Another Sick Anemone Post

[arson420]

Hey all, well it looks like it's not doing to well. I have had my LTA for 8 days now and it won't do anything but sit it's foot on top of the substrate and fall over periodically. When I first got it, it's foot was fully in the substrate and it was completely bloomed out. I don't know what else to do but to just wait it out. I actually moved him last night to a different section of the tank and when I moved him his tentacles were sticking to my hands. I brought it up to the surface to smell it and it didn't smell. I just did a 20 gallon water change this past Sunday. This tank and rock have been in use for several years. Everything else is doing fine.

Tank Specs:

100 gallons
SG: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrates: very low
PH: One test says 7.75, another test says 8.2
GKH: 6 to 7 drops to get the color to change to yellow.
Lights: 3 VHO actinic white, 1 VHO actinic blue. Probably around 100 watts each.

Pics:

Here's about 2 hours after I brought it home from the LFS.

After I moved it last night here's what it looked like. This is with the lights on.

This is what it looked like this morning when I woke up. Lights were off.

Any help I can get would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[J8851]

Place the base near some rockwork so he can try to attach to the rockwork or under the rockwork. Like i've said thats what my anemone did, his foot is under a big rock that had a opening between the sand and the rock

Plus being a new anemone its probly still stressed out from being in a new environment. I would try to put his foot near a rock and see how that works.

 

[graveyardworm]

Wondering how your LTA is doing? Looks really healthy in the pics, but from what I understand about M. Doreensis they like a deep sandy bottom to put their foot into. I have heard some people getting theirs to be comfortable in the rocks. I just bought one that looked really good for a few days it was eating well then for no apparent reason the foot ruptured. So I'm doing some research trying to figure out what works and what doesnt.

 

[arson420]

I ended up loosing it. The column of the foot was starting to develop little miniscule holes and it's spongy innards was starting to come out. I had to toss it before it corrupted my tank. It was my first loss so far from my tank and I am really disappointed.

I thought that I tried everything. My water was good. My perams were fine. I even changed out the substrate from the area that it was in from crushed coral to live sand and still nothing. I really don't know what happened...

 

[J8851]

Sorry to hear your loss i remember when i lost my first RBTA .

You never know it could have had some kind of parasite from the shop. I would recommend a Bubble tip if your going to try to attempt another anemone.

 

[graveyardworm]

Sorry to hear that, I cant seem to be able to keep them either. I provide what I believe to be the correct environment, but aside from one I had a year or so ago no long term success, and even that wasnt a year. The only way I can explain it is that I'm getting healthy looking sick ones.

I did find a thread which was started sometime last year, the starter was trying to get people to post as much info experience they had with the LTA to try to find what works and what doesnt, and atleast try o come up with a reason for their poor survival rates, when I get a minute I'm going to try to find it and bring it back up.

 

[arson420]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6822654#post6822654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by J8851
Sorry to hear your loss i remember when i lost my first RBTA .

You never know it could have had some kind of parasite from the shop. I would recommend a Bubble tip if your going to try to attempt another anemone.

Yeah, that's pretty much the consensus. I am trying to get a bta but from a private party so I know it's healthy and it will promote splitting.

Yeah, I even bought 2 250 watt Metal Halide bulbs and two icecap electronic balasts for my tank thinking that it just wasn't getting enough light but it was too late.

 

[graveyardworm]

Even with low light they can persist on just regular feeding, I would consider lighting to be more of a long term health risk not short term.

 

[arson420]

Yup, which means that it had to have been something else. What? I have no idea. I feel that I tried absolutely everything.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6824641#post6824641 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
Even with low light they can persist on just regular feeding, I would consider lighting to be more of a long term health risk not short term.

 

[graveyardworm]

arson, just glancing through your earlier post in the first pic the foot is buried. I assume you buried it which is recommended, but it looks as though you have crushed coral substrate. CC generally is full of sharp pieces it is possible that some unnoticeable damage was done to the base while it was buried which later became infected resulting in the "little miniscule holes" which led to the demise of the animal.

So there is a possibility that CC is poor choice of substrate for an lta. Unless people here chime in that have them in that type substrate where the animal buried itself, and has shown reasonably long term survival.

 

[davocean]

Sorry about your loss, weird, because it looked real healthy.
I've had mine for 3 years now, looks just like yours.
It was 4", now it's 12" in diameter
Mine is attached to a rock, not sand
He's been pretty much the same spot, middle of tank
Lighting is 96w PC's 10,000k and ultra actinic

 

[mcrase]

I have a 4" sandbed. My LTA wandered around for awhile and then buried himself. I guess I didn't realize I was suppose to bury him! I put rocks in the tank then the sand when I set up. My LTA has settled in and seems to be doing great after several months.

I don't have any answers but I would agree that CC would not work as well. Even now he likes to mix up the sand around him a bit. I would imagine CC would cause some damage.

I think I just had dumb beginners luck, if you want to know the truth

 

[davocean]

Just a thought, I wonder if the foot may have been torn on collection or at purchase?

 

[davocean]

I keep reading that they like sand, but mine wouldn't go there.
I have live aragonite

 

[arson420]

That's the weird thing. It actually did that itself after about 1 hour of me acclimating it to my tank. I thought, "Wow, it must really like it there. Cool!!" But then after 1 day it un-buried itself and then just kinda laid on the substrate. That's when I began my troubleshooting. I actually put it in the corner of my tank and changed out the CC substrate to Live Sand and it didn't work. Since then I have actually rebuilt my tank and taken out all of the CC substrate and put it all LS. It looks real nice now.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6825917#post6825917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by graveyardworm
arson, just glancing through your earlier post in the first pic the foot is buried. I assume you buried it which is recommended, but it looks as though you have crushed coral substrate. CC generally is full of sharp pieces it is possible that some unnoticeable damage was done to the base while it was buried which later became infected resulting in the "little miniscule holes" which led to the demise of the animal.

So there is a possibility that CC is poor choice of substrate for an lta. Unless people here chime in that have them in that type substrate where the animal buried itself, and has shown reasonably long term survival.

 

[graveyardworm]

I have had a few and never had one bury itself so quickly, I would've thought that it was great myself. It looked really good in the pics. I really want another one, but so far I cant figure out what makes them tic.

mcrase, could you provide a good description of your setup? Lighting, tank size, substrate, salt mix, flow around the anemone, feeding, are clowns hosting, other tank inhabitants, pics, and anything else that may help. There may be alot to learn from beginners luck.