LTA won't attach

[wegonnagroove]

I've had my Long Tentacled Anemone for just over 2 months, and in that entire time it has never attached to anything. It moves around a lot, but never attaching. I have a condy anemone as well; it attached within seconds of being released into my tank!
Can any of you seasoned tank vets help?

 

[nietzsche]

Originally Posted by WeGonnaGroove
I've had my Long Tentacled Anemone for just over 2 months, and in that entire time it has never attached to anything. It moves around a lot, but never attaching. I have a condy anemone as well; it attached within seconds of being released into my tank!
Can any of you seasoned tank vets help?
what type of sand do you have? how old is your tank? what are your paramaters? do you have any pics?
they like to bury their foot in the sand, so the sand has to be deep

 

[dogstar]

LTAs like to have their foot buried in the sand, under and against rocks with strong lighting and low to med. current...

 

[wegonnagroove]

I have a 55 gal with a 200W powerhead, about 20 lbs of live rock, white broken coral instead of sand, adequate lighting, and great water quality...It's got some tank mates too.
A niger Trigger (the best one i've seen yet)
percula clown
two donmino damsels
two blue damsels
A yellow tang
three four striped damsels
an anemone crab (that has co-habited my LTA)
a mandarin dragonet
a condy anemone that has attached
and a young colt coral

 

[dawman]

I`m guessing your water quality and/or flow isn`t as good as you think it is . Anemones won`t attach until they find a spot they like . Not attaching for two months is an indication something is wrong with the water , flow or quality .

 

[wegonnagroove]

the LTA has circled the tank about once now and has hunkered down next to a good rock, but it's not attatched. I have a 200W powerhead that moves 145 gal per hour...flow is not a problem. And I got the water tested today and it came up perfect. Ammonia and Nitrite is at near 0 and my salinity is right around 1.022 specific gravity.

 

[codylowe]

Originally Posted by WeGonnaGroove
the LTA has circled the tank about once now and has hunkered down next to a good rock, but it's not attatched. I have a 200W powerhead that moves 145 gal per hour...flow is not a problem. And I got the water tested today and it came up perfect. Ammonia and Nitrite is at near 0 and my salinity is right around 1.022 specific gravity.
145 gph is no where near enough flow for a 55 gallon. You should have at least 10x flow rate (optimal is 20x +). You may make some flow up with your filter and skimmer, but you should think about getting another powerhead. You may also want to raise your SG to normal SW levels of 1.025.
Anenomes also wage chemical warfare against each other. Your mixing of two types in a 55g tank might become detrimental. Think about moving one or the other out of the tank.
It sounds like you have Crushed Coral for your substrate. This is known to cause problems down the road with Nitrates. I didn't see test results for this. What is it currently at?

 

[nietzsche]

substrate might be the problem. these guys are found in "mucky" substrate where they bury their foot. these guys are harder to take care of than BTAs. if it's been 2 months and still hasnt attached there must be something really wrong--water parameters, flow (too much or not enought), light, and id also want to say substrate. slowly raise salinity to 35 and make sure you use a refractometer. i would think about changing that substrate later on if its crushed coral. check your alkalinity as well, theyre also sensitive to it
also since its not attached im guessing the powerheads are just pushing it around, make sure all your intakes and powerheads are covered just in case

 

[perfectdark]

IN trying to help you find out your issue what is your definition to "adequate lighting" This maybe the issue or at least a contributing factor. As stated above your substrate is coarse and my not be desirable to your anenome. That along with not enough flow in your tank, and if your lighting isnt up to par all will have an affect on how your anenome behaves in your tank.
If you are sure all of the above is met, there are a few things you can try. First the M. doreensis aka LTA is known for not footing in a tank because it is either stressed or something is off. You can try to gently plant it in the substrate. Make a hole and bury the anenome so deep that the entire animal is covered with only its tenticles sticking out the top. Also MH are the recomended light source for these anenomes, if you have anything less than this it maybe your issue. Unless your watts per gal are at 6 or better which in a 55 gal thats 20" tall is about 330watts, but that still may not fix your problem.
One more thing.. your specific gravity should be raised slowly it should be between 1.024 - 1.026, anenomies like this salinity.

 

[wegonnagroove]

Thank you for all the replies. I was thinking about getting another powerhead, but I thought too much water flow might stress out the smaller fish and the invertebrates. Should I put the other powerhead on the same side (the back/right of) the tank or should i put it on the opposite side (the back left), so it spins the water around the tank?
I'm in the process of getting new lighting, that could be it,...maybe.
I'll buy another powerhead but please inform me about the placement (proper water movement in the tank)
My salinity has been slowly raised.
Thanks again for your replies. This is a great message board system.

 

[perfectdark]

Its not the amount of flow that is stressful to your fish but more of the volume of flow. If you have a hurricane in your tank then yes your fish will be stressed constantly. However if you have multiple power heads in there all turned down to a nice flow rate and get near 100% circulation in your tank then all your inhabitants will benifit. Ones that perfer direct flow to ones that perfer indirect flow like most anenomes. Repostioning your power head IMO wont ease the stress of your anenome because you really dont know what its real issue is yet. If all other requirements were met then narrowing down your prob would be eaiser.

 

[dawman]

What type of lighting do you have ? Also LTAs bury their foot in deep sand beds , which you do not have . I would get at least one more power head if not two more . How established is your tank ? Again it is all back to either light ,and/or water issues .