lta questions

[koj11]

My tank is a 29 gallon with mainly soft corals (leathers, mushrooms, star polyps, xenia). It's been up and running for about 4 years now, and I've recently decided to add an anemone. The fish in this tank are a lemonpeel angel and a pair of black percs. Water temp is 80, salinity 1.025, and all water parameters are stable and good. I found a beautiful lta at my lfs about 2 weeks ago. I brought him home, plunked him down where I though he would like it, and he immediately started digging. He went down to the glass bottom through about 3-4 inches of sand and attached. Three days later in the morning, he was up on top of the sand on his side. He has repositioned himself all around since then, but generally stayed in the same area. He is usually on his side, but sometimes faces front, sometimes back, sometimes he is upright. I tried digging him in a couple times, but he always digs himself back out now. Throughout this whole process, he has looked and acted extremely healthy. He is fully extended and beautiful looking, his tentacles are very sticky, and his feeding response is very fast. He eats silversides, shrimp, whatever I give him. He seems very healthy, he just won't attach. I've read some about trying a piece of pvc pipe, but in looking through every thread I could find here, there are some specific questions that I was unable to find answers to. I know to get a piece just slightly larger in diameter than his foot. Here are the questions;

1. Should the top of the pipe be higher than the sand, and if so, how much?

2. Should the end stuck in the sand be open on the bottom or capped off?

3. If the bottom is open, should the pipe go all the way to the glass bottom of the tank or be left above it (and along with that, has anyone tried securing a piece of liverock to the bottom end of the pvc?)?

4. Should the pvc be emptied of sand after being put in the tank and before the anemone goes in, or should the sand stay in it (I guess it doesn't make sense to me to leave sand in, since the anemone could just crawl back up out of it again maybe)?

I know this is long winded, but thanks for sticking with it. If you've successfully done the pvc deal and had it work long term for you, any other tips or suggestions are most welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[Anonymous]

How many days has he been on top of the sand?

I have never done the pvc thing, although I used to keep my LTA in a giant conch shell for a few years. The idea of using a container for the anemone's foot works well for some situations, but you cannot force a LTA to bury, even if we all know they are supposed to. I have had to move my LTA several times, and sometimes he plants right into the sand, other times it takes longer for him to feel cozy.

I think you should be happy he is eating well, and stop fooling with him. Since he is eating well and very sticky, you are looking good and can sit back and see what he wants to do. You really can't force an anemone to anchor if they don't feel like it, he will come around when he is good and ready. He might have a darn good reason he wants his foot out right now, as he adjusts to his new home. Everytime he is placed somewhere he doesn't want to be and has to extract himself, that adds stress to him and makes it harder for him to be comfy.

Does he have an area that he can spread out his disk and not touch any corals? I wonder if he just doesn't have room. A 29 with leathers, mushrooms, star polyps, xenia, I am having trouble picturing where an LTA would fit!

If you place a few rocks near his foot, (but not putting any pressure on it) he might be inclined use them to keep stable and might come around to snuggle his foot under. Just kinda give him the option of snuggling in the sand under the rock, I bet he takes you up on the offer. :wink:

Good luck, and keep feeding him. It might be he just needs to build up strength to get over the stress of transport and he will come around.

 

[koj11]

Thanks for the input. He is in a corner of the tank, with rocks on two sides of him. I had read previously that they liked to be right at the base of rocks to dig their foot under, so I set this area up for him beforehand to try and provide the ideal place for him (yeah, right). He does have enough room to spread out in a few different areas of the tank (if he chooses one of those to stay in). All my powerheads are covered so he can't injure himself in his travels. He has been on the sand for about a week and a half now. I've been trying to leave him alone, and am considering the pvc trick as a last resort before returning him to my lfs and maybe trying a bta instead.

 

[Anonymous]

Well if you do the pvc trick, let us know how it goes. Mine has never been such a pain as yours to stay out for a week and a half! The fact that he is eating is a very good sign though.

 

[koj11]

Well, I decided not to try the whole pvc mess. I think it would have been more trouble than it was worth. The lta was still very healthy, so back to the lfs he went, and home with me came a gorgeous green bta w/pink tips. He was still wandering across the sand last night when I put the tank to bed. This morning, however, he had settled into a nice spot in the rocks. He is right in the front and is looking great. I fed him a small piece of shrimp, and he ate it right up. The most exciting part, though, is he also had himself a little clown friend sleeping amidst his tentacles as the tank was waking up! I'll see if I can get a decent pic in the next couple of days to post.

 

[WRASSER]

I bought a LTA and set him down on top of the live rock, it crawled to the glass and up to the top of the glass and has stayed there ever since. I did this in two differnt tanks and it did the same thing.

 

[koj11]

Let's hope this works...

 

[koj11]

Well it clearly didn't...ok I'll try it a different way...