Problem with long tentacle anemone!

[tierbett]

I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 ocilariouse clowns, a blue damsel, a scooter blenny, and a peppermint shrimp. I went to my LFS yesterday and bought a long tentacle anemone hoping my clown fish would host it. I chose one that looked healthy. I brought it home and floated the bag and acclimated it and put it in the tank. It looked okay but didn't move around at all. This morning I looked in the tank and the anemone was standing up strait but looked really small. I have been checking on it and it has tipped over and is now laying on its side, very small and almost completely closed up. It is just laying there and I cant tell if it is dead or not. Also, the few tentacles that are sticking out are waving a little bit but i cant tell if it is because of the water flow. I am wondering if i acclimated it too fast and maybe shocked it? Does anyone have any suggestions of what is wrong with it or if it is dead? Thanks in advance.


Additional info:
I also have thirty pounds of live rock and some live sand.

Salinity-1.022
PH-8.2
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite-0
nitrite-5ppm

 

[Tahoe61]

Anemones will inflate and deflate dramatically while acclimating. It's normal for them to change shape and size. A dead anemone is relatively easy to spot, you'll notice tissue decay pretty quickly. Your detectable ammonia value is 0 so it's safe to assume nothing is rotting. If the anemone does not foot and begins floating around the tank, dig a depression in the sand in a lower flow area and place the anemone there, but only if it's already blowing around, do not move it if it's remaining in one spot.

 

[Haddonis Reef]

First question how old is the tank? Anemones like stable parameters and should wait at least 6-8 mths to be sure the tank is mature!

 

[tierbett]

The tank is about 5 months old and there have been fish in it for about 4.5 months. If it is still sitting in the same spot, on its side tomorrow should I dig a little depression in the sand and stand it up strait, or should I leave it alone completely? Thank you for the help!

 

[NanaReefer]

I would raise the salinity to at least 1.025. 1.022 is a little low.

 

[Haddonis Reef]

The tank is about 5 months old and there have been fish in it for about 4.5 months. If it is still sitting in the same spot, on its side tomorrow should I dig a little depression in the sand and stand it up strait, or should I leave it alone completely? Thank you for the help!

Might not hurt to dig a sm area where u want it to help it place it's foot.

 

[Haddonis Reef]

I would raise the salinity to at least 1.025. 1.022 is a little low.

Also a good idea.

 

[tierbett]

Okay. Thank you! I will try raising the salinity a little and see tomorrow how it is. Thank you both very much!

 

[tierbett]

One other quick thing. Is there a minimum sand dept that is required for the LTA to live in? I read somewhere that it needed 4 inches. Is that accurate?

 

[ohio reefer]

What lights do you have? And anemones are very delicate creatures. I noticed you floated it. Always drip anemones. Floating just gets the temp up, they still have to acclimate to salinity, and ph. This is very stressful on the animal and may be why it's not doing to well.

 

[Haddonis Reef]

One other quick thing. Is there a minimum sand dept that is required for the LTA to live in? I read somewhere that it needed 4 inches. Is that accurate?

4 in is plenty

 

[frankm88]

my lta wasnt doing so well either...i bought it a week ago and it hasnt found its "spot" two days ago i dug a spot in the sand in the corner of the tank and placed it there. He definitely deflated some after i moved him but he is not floating around the tank. He still has color and looks ok but should i be concerned about a brown stringy substance that is coming out of him?