how to get 'princess' haddoni to attach...

[starfishbricks]

I am pretty stumped about this and I was hoping somebody had some insight. I purchased another haddoni about a month ago from the LFS. It's ~5" in diameter green with a purple disk. The haddoni is very healthy and its mouth has been tightly closed since about day 2. It is extremely sticky, has been eating quickly when I feed it (about once every 4 days), and hasn't deflated after the first day.

This "˜princess' haddoni refuses to attach and I'm about to tear my hair out dealing with it. I'm so frustrated with this thing that I'm about to take it back to the LFS.

The reason why I call it a "˜princess'"¦

The sandbed in my 75gal ranges from 2-5" depending on the area with most of the tank being between that. I have another haddoni in the tank that has been there for a long time now that is attached to the bottom of the tank in the sandbed. When I first introduced the new haddoni to the tank, I dug out a small depression and placed the haddoni inside. 3-4 days later, the princess was very healthy but just floated around within the depression refusing to attach. Then, I got a 6" pvc section, dug out the sand all the way down to the bottom of the tank and placed the princess directly on the glass. Within 10 seconds, the haddoni attached to the bottom of the glass. After about a day of slowly increasing my flow back to what the tank was at before (still attached tightly), I slowly raised the pvc section so a little sand would flow in and cover the sides of the foot. I did not raise it so the sand collapses on the foot, but rather just very gradually over 4-5 hours so the sand begins to cover the foot very slowly. Here is the problem. The moment sand covers the haddoni's foot just a little, it releases. I've done this same process about 3 times now over the last month and the same thing happens every time. Princess haddoni immediately attaches to glass, and as soon as a grain of sand touches it's foot, it releases.

I've inspected the foot and its very healthy with no tears and no mucous strands. Again, I want to stress that other than the fact that this haddoni refuses to attach, it is very healthy.

 

[justinky]

Just a guess but maybe it has an infection affecting it's foot or internal tissue damage making it very sensitive and doesn't want to be touched by anything. You have to remember when they are harvesting these anemones they have to pry them off. I would QT it personally if I wanted to keep it in my possession. Maybe Mihn or someone with a little more experience might be able to tell you a bit more.

 

[dalilgriffith]

I put my in without sand. once is grabbed to the bottom, I slow cyphoned the "dead sand" into my tank around the anemone's food. That worked, but you should take a close look at its foot to determine if it is healthy.

 

[starfishbricks]

Well I've had the anemone for a month now and it is not showing any signs of being unhealthy for need to QT. Like I said before, foot bottom and sides are very smooth, good color, and will attach immediately to solid surface. The haddoni is eating, mouth is shut tight! and hasn't deflated for almost a month now.

I can try the siphon sand thing, but I don't know if that is much different from what I've been doing with the PVC pipe.

 

[Amoo]

Have you tried holding it in place until it attaches and once you see it attached, cover the foot with sand while still holding it in place? I can usually get my nems to attach if I'm persistent enough with just holding them there.

FWIW I have a rubber glove and I just use two or three fingers cupped around the mouth of the nem and hold continuous slight pressure on the nem, just enough to keep the foot on the glass.

 

[starfishbricks]

I can try that, but it will be really hard to hold the anemone down due to how sticky it is. I've actually had problems with it in the past where it grabs onto plastic tongs during feeding and refused to let go.

 

[justinky]

Well I've had the anemone for a month now and it is not showing any signs of being unhealthy for need to QT. Like I said before, foot bottom and sides are very smooth, good color, and will attach immediately to solid surface. The haddoni is eating, mouth is shut tight! and hasn't deflated for almost a month now.

I can try the siphon sand thing, but I don't know if that is much different from what I've been doing with the PVC pipe.

Right but there is one thing that you are forgetting, we don't know everything about these animals. You may have an anemone with internal damage or an infection that acts differently than deflating. I personally would QT(not TX) him as from what you said it seems like sand is irritating it's foot.

 

[clorox]

Have you tried a spot where the bottom of a rock meets the sand? I had 2 attach in that way.

 

[starfishbricks]

Have you tried a spot where the bottom of a rock meets the sand? I had 2 attach in that way.

I haven't tried that yet because my other haddoni is just attached to the bottom of the tank. However, I think I will try that tonight and see if it works.

justinky - the reason why I'm so hesitant of putting it into a QT tank is because how am I suppose to tell if the nem 'gets better'? The mouth is closed, it is feeding, it doesn't deflate, and it will definitely attach to the bottom of the BB QT tank because it attaches to the bottom of the display tank with no problems. So do I just pull it from a 75gal established tank to a 10gal QT tank, change the water daily, and then wait for what exactly? It's already been floating around the current tank within the confines of a PVC pipe for almost a month now. If it had only been in my tank for 1-2 days I could see the point, but it's been fine (minus the fact that it won't stay attached to glass) in the DT for almost a month.

 

[OrionN]

I also recommend put a smooth, concave piece of rock on the column of the Haddoni. Often this will help him attach to the rock, then bottom of the tank later.

 

[Daniel62]

I don't want to sound dumb, but are you sure it's a haddoni? could it be a Mag? Do you have a picture? also, I have a haddoni about that size that will not stay in the sand, wants to be on a rock. It has been on that rock for almost 2 years now. good luck

 

[cichlidconvert]

I was thinking along the lines of "maybe it's a gig"? Gigs hate sand and would act that way.

 

[starfishbricks]

Sorry for the lack of updates, switched internet providers and was off the grid for a few days.

Anyway, FINALLY got the haddoni to attach and stay attach (at least for 4 days now). It turned out to be a combination of clorox and minh's advice!

Originally, I dug out the sand where it met the rock and placed the haddoni on a relatively 'flat' corner thinking it would be as close as possible to a BB. The haddoni attached, but then detached a few hours later when the flow was ramped up. The next day, I found this one spot where there was a small cave slightly bigger than the pedal on the side of the rock bottom where it meets the glass and put the haddoni in there. It attached quickly and has stayed attach even with the sand being moved back around it's based.

Since then, he's been happily eating up my snails so I think this is finally 'the spot'. Fingers crossed... Thanks for all the help everybody!