Need help w\ LTA

[ZC]

I got a new LTA on Monday the 15th, and after acclimating him with the drip method for close to a hour and a half I finally put him in my aquarium. I originally put him down in the sand b\c i read that LTA's like to burrow their foot in the sand. However by the end of the next day the anenome looked HORRIBLE!!! So i thought maybe he wasn't getting enough light, so i moved him up in the rockwork to a small hole the size of his foot so he could hide his foot in the rockwork, now a day and a half later the LTA has still not burrowed\anchored his foot to anything, however he has inflated much more!!! and looks better, but now his mouth is wide open for almost the entire day.

So basically should i worry, or is this just normal? This is my first LTA, after numerous BTA's, I just wanted something larger and different.

Oh yeah, i have 2 175w MH 15k's over my 46BF tank, i'm fairly sure that's enough light...... All perameters are in check and close if not zero! As for flow i have a seio 620, and a quiet one 3000 for a return.

Anyone with any ideas?

[michaeltwana]

mine is doing the same--worry a lot; hasn't grabbed onto anything--it has been a week--not sure what to do either

[Aquatiq]

You should not of moved him. In the future, leave him alone, and once he's used to the powerful lighting you have, he will relocate himself.

[boogie1986]

I had the same problem with my LTA. It wouldn't bury it's base in the sand. It wandered around throughout the aquarium for a little over a month, and during this time I did feed krill every couple of days or so. I looked in one morning, and saw that it was in the process of wiggling it's base into the sand and now it's base is completely buried, and the anemone is the healthiest I have seen.

[Ryanqk]

My LTA has periodically unattached itself and remained inflated, but it hasnt wandered, maybe he needs dr. scholls lol. its like it sits there perfectly normal and is hosted by my maroon but doesnt always feel the need to attach, he is down in the sand in a part of the tank ringed by LR so the flow isnt too much.
Ryan

[Ryanqk]

My LTA has periodically unattached itself and remained inflated, but it hasnt wandered, maybe he needs dr. scholls lol. its like it sits there perfectly normal and is hosted by my maroon but doesnt always feel the need to attach, he is down in the sand in a part of the tank ringed by LR so the flow isnt too much.
Ryan

[sarahkucera]

Yes, you should worry.

The first couple of days the anemone may look terrible until it settles in and gets used to your lighting and water parameters and part of that settling in may include several days of looking like crap.

I took in a neglected and slated to be killed LTA and it looked like this at first:
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/071106/DSC08866.JPG" width=600 height=484>

I thought it was going to die, it certainly looked like crap. I patiently left it alone and it wound up looking like this a few days later:
<img src="http://www.midnightmadness.org/sarah/saltwater/072306/DSC09475.JPG" width=600 height=450>

A month later and she looks even better.

An LTA does not live in the rocks, it sinks its foot into the sand and wedges it under the rocks. I would reccomend placing it back in the sand and keeping a direct flow off of it and being patient.

[ZC]

update, overnight it got out of the rocks and now has moved back to the bottom of the tank, and on the left side were the flow is really low, i figure i will leave it alone and see what happens. I'll update the thread with some pics tonight after work.

[cweder]

Mine seemed to settle for a few weeks than move again. He seemed to be looking for deeper sand than 2-3 inches. I set up a deep sand bed of 5-6 inches in the refugium and put him in there. He settled in the sand within hours and seems content so far. Fed him a scallop and he's never looked better.

[Ciarán]

Despite "drip acclimation" anemones will basically shrivel up totally when added to a new system. It's their way of regulating their water chemistry. After all when they are "inflated" it is the tank water that provides the expansion. If the water in their tentacles differs from their ambient environment, it can cause osmotic, chemical or temperature imbalances that require the anemone to rid itself of its current water and re-inflate gradually to its new environment, incorporating the "new" water it is in. Such is my experience anyway.

Even after significant water changes, and/or chemical additions; basically anything that alters the water chemistry - I notice my anemone regulates its internal water for a while - ie. it "shrivels" so to speak - soon after it re-expands again. Leave yours in its natural abode; in the sand near rock that can be "burrowed" under. Don't feed it until you notice some form of attachment - feeding newly introduced anemones can be more harm than useful, just stressing things even more. Wait for an attachment to feed, that is the signal that all is ok. Dont worry too much about maximum expansion. As long as its gastrovascular cavity (white inards) isnt sagging out of the mouth and its mouth is shut - expansion isnt a huge issue. They routinely open and close for various reasons - such as purging wastes from feeding, lighting changes etc.

[ZC]

Ok here are some pics......
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/zchandler/IMG_1448.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/zchandler/IMG_1449.jpg

The LTA still looks ok, but isn't attatched to anything, should i just not worry and leave it alone? Where it's at now it's not getting much light, but....

