How do i make it stick?

[prickles]

How do I make my M Doreensis stick? I think they are supposed to be in the sand. I put him in the sand, he gets uprooted by something (Crabs/shrimp playing tug of war with him for food) and then he is upside down again. He eats happily enough but when he does he kinda pulls himself out of the sand and ends up on his side. Am I missing something? He is really little. Maybe 1.5-2" oral disc.

Help!! Can I be relatively confident he is a m. doreensis if I got him from liveaquaria?

 

[garygb]

You could post a pic and maybe we could ID it for you. M. doreensis are pretty distinct looking, so if you ordered it from live aquaria as that species, I would be pretty confident that's what it is. Assuming it is M. doreensis, they like fine sand, like aragonite to bury into. It might be more likely to attach if its base is against a rock or the glass of the tank.

I would probably put it in a shallow glass and pour an inch or so of sand around the base, gently. Once it attaches, I'd fill the glass with sand and bury the glass in the sand bed.

You probably already know all this, but just in case: LTA's need good light, water in the 78-82F range, specific gravity around 1.025-1.026, nitrates preferably undetectable, ph 8.2-8.4, i.e., good water conditions.