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View Full Version : Set my mind at ease: new Malu


jonwright
04/14/2015, 02:01 PM
Just received new malu from liveaquaria today. I've read up on the animals and have been planning on having a nem in my 50 gal tank - I selected malu since they are a bit smaller and like the sand.

Below is a shot right after acclimatization (15 min temp float, increase volume of bag water with tank water by 25%, then again, and one more time every 5 min or so).

I was as careful as can be but his tentacles weren't sticky.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/Aquarium%20Build/041_zpsg6scwdiz.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/Aquarium%20Build/041_zpsg6scwdiz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 041_zpsg6scwdiz.jpg"/></a>

His extended mouth worries me - even if it was for only a bit.

After floating around upside down for a bit (with lights off) I put him in his current corner where his is staying put for now.

Now that the actinic lights are on after letting him rest for @1.5 hrs attached is him as of now. His tentacles are getting a bit longer as he sits there under the lights and his mouth isn't extended anymore.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/Aquarium%20Build/042_zpsxewj6tlt.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/Aquarium%20Build/042_zpsxewj6tlt.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 042_zpsxewj6tlt.jpg"/></a>

I've turned off the power heads in the tank and will leave him be for a few more days. Main pump is on of course.

My revised light schedule for the next few days is:

2 actinic plus HO bulbs: 4 hrs
10k 250 watt: 1.5 hrs

I didn't want to put screen in my hood as the lights are rather close to the water.

Am I missing anything? I'm hoping he's looking OK.

Decided not to QT as he's the only nem in the tank and will be. Also decided against prophylactic antibiotic treatment.

water parms are good for reef tanks: 35 ppt, 78 temp, ph (always kinda low) but at 7.9-8.2 range, dKh @8, CA @420.

Daniel62
04/14/2015, 06:21 PM
Looks pretty rough in the 1st pic, looks much better in the 2nd one. Keep an eye on him. don't want him to go floating around

OrionN
04/14/2015, 09:30 PM
as soon as he attach to the rock, you can turn the PH back on, proving that there is not a lot of current. Malu don't like to much current

tassy
04/15/2015, 08:20 AM
is that a mallu you got from the regular invert section a colored one from Fiji. Thanks.

jonwright
04/15/2015, 08:27 AM
This AM he was not attached to rock but kinda looked like a corner of his foot was down. I debated digging a hole and burying him but when I touched his foot he retracted it. So I left him alone.

His tentacles are moving around in the current? what's too much current? He's. Not blowing around but he does kinda list to the side after a while maybe.

I have a 3' 50 gal with probably 600 gph goi g through the return.

jonwright
04/16/2015, 09:34 PM
Tonight a bit bigger. Not attached. Foot is kinda up. Mouth looks a bit open. But still brown and growing (i.e. Tentacles gettingonger and fuller) so maybe in right direction.

jonwright
04/17/2015, 08:57 AM
Here he is as of Wed night:

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/007_zpsjnwk2rcg.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/007_zpsjnwk2rcg.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 007_zpsjnwk2rcg.jpg"/></a>

And then today:

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/009_zpsunnfejgd.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/009_zpsunnfejgd.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 009_zpsunnfejgd.jpg"/></a>

I'm resisting messing with him. Since he's tentacles down should I turn him over???

jonwright
04/19/2015, 07:22 AM
I couldn't resist. I put him in another corner of the tank where he's getting a bit more light and possibly have a shot at putting his foot down. However, after moving just a bit he's gotten a bit larger and not as shriveled up. But he has his foot up again and not in the sand or on a rock. I can't see where it appears it's dinged up any so hopefully he's OK.

*sigh* .... Patience.

tassy
04/19/2015, 09:05 AM
Never got a response. Is that a malu out of the regular invert/anemone section.