Let me know what you "experts think"


Thanks in advance!
ZC

[Ciarán]

Is that a rock over it!! If it is get it away pronto. Prop it up in an area where it can get light and wait and see, make sure the flow is very low. Anemone looks in good shape IMO.

[sarahkucera]

Is it just me, or does the bottom of the anemones foot look funky, like sort of damaged and chopped off or something? And it looks kind of reddish and I don't remember my LTA's foot and pedal column looking anything like that.
Are you sure that you have an LTA?
Was it attached to anything where you got it from?

Maybe your nem doesn't like the depth of your sand bed? If it is indeed an LTA have you considered giving it a deeper sand bed to sink it's foot into?

[ZC]

I'm 99% sure it's an LTA, its got the pinkish base w\spots on the foot..... no it wasn't attatched to anything when i bought it. It was just kinda floating in their tank to.

And yes the rock is over the top of it. It was down in the sand originally when i put it in.... however it keeps going back to the same spot???

[sarahkucera]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7973545#post7973545 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZC
I'm 99% sure it's an LTA, its got the pinkish base w\spots on the foot..... no it wasn't attatched to anything when i bought it. It was just kinda floating in their tank to.

And yes the rock is over the top of it. It was down in the sand originally when i put it in.... however it keeps going back to the same spot???

Did you get it from an LFS or from another reefer?
The fact that it wasn't attached in the first place sounds kind of like it might have already had some major stress and then the stress of a move might have it sort of shocked, or there might be some damage to its foot or something that is preventing it from attaching?
It's been several days, is it still floating around with a gaping mouth?

[OrionN]

I would not get an anemone that does not at least attach to something or in your case, the foot need to be burry if there is sand in the tank at the LFS. You have a M. doreensis. I would leave it alone. All you can do is provide good tank condition, water and lighting. Recover or not will be up to your anemone. Good luck.

[ZC]

yeah it's been almost a week now and still has not attatched to anything........ however it's mouth has closed and it ate a piece of krill last night, but is still not attatched to anything......


I'll just contiue to leave italone and see what happens!

[55semireef]

Try feeding it pieces of silversides and shrimp.

[ZC]

Yeah..... that's what i've been doing. It seems to eat just fine, just donesn't want to attatch........

[sarahkucera]

How deep is your sand bed?
Maybe your sand bed is too shallow for it? Can you try building up your sand bed in one spot to five or six inches deep next to some of your liverock and placing it there and seeing if it will attach?

[ZC]

my sand bed is about 4". I tried to build up the sand already, he didn't seem interested.

[sarahkucera]

I'm just about tapped out of ideas unless it's your flow and he doesn't like any of your flow in the open sand places.
Have you tried blowing your flow into your rock pile and seeing if he will attach when there's no flow out in the open?

[Clarkii Clowns]

Anemones will take a while to acclimatise to the tank once in it, I would not worry for a week or so as it will move round until it finds a location it likes with the right amount of light, flow and sand bed.

1 and half hours IMO isnt long enough, these are very sensitive creatures and a long acclimatise is needed, several hours.

It looks like an LTA from your discription and from the the little I can see in the pic. I have kept LTa for several years now and found they will move a lot and not look all that great for the first few days to week although I have never suffered an open mouth for long periods, this may be due to it stabilising the water within it to the tank as mentioned above but I am not sure. All you can do is make sure the water quality is pristine, decent amount of light ( I presume you are using MH ?? ) and a DSB even if localise it will need to bury its foot, I believe Ron Shimek suggests around 7" but even this depth my LTA has his foot attached to the bottom of the tank.

I wouldnt worry about direct feeding it for a few days the light and any DOC's will provide enough energy, food for it for the time being.

From experience the LTA's like some flow over them but not to strong, an alternating current is also preferred. Do you have any clown fish in the tank at the moment as you want to try and prevent them from hassling the anemone for a while to let it settle in and find an anchor for its foot.

Keep us updated

[sarahkucera]

Clarkii, he got the nem on the 15th, so it's already been 6 days. If it's still not attaching, I would worry. Even though an hour and a half is a little short on the acclimating (I did more than two hours with an IV drip for both nem acclimations), I would think that the nem should have shown some signs of attaching at this point.
Although the mouth closing on the third day was a great sign, it's still worrisome that it's not attaching at this point, especially since it was purchased/acquired not attached to anything.

ZC, what are your exact water parameters?
Have you had your water tested at your LFS or are you testing at home? If testing at home, what method of testing are you using?
What kind of water are you using for tank top offs?
What kind of water are you using when you do a water change?
How often do you do water changes, and what percentage of your water do you change when you do them?
You say that you have had numerous BTA's, what happened to them? Were they thriving in your tank, or did they die? If they died, do you know what caused them to die?

[Clarkii Clowns]

Any other inverts in the tank , ever used copper medications?