HELP LTA WONT TAKE HOLD

[Wetback]

We purchased a beautiful purple lta on Saturday,did all the usual stuff and placed in our tank...Very pretty but he won't plant himself He blows up like a balloon and floats all over.I am sure this is fun BUT we are afraid he will puncture or something..We tried to corral him in a cozy and placed a rock to try and wedge gently but tonight he JUMPED Please someone share some advice on what to do..tks in advance Norberto/Tina

[EmilyB]

Find a nice sandy crevasse between a couple rocks, and keep the flow on it minimal for now.

[Wetback]

Thanks Deb, we will try Norberto/Tina

[Quinn]

Ooo photos photos photos!!! Love those purple LTAs.

[Wetback]

Sorry Quinn but the only picture we could give you right now would be a REAR view red not purple...but will do once he's seated somewhere..

[MitchM]

Hi Tina and Norberto,

Is this LTA going into the same tank as the BTA's that you have?
I've heard that different species of anemones don't always get along too well.

(also, this thread should probably be moved to the REEF forum...)

Mitch

[Wetback]

Hi Mitch, yes this is in the same tank.We asked the fellow at Golds and told him what we had in the tank and he said there would be no problem Is this why he does not want to take hold??? Still loose this am but not rolling just kinda sitting. As far as moving the thread i will have to ask Norberto to do as i have no idea how SORRY. Tina

[MitchM]

I don't know for sure that they won't get along, but because I know about your BTA situation, I thought I would mention it. Tony's is one of our resident experts, so hopefully he'll pipe in.
I don't think whether or not it attaches to the substrate is an issue with the BTA's, I imagine that is an acclimation issue. Give it time.
Moving threads is a moderator-only thing.

Mitch

[Bob I]

I don't currently have a LTA, but as far as I know they do not attach to rocks, but bury their foot in the substrate, and attach to the bottom glass. At least that is what my LTA did. I dug a hole in the sand, and placed its foot there. Then piled the sand back around it. It never moved after that. It worked for me, but the flow was also low in the area.

[Delphinus]

It seems to me that unlike other species, LTA's prefer a slightly subdued current. Deb has had good success with this species so I would definitely defer to her judgment here. I agree with her and the other posts so far with suggestions for placement, i.e., crevasse, burying foot in sand, etc. If you could create a "bowl" where it could sit and not be blown about the tank that would be good.

I'd consider turning down some of the current (if you have a lot) until it is reasonably established, or perhaps rework some of the aquascaping to create an area of gentler flow. Unfortunately, due to the handling methods during collection/shipping/retail process, anemones are stressed by the time they get home to us, and so sometimes the first while after purchase can be a bit harrowing. They may need to be watched carefully and have us take appropriate steps if something doesn't appear to be working.

...
I think there is a potential for interactions between other anemones. Whether this is happening here, is hard to say, and I would have to guess that the answer is "probably not", i.e., more likely due to shipping stress and acclimating to new environment. I think the risk of negative interactions is diminished among larger tanks (more water volume), and, there seems to be no predictability whether two anemones will coexist or not. I.e., it's quite conceivable that you can go for years and years without some kind of latent behaviour suddenly surfacing. That said, I have had trouble keeping anemones in the same system. Keep in mind that my tanks are a lot smaller than some, my largest tank being 75 gallons. I think to be safest, anything less than 100g might want to be "one anemone per tank" (or one set of clonal siblings, if dealing with a splitting species like BTA's) and for tanks more than 100g, only one or two, and watch carefully.