THNX

jonwright
04/19/2015, 08:13 PM
Tassy: Not really sure what you mean. For all intents and purposes I believe it's a regular malu. It has a green tint to the tentacles by the mouth. doesn't have purple tips that I can tell as of now.

jonwright
04/19/2015, 08:27 PM
Well, here he is at the end of the day. water parms are fine and within what I'd like to see. So far he's stayed put in this spot where I put him Saturday AM and is putting his foot down. Water circulation is done by 600 gph main pump plus a single Tunze 6095 turned down at the lowest setting (18v in the power supply) and Profilux setting at 10%-30% max. Really low flow for the tank as of now.

From an asthetics point of view not really the perfect spot, but if he settled down there that's fine - his health is my concern vs. what looks nice to me.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/008_zps0ds9wgmb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/008_zps0ds9wgmb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 008_zps0ds9wgmb.jpg"/></a>

His foot is down now instead of hanging out of the "back" of the rock formation.

I'm not messing with him unless something thinks I need to intervene. Doesn't really look like a Malu to me as of now. He's pretty big!

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/007_zpsg7v8wssk.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/007_zpsg7v8wssk.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 007_zpsg7v8wssk.jpg"/></a>

tassy
04/20/2015, 09:14 AM
what they had available at the time you ordered was a colored malu from the anemone section and not one from dd. is this correct?

THNX

jonwright
04/20/2015, 11:21 AM
Belive so. It came from Cali. It's a 'regular' colored Malu, so no purple or anything. Wasn't from DD.

tassy
04/20/2015, 12:20 PM
gotcha thank you just what I needed to know

rt67ghy
04/21/2015, 09:00 AM
It looks good. Is that an aiptasia on its left in post# 11? If so I'd zap it.

jonwright
04/21/2015, 03:34 PM
Thanks, rt67ghy. I get paranoid anytime the Mh's come on that he's bleaching, but he seems to be the same (which I'd suppose as of now is good). He moves a little back and forth between the rock and glass but hasn't buried his foot nor moved from his little crevice.

yeah, it is aiptasia or Mojano. It might be a bit bigger than aip, though. Zapping that one a few other polyps is on my list...(and it's a long one).

garygb
04/21/2015, 04:19 PM
That looks like Heteractis crispa to me.

jonwright
04/21/2015, 07:12 PM
Yup that's what I'm wondering! Doesn't have rings on the tentacles and his foot is awfully thick. And he's bigger than the 6" they said he was on the web site (liveaquaria).

garygb
04/21/2015, 10:14 PM
Yeah I'm pretty sure it's crispa. H.crispa tends to prefer to attach in holes in the liverock, but sometimes will attach and stay in the sand. Don't be surprised if it lets go from the sand

kevan
04/21/2015, 10:38 PM
H crispa
had one years ago (1992) in my first tank with under gravel filter and it thrived in sand ( had for 4 years ) but lost it when changed to a wet dry filter system .

jonwright
04/22/2015, 03:41 PM
It's gotta be a crispa: Look at his foot!

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/003_zpsi0otraih.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/003_zpsi0otraih.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 003_zpsi0otraih.jpg"/></a>

After a week he still hasn't attached anywhere. Today I got another case of "gotta fix-it-itis"

I gently as I could fished him out of his crevice at the end of the tank. I build a rock "fence" section at the other end of the tank away from the pistol shrimp's hizzle.

Then after he rolled around for a bit I put his foot in a yogurt cup. Notice how big his foot is...hopefully now he's putting his foot down.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/004_zpsi6lvd1rc.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/004_zpsi6lvd1rc.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 004_zpsi6lvd1rc.jpg"/></a>

I was going to keep this in a 50 gal. I'm on the fence about calling liveaquaria and telling them they sent the wrong nem. I'm worried if I send him back he won't survive another trip. Maybe so. I'll call them and see what they say.

I know crispas can get awfully big - which is why I wanted a Malu. I have a 155 build coming and I guess I could put him there. Was rather thinking my 155 would be a coral garden as I'll have plenty of room for all kinds of support equipment when/if/as needed.

jonwright
04/22/2015, 03:48 PM
Oh, yeah. Also I pulled out the sea cabbage and 2 pieces of chalice (I think it's echinopora) from the water. It's awfully slimy. Aaaaannnnddd..found out my GAC reactor was really down on flow so I cleaned it out.

