Long tentacle anemone not feeding!!!!

[jacob_poly]

Hi,
I bought an LTA yesterday and after acclimitizing added it to my 90 G tank. For a while it moved over some rocks and finally came back onto the floor and settled in a spot. It seemed to doing fine overnight and this morning. My clarkii took over it and has been in and out of him all day. I tried feeding it brine shrimp, plankton and krill. He didn't respond to any of these. Then I tried some shrimp and he seemed to hold on to it but wasn't directing it to its mouth. I am wondering if the overactivity of the clown is bothering him. Now he has a gaping mouth which is really concering me.
My tank is about 8 months old with good water parameters. No nitrites, <10 nitrates, 400 ppm Ca. I have about 5.5 W/gallon - a mixture of PC and MH.
Whats wrong with the LTA? How can I help it?
Thanks,
Jacob.

 

[krel]

ur LTA may still be in shock and will take a while to eat. my RBTA took a week before it started to chow down on silversides. i would recommend that you try everyday and monitor it's health accordingly.
a good tip is to also make sure that your clarki isn't harassing it and causing even more stress. this may occur if your clarki is overly aggressive in its actions to coat his body with the slime.
you are doing a good job by mixing up the variety in it's diet. but you just be patient. these are fragile organisms that may respond differently even when properly acclimated.

 

[jacob_poly]

thanks for your reply. I will keep trying. Can an anemone not eat for a week and still recover? Its mouth seems to be closed at times now. But overall the anemone does not open as wide as it did on the first day. Its tentacles are a little droopy. Heres a picture of him on day two. The clarkii did get him some formula one bits but am not sure if it managed to eat much. Anyone whos had an LTA before can you look and tell me what you think of it healthwise on day two? Also this picture was taken when my main MH turned off. I will post another picture tomorrow when the MH is on. Also I did a small water change today and also changed the carbon filter. I am trying to take care of all things. In addition I also cleaned the glass top to make sure that light is not lost because of a dirty glass top. Until tomorrow.....

 

[thomas712]

Your LTA is still acclimating to the new atmosphere. It also prefers the sand substrate to being on the rocks. Right now if it still planing a move then the energy is being used for that move and not for feeding at this time.
Give it some time on its own. As long as you have decent lighting then the zoo in it will be converting the light into its natural food.
Wait until the tenticls are full and opend up to try to feed it some more and only a little bit until you can figure out what its meaty preferences are.
Thomas

 

[sly]

While an anemone does need to eat, it gets most of its food from your lights. Don't worry if it doesn't look like it's wanting to eat now. Give it some time. I found that mine liked a low spot on the floor of my tank, pushed up against the rockwork that I have stacked up against the back wall. Also mine likes a LITTLE water flow around it. Adjust a power head to lightly blow near the anemone to cause its tenticles to sway a little but not too much. I found if I had a moderate to strong flow on mine, it would swell up and start floating away in an attempt to get out of the current.
I now have 2 clowns that my anemone is hosting. They cuddle up in it at night. :joy:

 

[jacob_poly]

Sly -- Has your anemone grown in size? You mentioned in the other thread that it took on a darker hue after a couple of weeks. How long have you had your anemone?

 

[sly]

I had a different anemone before this one and I had it for about 5 months. I was cleaning the glass one day and I moved a powerhead. Apparantly I did not pay attention because it was blowing too hard on my anemone. The next morning it had floated away and was sucked up against my other powerhead. It had the plastic intake guard completely in its mouth! There was no separating them.

I've had this one about 2 months. When it was at the LFS it was very big and pale. It was spread out as much as it could be and the tenticles were very thin. After about 2 weeks the color went from a flourescent yellow to a nice tan color. Now the tenticles have probably trippled in thickness but it doesn't open up as much as it did at the LFS. I think it's because I have better lighting and more food stuff floating in my water than they had at the lfs. So the anemone doesn't need to try as hard to get a bite to eat.

 

[jacob_poly]

I was totally amazed when I came home this afternoon for lunch. My anemone was opened up like never before. Not sure why he decided to open today like this. Also the base of his foot seems to be in the substrate...not the entire base but atleast a small portion of it. So its more upright today and way more open. Also the mouth is closed and looking good....I am so excited....especially not to lose the money I spent on it. I have not fed it yet but will try. As promised here is a picture in full lights.....