Long Tentacle Anemone Advice

What are considered ideal parameters for keeping LTAs?

I have had very bad luck with them and want to try to correct my mistakes before making another attempt down the road, my setup and params are as follow:

- 92 gallon Red Sea Reefer
- 2 Neptune WAVs & Waveline DC pump set around 25-30% pushing roughly 3000gph combine
- 3 X Ecotech Radion xr30 gen 4 pros hitting about 150 peak PAR in the bottom 1/3 of my tank at about 75% running 18k-20k-All Blue 15 hour lighting cycle ramping up and back down
- 75lbs LR
- 3" sand bed
- tank age is 6 months old, so I realize I should let it mature further
- Ammonia - 0
- Nitrite - 0
- Nitrate - 5
- Phospate - 0.03
- Ph - 7.95 - 8.15 working on getting this to 8.1-8.3
- KH - 9.6
- Ca - 425
- Mg -1300
- Temp - 78-79

The system has been pretty stable but the LTAs I have gotten have never attached, even when I try making a hole for them, never taken food and have wasted away over 2-3 weeks, eventually needing to be scooped out. Very healthy looking specimens as well.

A few pointers I have received that may help are as follow:

- Run higher nutrients for nems, No about 10 and Po around 0.1
- Acclimate to lights over a few weeks
- Let system mature further, like wait until it's about a year old

I am getting conflicting opinions on my No and Po levels... I always shot for very low but a couple people have told me that might be the problem. For a while I had No < 1 and Po at 0 dosing NoPoX and running GFO.

Let me know what I am doing wrong, Thanks!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Almost forgot, SG is at 1.025


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your parameters look pretty spot on, one thing I will say that I have noticed with BTA's (I have never kept a LTA) it to just leave the anemone alone after putting it in a new system don't move it (let it find its own sweet spot) or even feed it for the first couple weeks, also I have always recommended acclimating anemones much different than any other coral and it seems to work well for everyone that's used the method, I forget where I learned it or I would give credit where credit is due lol
Step 1: bring the nem home and float the bag in your tank about 20 min or so to allow the temperatures to match
Step 2: remove the anemone from the bag and set it in a dry bowl or container, allowing it to expel or puke up all of the water that it is holding within it.
Step 3: after about a minute or so go ahead and put the nem in your tank, start in a low to med light spot and low flow to allow the nem to attach it's foot
Step 4: observe, the anemone should start to inflate and begin to look kind of normal (still pissed off) in about an hour or so, let it be don't keep messing with it, in most cases will move around once it is attached and find a spot it is comfortable. Some anemones never stop moving lol
Anyway I hope that helps you out, like I said it works great for BTA's so I would think it would work for LTA's as well

It hard to find a healthy LTA at a LFS. If its mouth is open, don't waste your money. If it's not attached, don't buy it. Even when they are healthy and attached the person removing the anemone could injure it. Also your tank should be running for at least a year in order to make sure every thing is stable. LTA's aren't as sturdy as BTA's. I've been reefing for over 16 years and the longest I've been able to keep a LTA alive was 1 year. I think a lot has to do with the way they are collected and transported. A LFS once told me that they dump chemical or poison in the area that thy are in order to get them to release from what ever they are holding on to. Some collectors bleach and dye them in order to make them appear healthy. So if an anemone is one solid color, don't buy it.

Good to know. Definitely going to let the tank mature for another 6 months. I've purchased ones in the past with very pink/red feet and good natural green or purple coloration. As far as attaching, most the places I've seen them for sale keep them in bare tanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They will attach to the glass if they are healthy.