Maybe all this will work to make him happier. We'll see. I'll leave him be for another couple days.

I'm tempted to change the water in case the chalices or sea cabbages left any chemical trails, but since his color is OK and he's not bleaching I'll leave the water be and see if the GAC running more flow will make him happier.

tassy
04/24/2015, 08:51 PM
How did your nem fair? im so tempted to order a colored malu from LA, but from what ive seen im not very trusting in there nem IDs.

garygb
04/24/2015, 09:36 PM
I doubt it will stay attached in a yogurt cup. the best bet would be a hole in the liverock slightly larger than the diameter of the anemones column. I've had one a few years and it never attached and stayed up until I put it's foot in a hole in the liverock.

jonwright
04/25/2015, 03:51 PM
Hmm. Will try that. He's still just hanging out. There is a rock with an indentation that might work but I was hoping he'd move into it.

Honestly I'm not sure I'd do this again.

jonwright
04/27/2015, 09:58 AM
So I have a rock with a hole in it. I made little cubby hole with differing positions of the rock/hole and the nem. He wasn't having any of it.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/004_zpsghqklr3q.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/004_zpsghqklr3q.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 004_zpsghqklr3q.jpg"/></a>

He moved around for abit and still drifted off.

So Sunday I got frustrated and just unsure what else to do. I shut off the main pump totally. Just the powerhead was on. He rolled around on the sand kinda putting his foot here and there.

I moved rocks in front. I moved rocks behind. I moved rockes to the left side, to the right. I dug holes. I filled them up. Then I just left him be after putting his foot in places (testing?) then pulling it out and rolling around. I turned the main pump down to almost a flippin' trickle. I've removed more little pieces of coral (chalice and birdsnest frag - would up dropping and breaking the birdsnest). He wound up rolling around on the sand and face down around supper time. Fine. I'm done - if that's where he wants to be, so be it.

Late last night I just couldn't stand it and got up @10. he was still face down in the sand. Dug a hole in the corner of the aquarium, moved him over there and plotted my next move.

I was contemplating what the heck is going on and thinking of another water change (this being Sunday I had done my weekly change the day before). Then he started to put his foot on the back wall of the tank. So I decided not to do anything - that's more than he's done since the almost 2 weeks I've had him.

But now he just has a portion of his foot on the wall. He's kinda hanging there and it aloso appears now that he's damaged on his underside (where he meets the sand). Almost like a scraping something. I do have a pistol shrimp that meanders around - I wonder if he had a rolling-over with Pisty. ????

So he's actually held on the back wall - rather by a "toe" - for a few hours now. I'm rather waiting to see what he does once the lights come on. I'm tempted to change the GAC (2 weeks old) and maybe a water change again - but since he's holding on I'm rather loathe to do anything else.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/010_zpsbtcnxp2i.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/010_zpsbtcnxp2i.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 010_zpsbtcnxp2i.jpg"/></a>

Does he have a damaged foot? And now...to watch him disintegrate???

jonwright
04/27/2015, 10:03 AM
How did your nem fair? im so tempted to order a colored malu from LA, but from what ive seen im not very trusting in there nem IDs.

As of now - it's going to be a long time before I attempt this again. My tank was all together, running, stable - low maintenance with good parameters. After messing with it, rearranging, changing flow etc. to see if I'm making the nem happy I've thrown everybody off.

Heck - even Toby the Goby has been in the overflow box 3 times since Thursday - he's never been in there before. I've dropped a birdsnest frag and shattered it. I've broken a light into the tank.

Yeah, so right about now after this is over with I don't see doing Jack Squat for a while.

jonwright
04/27/2015, 01:53 PM
Yet another update:

Liveaquaria gave me a credit for the nem. Apparently they agree it's a Crispa. While my tank meets the MINIMUM tank size, I indicated that this guy gets so big he'll fill the tank up (rather) and is exactly why I wanted a Malu - so I'd be able to have other critters.

Nonetheless at one time he had his foot fully attached to the back wall, but as of now is rolling around again.

