if it is ok to keep it or else should I return the same.
Regards
Srinivas Manian
<... I'd wait a few weeks, see if it "settles in". Bob Fenner>
Re: Anemone hlth.    12/13/10

Thanks for the prompt reply Bob.
Feeling much better now.
The anemone is still upside down but the base of the anemone firmly attached to the live rock. It moved on to one side to expose the body a bit but unfortunately at the back side where the flow is greater. Major portion still within the rock cave. It has still not regained the color (as it was in the store) and now looks bleached except for the tips which are greenish in color.
I cannot see the mouth to give the description.
The tentacles drop down like shrunk skin at one moment and then look full and with life the next. Totally confusing.
What symptoms should I look forward to make a decision in time.
<... see WWM re Anemone Health:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemonehealthfaqs.htm
and the linked files above>
I need to know whether this thing is actually : settling in" or getting worse. I do not want to pollute the tank any which ways.
<Understood>
Thanks and regards
Srinivas Manian
<BobF>

Long tentacle anemone curled in ball... Killing, sans reading    6/14/10
Hello,
I have a question about my long tentacle anemone I just bought yesterday from my LFS and was wondering if someone could help me. When I bought it, it was about the size of a large saucer plate and had a brown color to it with slightly purple tips. When I first acclimated it to my aquarium it was doing fine with it's tentacles swaying in the water and the same color as when I bought it. It might have moved only about 1/2 inch from where I initially placed it on the sand bed, dug a small hole, and attached itself to the sand bed. I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning I noticed it had shrunk up into a purple ball in the same spot. There was also some brown mucus looking stuff hanging on one of the rocks. I imagine it expelled this overnight. I thought it might have died overnight but I keep checking on it and it seems to be expanding back to it's original size a little, although still very purple in color and small. I haven't tried feeding it yet but thought I would try a small piece of squid soon. The only other thing in with the anemone right now is a maroon clownfish.
<Mmm, may not be compatible... Premnas can be tough on Anemones>
To tell you a little bit about my aquarium, I have a 46 gallon bowfront aquarium equipped with an Aquamedic Turboflotor 1000 multi protein skimmer, a Fluval canister filter, and a heater. I'm not sure of the brand name of the heater but right now I have it turned off because my house stays warm during the summer
<Turn it on, set it on low...>
and the aquarium water is about 83 degrees Fahrenheit without it. The aquarium is also grounded.
<See WWM re such probes>
I'm a little confused to the kind of lighting I need.
<?... Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemonelightngfaqs.htm
and the linked files above>
I've only ever had a marine all fish aquarium before for about 3 or 4 years. I got behind on the water changes whenever my son was first born but now he is 16 months old and I wanted to start my tank up again, this time adding some anemones and maybe corals to it. Right now I have one OceanSun 10,000 K fluorescent bulb over my tank.
<... this is insufficient. You didn't read, either before buying this animal, or writing us... >
The light is only 25 watts and it kind of confused me as to why it was so low being that I read that you should have about 2-3 watts per gallon of aquarium water. I'm assuming you're supposed to install more than one bulb but right now my aquarium hood will only hold one light unless I upgrade.
The light also says that it promotes the growth of Zooxanthellae algae.
There is a mixture of sand and dolomite in the tank with some Tufa rock (I have no live rock in my tank yet) and I use well water with stress coat added. I also added Kent marine Superbuffer -dKH to the aquarium about 2 days ago. The salinity is 1.022,
<... too low>
pH is 8.3-8.4, Ammonia is approximately 0.25 ppm (maybe even a little higher),
<toxic>
nitrite is 0 ppm, and nitrate is 0 ppm.
<dismal... see WWM re>
I admit that in being excited to start my tank up again that I didn't condition the tank long enough. I think my LTA might have shriveled either because of my lighting or because of the ammonia or maybe even to just it getting accustomed to being in a new tank. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank You very much.
-Angela
<... read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/macrodoreensis.htm
and the linked files above. What you have here won't work. Bob Fenner>

