Is my LTA dying or is it hurt?

[tapiana]

Hi Again -

I purchased my LTA on Sat, put it into a cycled tank (did not properly acclimate it) and it seemed to get over the initial shock.

On Sun - everything seemed ok. LTA settled down (did not attach) and was open.

On Mon - water test revealed a spike in Nitrites to 1.0. Did a 50% water change (dripped in the new water) added some Prime.
Did another 50% water change late that evening when Nitrites were still around .5. LTA seemed very happy - open and not moving.

On Tue - same thing again. Nitrites down to .25 Noticed some tentacles on one side had shrunk - but seemed to be filling out again. Added more LR from another tank into the tank to help with Nitrites.

Yesterday - changed lighting from 15w Standard to 20w Compact Flourescent. Did another 50% water change - Nitrites gone. No Ammonia (hasn't been) and No Nitrates. LTA's column was elongated - around 4-5" and again some tentacles shrinking and expanding again.

This morning - LTA compacted. Column about 2" looked pinched at the foot and all tentacles were drawn in - it looked like it closed up. I was really concerned when I noticed a white fuzzy patch (quarter size) on the column that I hadn't seen before. I thought it was food - but when I tried to remove it - it seemed like a wound in the column that got infected (?). I moved it to a qt tank and it dosen't look to good.

So - any ideas as to what happened? I think it may have scraped itself on a bit of LR but I am not sure. Did I do in my LTA?

:(

[Toddrtrex]

If you were still getting nitrite readings your cycle wasn't finished. How long has the tank been set up?

And 20 watts isn't going to be enough light for an LTA in a 29.

If the column/foot is damaged, that isn't a good sign, I have never been able to bring back an LTA from any damage to its foot. Any chance of getting a picture of it?

[tapiana]

The LTA was in my 5gal tank - my 29g is still cycling. I cycled my 5 gal for 4 weeks and had no Nitrites or Ammonia for the last 2 weeks even with water changes so I thought it was cycled.

Then the 2nd full day after I added the LTA and Clown - up went the nitrites and nothing else. It was the wierdest thing, or is this normal?

I am hoping to have a pic soon - I left home with out the camera.

[Toddrtrex]

A 5 gallon is way too small for any hosting anemone, and adding an anemone to a 4 week old tank is not advisable.

It is normal in the sense that the tank wasn't ready for that much of a bio-load being added to it.

Even when the 29 is finished cycling, I would suggest waiting about 6 months before adding an anemone. That will give the tank enough time to mature, and will give you enough time to learn your tank. To be able to know when something is going wrong before it becomes an issue for you and the inhabitants.

[kobesan]

nem are very senitive inverts. They do not require a cycled tank but rather an established one. Also 5 gal is way too small. You should wait a while before you purchase your next one.

Your spikes are due to the size of your tank being so small.

[tapiana]

Hi There -

Here are the pics

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd41/tapiana/LTA3-1.jpg

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd41/tapiana/LTA2-1.jpg

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd41/tapiana/LTA1-1.jpg


You can see the white spot on the column. The colum has elongated since this morning.

[Toddrtrex]

Hope that pictures are just making the tank look that cloudy.

The column doesn't look too good to me, nor the anemone for that matter. Plus, LTAs, prefer to have their foot buried in a sand bed, which it appears that you don't have.

Suggest slowing down, and not even thinking about an anemone for a while, 6 months, and only putting it in a properly set up tank that will meet its requirements.

[tapiana]

I should have known better than to listen to the guy at the LFS. I should have done more research before hand. Is there any chance/way to save the LTA?

It is in a qt tank - which is why there is no sand. Camera pics were fuzzy.

I will make sure to have a well established tank before I introduce an anemone.

[kobesan]

LFS won't tell warn you about how hard it is to keep a nem. They rather them die in your tank than theirs. Many die within weeks if they are not sold.

[Toddrtrex]

Is this the same anemone that you posted about here?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1472254

[Jamie1210]

+1 on everything that everyone has said to you so far, but I also want to reemphasize that you should just take out the anemone now--I hate to break it to you, but there's no way it's going to survive with such a badly damaged foot :(

[Lance M.]

I might be missing something but I don't see any damage to the actual 'foot' of the nem.

I would suggest taking the nem back to the lfs for a refund before it dies and kills everything in your 5 gallon.

[stagefright13]

My first question is where is the sand? LTA's go in sand! My second question is why would you put an LTA in a 5 gallon tank?

You can't put any sensitive creature like that where there is any ammonia or nitrite. Those things should be ancient history before even thinking of buying an anemone. And LTA's like LOT's of light. And a low flow. I would say a 175 watt Metal halide on a 29 gallon.