Long Tentacle Anemone help!

[R3verb]

I think I may be in over my head with this one but now I just want my poor LTA to live. I have a 24 gallon tank and it has been up for around 6 weeks now. 2 days ago my girlfriend and I decided to add a Clarkii and an LTA to the tank. The first night the LTA buried its foot in the sand and seemed to be doing just fine. The next day, the clarkii had dug up all of the sand around the LTA and he started floating around. I tried putting some rock in so he would have something heavier to grab onto but he started floating around and now he is looking very shriveled up. I quarantined the clarkii for tonight so that the LTA might have a chance to ground himself. He seemed to eat when I fed him tonight. I am attaching a picture. At this point, I just want him to be happy, even if that means taking him to a pet store. Please let me know what you think I should do.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

I would highly suggest returning him. Nems are some of the hardest animals to keep in this hobby requiring high lighting conditions and pristine water conditions. Most tanks are unable to properly maintain the correct water chemistry for them to thrive until they are a year old. Plus if they die, they can kill everything in the tank because of the toxins they release.

But your clownfish doesnt require a nem to be happy, and there is no quarentee that they will be hosted by them nem anyways. They might be hosted by the powerhead, heater, bit or rock or anything that tickles their fancy.

Also, keep an eye on those damsels. They are so some of the most aggressive fish in the hobby and might bully your clown to death. Also keep in mind that for saltwater tanks you really shouldnt have more than one fish per 10 gallons.

Also, please return the sand sifting star, they frequently starve to death in our tanks, especially small new ones. A much better options would be a brittle star or serpent start. They have the added bonus of being great members of your CUC.

 

[R3verb]

I am thinking I should return him as well. What I am wondering is, is there any ways to tell if he is dying? I don't want him to take all of my other fish with him if he dies tonight before I can get him back to the fish store but I also dont want to take him out and have him freeze tonight.

 

[Jmck]

It can be hard to tell, but if he isnt attaching to anything, that means he is stressed and isnt happy, a moving anemone is an unhappy one.

Return him, I had a nem early and know it can be done, but 6 weeks in when you are new to the hobby is not a good option at all. Learn more about them, then get one.

Also, Little Fish is right, the sand sifting star has to go. They dont do well unless they have LOTS to eat. And you wont have any food for him. They die very easily in our tanks :(

 

[R3verb]

I took our LTA back to the fish store today so hopefully he will live. As for the Sand Sifter, is there any way I can just feed him? I have frozen brine shrimp and I really like that little guy! Obviously I want to be a responsible owner so if I need to take him back I will but he is a very cool animal and if there is a way to feed him, I would rather do that than take him back. Thanks for all the help guys!

Casey

 

[little_fish]

Its best to just return them, i dont think they will eat meaty chunks like the brittle or serpent star. Also brine has no nutritional value, its basically candy for fish. Good for an every now and then treat though.

Also, thanks for doing the responsible thing with the nem and the star (sounds like you are going to return him). Far too often we see people who are so desperate to own these fish or creatures they totally ignore that they cannot properly care for them. This has really made my day.

 

[Bifferwine]

Thanks for returning the anemone. I think you made the right decision! It wasn't looking so hot.

 

[Jmck]

+1 guys, the amount of time we suggest to return something and people just keep them and then ask why they died! Thank-you :)

 

[Sharkie]

nice job on returning the nem!! :D many people fail to do that until they have killed 2-3 of them as well as all their other fish in the process.... my sister just finally actually got one of these guys after 2 yrs of her tank being up and running.... the clown she has was hosted to a nem at the LFS and wants nothing to do with this new one, she prefers the rock overhand and her hubby fish prefers the thermomator! LOL

also welcome to LR! The people here are a PLETHORA of wealth of information, listen to them even if they sound harsh sometimes, these people know what their doing :)


Watch the damsels, they should be okay (i have a school of them myself) as long as they don't start pickign on each other... if they do take them back to the LFS and get something more suited.... maybe a pair of clowns and a watchmen goby or something small... try to think of 10gallons per fishie :) also, think long term, do you want to have a reef with corals and maybe a nem in the future or do you just want fish? there are tons of different options in this hobby :) if you have ANy questions please continue to ask the folks here :D

 

[R3verb]

nice job on returning the nem!! :D many people fail to do that until they have killed 2-3 of them as well as all their other fish in the process.... my sister just finally actually got one of these guys after 2 yrs of her tank being up and running.... the clown she has was hosted to a nem at the LFS and wants nothing to do with this new one, she prefers the rock overhand and her hubby fish prefers the thermomator! LOL

also welcome to LR! The people here are a PLETHORA of wealth of information, listen to them even if they sound harsh sometimes, these people know what their doing :)


Watch the damsels, they should be okay (i have a school of them myself) as long as they don't start pickign on each other... if they do take them back to the LFS and get something more suited.... maybe a pair of clowns and a watchmen goby or something small... try to think of 10gallons per fishie :) also, think long term, do you want to have a reef with corals and maybe a nem in the future or do you just want fish? there are tons of different options in this hobby :) if you have ANy questions please continue to ask the folks here :D

Thanks Sharkie. Yea I have owned fresh water fish for 9 years now so I know when something isn't looking well. The two damsels seem ok with each other and the clown is a bit bigger so he seems to hold his own. My freshwater tank is full of very aggressive South American cichlids so it's possible I am a little de-sensitized to the violence. Thanks for all your help everybody.

A quick update on the tank. I returned both the nem and the Sand sifter and had a good long talk with the store manager about her employees making terrible recommendations. She was very sorry and ended up giving me a full refund on the two that I brought back! So now I have 40 bucks to get something new. I was thinking maybe another powerhead would be good. Or maybe try my hand at corals sometime soon. Thoughts?

 

[Jmck]

Woot! Im happy you complained and she listened. Its about time a reefer made them accountable :D

More flow never hurts. But I would go pick up a duncan coral, they get awesome growth and look great. Or you could even pick up a softie like mushrooms or even a hammer coral :)

 

[little_fish]

How much flow do you have already? Generally you want your tank volume to be turned over about 40x per hour.

And im so glad that she gave you your money back! That is awesome!

 

[R3verb]

I have a 170 gal per hour power head in there plus the pump. I plan on getting another 170gph powerhead soon.

 

[marcah]

a 300gph powerhead added to the one you have now will limit you to keep soft corals, mushrooms, zoas and maybe some slow flow lps's, I personally would throw more like another 500 gph to maybe 700 in, then you can throw alot more in..