Help me keep this LTA alive....

[jherrin215]

I have always loved anemones but in the past never knew what I was doing, therefore killed a few unreasonably. I have had a lot of success keeping a good stable tank and keeping healthy fish for the last 1.5 years so I decided to get some corals. I have finally got them looking pretty good and had a friend call me the other night and ask me to take his LTA. He jumped the gun and ordered it before his tank was ready but realized his mistake so asked me to take it before it died. I put it in my tank with the Power heads off and he settled right in on a flat spot in the sand but has never looked good. His color isn't too bad but some of his tentacles are always deflated. I put him in on friday night and he still isn't looking very well. He's in a 180 with 2 175 watt MH lights until I finish my hood. When I get it assembled I will have 3 250's and lots of VHO supplementation. All tank parameters are good as far as I can tell. Here is a list
SG 1.026
temp 79
calc 380
alk 8.4
mag 1400
ph 8.1
nitrites, nitrates and ammonia all 0
phosphates .05
The flow in the tank is about 600 GPH through the sump, with 1 korialla 4, 1 korialla 1400 evolution, and 2 knock off sun sun 3200 GPH powerheads. Any tips you can give me to help him settle in and more namely thrive? Any help is appreciated. I will post some pics.

 

[jherrin215]

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Sorry about the quality, had to use my camera phone!

 

[celamb89]

looks good... hows the mouth? is it closed? if so i think it looks good... Just keep the tank stable and dont change the flow in the tank too much so that is stays put!

good Luck

 

[jherrin215]

I cant really tell about the mouth the way he's hikied up on that rock, so I guess that means its closed huh? What about all the tentacles that are completely shriveled up. They do reinflate but there are always some that are like this. Also about the flow, what would he need around him? Do i need to point the powerheads away from him completely, or just leave them like they are a let his tentacles get blown around a little bit?

 

[garygb]

For LTAs, the flow should be like a gentle breeze, not a strong wind. Has it dug into the sand bed? LTAs need a deep sand bed of 4 to 6 inches depending on how large the anemone is.

 

[davocean]

Looking at your pic and specs, and if it's set it's foot, I think it will be fine.
Don't sweat the tents, they should come back.
Medium flow, medium to strong light.
I'd feed it just mysis for now, small piece of shrimp or scallop a month or so down the road.
Be careful not to blaze it too much w/ light upgrade, acclimate.
My LTA didn't like super strong light.

 

[jherrin215]

Where he is my sand is probably 3 4 inches deep. Lower in lots of places. I think his foot is completely buried in the sand but half his body is laid up on the rock. I can't see any of his foot, he seems to be firmly attached. Hopefully he will fluff back up and get looking good before long. I have been feeding him mysis but can't tell if he is eating any.

 

[davocean]

Most likely pulling some in.
Small feeding are best during recovery.
Foot in sand but against rock is typical.

 

[jherrin215]

Thanks. Glad to hear all looks good. Can't wait to see him in all his glory and hopefully my mating clowns will call him home soon after he makes his way back to health.

 

[davocean]

A good pair of clowns will probably groom those tents, maybe pull some small pieces off sucking on them, but best is let it settle a bit first.

 

[jherrin215]

They have swam by and took a gander at it but neither of them have actually went in yet. It is a little out of there territory but they still were looking.

 

[davocean]

Just showing curiosity is a good sign, but probably best they aren't rushing it.

 

[jherrin215]

Yeah i think its best for the anemone

 

[wazupjames]

Anemone looks ok to me. Like everyone has said take it slow. Let the anemone move on its own. My GBTA recently got switched to another tank and stayed in hiding for about a week, then moved all over the tank and went back to the exact place I put him in. 2 weeks have past now and it is happy as can be - eating and puffed up. Just keep your tank perams in check.

 

[jherrin215]

Awesome, glad everyone seems to agree. I haven't been messing with him, that's where I sat him and that's where he stayed. Fine with me. I'm going to check my flow and make sure he's not getting too much. There is a 1400 GPH korialla pretty close behind him that may have to be moved if it is blasting him too much.

 

[jherrin215]

Well thanks to all that posted but obviously I didn't do something right. I came home this morning and first thing I did was come in here to check on the nem. Got in here and he was gone, just a hole where his foot had been, thought ok, he decided to move. I looked forever and finally found him, stuck to one of my powerheads. It doesn't really have an intake, just a strainer type setup like a korialla. He had been pulled in through the fins and i tried everything I could think of to get him out but as I got to looking I saw that his mouth was already ripped open and any I pulled on him was just making it worse. I couldn't risk something happening to him and causing an ammonia spike so I just had to pull the powerhead out and rip him out. Made me absolutely sick! What can I do to keep something like this from happening again if I do get up the nerve to get another? I don't know of any way to cover the strainer part and all 4 of my powerheads are this style.

 

[Cheebs]

Sorry to hear about you loss You can try little filter socks or panty-hose like material over your powerhead, at least while it's getting used to you tank.