<a href="http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/012_zpslcflwtmk.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/012_zpslcflwtmk.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 012_zpslcflwtmk.jpg"/></a>

I just hope he can settle down and be happy (well....don't we all wish we could do that?)

I'd guess I just figured out what "Too much flow" is for this guy....much less than I expected. My frog spawn is the happiest he's been in a while, though, I have to say.

garygb
04/29/2015, 10:00 PM
You've certainly provided it with both sand and rock. The fact it's grabbing to the wall sometimes seems like a positive sign. About all you can do is make sure your water parameters are in check be patient.

jonwright
04/30/2015, 09:29 AM
So yesterday he grabbed on to the wall and I put a rock behind him in that corner. He climbed up just a bit on the rock, came back down and was rather attached to the rock and the wall. His tentacles were really longer on the outside than they've ever been and he's beginning to put down his vesticles on the sand.

YAY! He's making progress!

This morning: Nope. Not attached at all. But he's in the same flippin' place. Not quite balled up, but all floppy.

*sigh*

There's a straight little bitty ditch in front of rock where he is back to his foot. Now I don't know if the pistol shrimp did that looking for a snail for more building material, a crab or what. Or if that was left over from me straightening out the sand.

*sigh*

I've kept the screens where they are and upped the photoperiod an hour and changed out the GAC. Maybe he's gonna like that.

*sigh*

garygb
05/04/2015, 09:48 AM
Any progress on the anemone attaching? Cripas can be a pain at first, but once they find a spot they tend to stay put.

CoralsAddiction
05/04/2015, 10:36 AM
cripas can be a pain at first, but once they find a spot they tend to stay put.

+1

ThRoewer
05/04/2015, 10:55 AM
I love crispas and would prefer one over a gig. But unfortunately they are hard to find in stores - especially healthy ones that are not completely bleached.

I had one in the mid 80s. At first it couldn't make up its mind where to settle. I think the reason was that it never could find a good crevice to put its foot, because as soon as I "planted" it into a flower pot it stopped moving and grew big.

jonwright
05/04/2015, 07:15 PM
Well he attached in the same general area again and has stayed attached for a few days now. I upped the flow a bit today from being really low. I may need to turn it back down or move the frogspawn again.

But some progress. He hasn't eaten as far as I can tell. Not interested in mysis, shrimp. I'll try squid tomorrow.

garygb
05/05/2015, 09:33 AM
I would hold off on trying to feed it until it is attached and has stayed that way for a day or two. Then, try a small piece and keep an eye on whether the anemone takes it in or lets it go. I would say a fresh piece of squid or shrimp, but small like a pencil eraser, would be good choices. Once it starts eating, sebaes can get large quickly--mine is now about 18 inches across and I have cut back on the feeding a lot and it still maintains its size.

jonwright
07/08/2015, 08:20 AM
Bit of follow up. He's been attached in the same general area for a while and hadn't really been interested in eating anything (squid, shrimp, clam). I let the water changes go in the tank as I got distracted for a while and he detached.

got tank back on track and he's reattached in the same spot.

I also have a pistol shrimp that roams around a lot so I wonder if he digs around the nem. Dunno.

Anyway he's looking fine and ate a bit of clam.

I introduced an orange skunk clown late last week and he swam right to the nem. Actually the nem looks a bit bigger now that the clown has been swimming around inside.

So far so good!

jonwright
01/18/2016, 01:25 PM
Here's the latest pic - I'm now working on closing the 50 gallon and have moved the nem to a much larger tank:

http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t638/jonwright3803/50%20Gal%20Refurb/7169BCE2-412B-47C8-8D9D-8C6BE0213246_zpsqix2bkvq.jpg (http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/jonwright3803/media/50%20Gal%20Refurb/7169BCE2-412B-47C8-8D9D-8C6BE0213246_zpsqix2bkvq.jpg.html)

OrionN
01/18/2016, 01:49 PM
I think it is a Crispa, not a Malu

garygb
01/20/2016, 09:24 PM
Thank you for the update Jon. So glad it has thrived for you. A beautiful crispa and the skunk looks great in it. I have an orange skunk in my crispa as well as, a natural combination.