Anemone Help, no info on LTA sys., water quality... sheesh!  1/3/09 I JUST purchased an LT Anemone. At the time of purchase, he was in beautiful shape. Now that I have brought him home, he has secluded into a cylinder shape and lays on his side. He is constantly his "foot" shape... but NOTHING else. His tentacles seem to be wrapped in a slime now. It's been 3 days... <Bad news> I got my water professionally tested, and everything is perfect. I'm stumped. I've heard, "pooping", but am not sure. Thank you, Jon <For what? There's not enough data here to write another word, but... read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/macrodoreensis.htm and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Anemone non-dilemma... sys./Macrodactyla reading    7/24/08 Sherlo Hi WWM Crew <And to you> I am writing you from South Africa and have a very new setup. We started off with Tropical many years ago and have now moved on to Salt Water. We have a 200gal Reef Tank setup with about 100Kg Kenya Live Rock and have recently introduced Livestock, namely 2 x Yellow Tangs (wish I'd known about the bullying!), 3 x common Clowns, 1 x baby Blue Tang, 3 x Cleaner Shrimps, 1 x Red Hermit and 1 x Red base LTA. [The Yellow Tangs have toned down a bit since the introduction of the Clowns]. <Uhh...> We test the water daily and our latest results are Ammonia - 0, Nitrates - 10, Nitrites - 0, PH - 8.2, SG - 1,023 and KH - 10. There is plenty of oxygenation and there are no 'dead spots' relating to the Powerheads anywhere in the tank. We are running T5's (12 hours/day) and Metal Halides (8 hours/day). All the fish look healthy and are eating fine. My problem rests with the sole Anemone that we have. The green tentacles are inflated and sway nicely in the current but it keeps falling over and resting upside down or sideways. <... this is ofttimes called the "Sand Anemone"... please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm re Macrodactyla, and the linked files above...> On first introduction, we placed it on a rock in the middle of the tank in good sight of the halides and with plenty of current but it "fell" down to the substrate. <...> I reluctantly moved it back to a rock higher up to the lighting but it does not look like it has anchored itself properly and there is some furry substance around the red base. Also, none of my clowns are interested in it at all! I am very concerned about it and am wary of the addition of more anemones at this stage. <... More? A very poor idea... again, please search, read before writing...> Regarding the attached pic, today, the anemone is now resting with the red base hanging over the left side of its rock ledge and the tentacles are holding on to the rock. I look forward to your advice! <Read. Bob Best Regards
Tammy Knott

Identifying an Anemone  11/11/05 Hello Bob, thank you very much for replying!! <Welcome> My question regards trying to identify an anemone I have.  I am pretty sure it is an LTA, as these are the only ones I can find on the web that resemble mine.  I have attached some photos so maybe you can tell me if I am correct. <Is a Macrodactyla doreensis: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/anemones.htm. One of whose common names is the LTA, yes> Also I am having a rough time placing this little guy. (seems common with LTA anemones, another reason I'm thinking that's what this is...)  he always seems to end up in live rock "caves" or face down in the sand.  Right now I have him on the substrate with a clear plastic bowl over him with holes drilled in it,  which gives him just enough room to spread out and move around a little. Anything else I should do?? <Mmm, best to "nestle" in an opening twixt two or more rocks...> I have read that LTA like to be in the substrate, not on the rocks. Am I correct? <Yes> Also, he has no tears to his foot, appears very vigorous and healthy, and eagerly devours any shrimp or squid I give him 1-2 times a week. I have had him for about three weeks now.  I have a 30 gallon tank with 25 Lbs. of live rock, ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, nitrates very low, pH of 8.3. I also use Phosguard by Seachem to control phosphorous/algae, and I supplement with calcium/magnesium, and add phytoplankton.  I have 3 Damsels (still there from cycling), and a True Percula Clown, which absolutely loves the anemone. Also I have a Peppermint Shrimp, and some Blue Legged Hermits for algae control.  My only coral so far is a patch of purple and green Zoanthids that came in on some LR. My substrate is 1.5 inch deep very finely crushed coral.  Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated!! Thank you very much Eric <About all we have written re is posted on WWM... please see the link above the citation above... Bob Fenner>

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