How to Care for Long Tentacle Anemone

written by Dave Burr

Long Tentacle Anemones come in a variety of colors from white to green. The column is always a reddish orange color.

Behavior: The Long Tentacle Anemone will host a wide variety of clownfish including Maroon, Gold Maroon, Clarkii, Ocellaris, and Percula Clownfish. Keeping the anemone with a clownfish will help it acclimate faster since the clownfish will feed it scraps of food. Anemone can trap and eat other small fishes. However, most fish know to stay away.

Sting: The Long Tentacle Anemone has a potent sting that may harm other anemones or corals as it moves about the aquarium. Provide it with several areas where it can anchor its column in the substrate. Be ready to move corals out of its way if it should choose to anchor too close to them.

Tip: Do not try to move the anemone once anchored because its column, or foot, can be easily torn. Most anemones will die from a torn column. 

Gloves: We recommend wearing gloves when handling Long Tentacle Anemones. When placing the anemone try to support it from its slippery underside. Do not use tongs, and do not touch this anemone with bare hands.

Placement: Try creating an "Anemone Lagoon" using rocks to create three sides. Provide 3"-4" of sand for the Long Tentacle Anemone to anchor its foot. Dig a hole in the sand, turn down the flow, and place the Long Tentacle Anemone in the hole. Try to minimize handling and support it by its slippery foot as much as possible. Leave 3"-5" between the anemone and nearby corals.

Feeding: Feed large pieces of silverside, squid, shrimp, and other meaty foods several times a week. Use a feeder stick and touch the piece of food against the anemone. Its sticky tentacles will grab onto the food. Be careful not to poke the anemone.

Lighting & Flow Requirements: The Long Tentacle Aneomne requires moderate water flow and moderate lighting (PAR 180-280). T5's, Metal Halides, or LED's can all maintain Long Tentacle Anemones when the proper PAR levels are provided. We recommend a 14-20K color spectrum for best coloration.

Care Level: Moderate
Lighting Requirements: Moderate (PAR 180-280)
Water Flow: Moderate
Aggressiveness: Aggressive
Range: Indo-Pacific
Family: Actiniidae
Water Conditions: 75-80° F; sg 1.024-1.026 (1.025 is ideal); pH 8.1-8.4 Ca 420-440 ppm, Alk 8-9.5 dKH, Mg 1260-1350, Nitrates <10ppm, Phosphates, < .10ppm

Water Chemistry: It is important that proper calcium (420-440 ppm), alkalinity (8-9.5 dkh - run it 7-8 if you are carbon dosing) , and magnesium levels (1260-1350 ppm) are maintained. Raising magnesium levels gradually up to 1400-1600 ppm can help to combat algae outbreaks, just keep CA and Alk in line as you raise the Mg. Nitrates should be below 10 ppm and phosphates should be below .10 ppm. We recommend doing a water change when Nitrate levels rise to 10 ppm. It is important to replace your phosphate media when phosphates rise to .10 ppm. Media Reactors make the most efficient use of your phosphate media by fluidizing it.

Dosing: Vivid Aquariums uses and recommends dosing pumps to automate the dosing of additives and keep your levels more constant. A dosing pump can alleviate the chore of manually dosing your aquarium with Ca, Alk, & Mg 2,3, or 4 times per week and will benefit your aquarium by keeping your levels constant through frequent small additions of Ca, Alk, & Mg. Our tanks all progressed when we switched from 3 manual dosings per week to 70 automatic dosings per week and we got a lot more work done.