L.T.A. Help!!!

[Morphieus5150]

About a week ago my Large Maroon Female started hosting/Thrashing my Giant Hairy Mushrooms..This clown was housed with Both B.T.A and L.T.A 's previously with Mixed results..So,Yesterday i introduced a new L.T.A hoping to keep the Maroon from killing The Hairy Mushrooms...Upon release into my tank,{100gal sump,Skimmer,Refuge,Etc}..The Maroon Clown stayed away for the first couple of hours.But once the lta started to settle in and open up she Immediatley started Rubbing/Thrashing the lta in what i believe is an attemp to acclimate herself to the Anemone..Last night she eventually started biting and pulling on the Tentacles until she ripped it Completely off the Rock it was attaching to...This is a Very Beautiful large Purple LTA..My Maroon is also VERY Large and Beautiful,close to 6" now...What do i do at this point???..My Hosp Tank dosen't have a skimmer on it Right now,,Should i move the lta to my Hosp tank anyway?? Move the Maroon Clown to The Hosp Tank???...Please Help .. Thanks..

 

[dantodd]

move the fish to HT. this will give the LTA time to settle in and completely bury its foot.

Hopefully she'll be a little mellower when you release her back into the display. You might consider CAREFULLY introducing a mate for her once she's back in the display.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Thank you so much for your advice..Waiting to trap her ask i type this...One more question please...This Maroon has Hassled the Anemone so much that it hasen't had a chance to attach to anything yet..What do you suggest??..I have been told that lta's sometimes have trouble finding a spot to drop thier foot..Same person told me i should dig a hole in my sandbed and burry the Anemone's foot myself...Is this true??.. If so, how far do i want to burry it???...Thanks Again.... Bobby.

 

[dantodd]

if you do that bury him to the glass. It took mine about 2 months to finally set its foot permanently. Hopefully yours will do so much faster. He ate the whole time he was "un-attached" which is really key.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Thank you so much....Can you explain what you mean by "Bury him to the Glass".. Also if i post a pic, can you positively id him for me??..It is a Beautiful Purple..But i have been told that Purple lta's are kind of rare..

 

[dantodd]

If it is M. doreensis you can dig a hole all the way to the bottom glass and then put him in this hole and snug him in with sand. It is best if the hole can be against a rock without undermining it. As I said, mine never took to this and ultimately dug himself in. A picture may help as many purple LTA are H. crispa speices. I'm not that good with differntiating crispa from doreensis by picture alone so your best bet would be to start a new thread "ID: doreensis or crispa" or some such. Include pictures that show the tentacle length and color well, the underside of the oral disc and any marks on it well, and the top of the oral disc and any striping on it.

H. crispa will often attach to rocks where doreensis are always found in sand.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Will post pics this afternoon,, Was a long night... The Maroon Clown has proven to be far more challenging to catch than i thought..And in the Process has stressed the lta to the point that i had no choice but to move it to my hosp tank last night..I couldn't trap the Clown,and it continued to try and Destroy this anemone..After Emergency evac to my Hosp tank the lta dosen't look good at all and the tank dosen't have nearly the lighting/skimming that the anemone needs..Although it did look better this morning, i noticed that its mouth is now open wide.Not a good sign..Only hope i can trap the Maroon and Get the lta back under my good lighting before its too late for this guy...

 

[dantodd]

if the water in the HT isn't all directly from the display tank he'll likely not make it.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Should i move Him back to the Display?? Even though the Maroon is Thrashing it??.. Or is this a lost cause.. Ill do anything i can to keep this lta alive....

 

[torbett]

I just caught my maroon last night. I had to catch him at night while he was sleeping. I know people say not to, but I used a net, and kinda pushed him into it with my other hand. Try using something clear if you have it instead of a net. Good luck.

 

[dantodd]

The problem is that if you just dropped him into new water he has to adjust to different water conditions than he is used to. I don't really know what is the best thing to do in this situation then.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Finally got The Maroon out this eve after work..

Here's a pic of the my lta still in my HT..{10000k pc's}shortly before i trapped the clown..I was actually able to get it to take a half of a silverside.

 

[dantodd]

Aside from being unattached he looks like a fairly healthy anemone. Looks like M. doreensis to me but hopefully some of the better ID'ers will chime in.

When you are ready to move him back to the display PLEASE be sure to acclimate him it will be much less stressful.

Keep up the feedings. He can live indefinately unattached but he MUST eat to survive. My LTA took a month or 2 to attach.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Update

Update

Got him to take another small chunk of Silverside yesterday..Pic from last night...

Traded the Maroon from Hell for an Awesome little True Perc..But i cant get him to sit still for a pic...Im still worried about this lta,But i think it looks a little better today...

 

[Morphieus5150]

Update2

Update2

Just tried to feed him another little chunk of Silverside..He took it almost all the way into his mouth..But then spit it out a few minutes later...Am i trying to overfeed???Im just offering small chunks of the Silverside Meat maybe the size of a dime...

 

[dantodd]

Now I'm starting to wonder if it's not actualy a BTA. I don't see any verrucae on either picture either. The marbled color morph is not uncommon on BTA either.

 

[Morphieus5150]

This one Has the Bright Orange/Red foot area..And hasen't tried to climb or move from the sand...Its is also still about 1/4 the size it was when it was fully open...So i think you just cant see the Verrucae..Dont know for sure though.Anything else i can do to try and Identify???

 

[dantodd]

I just looked back and the very first pic shows the verrucae pretty clearly. It really is a pretty anemone.

I'd give it 2 or 3 pieces at a time then give him 24+ hours to digest. I think most people try to keep around 48 hours between feedings.

 

[graveyardworm]

I think it could be M Doreensis, but I think the purple tips are more indicative of H Crispa. It does appear to be kinda bleached which could explain the lack of interest in food, not to mention its still acclimating.

 

[Morphieus5150]

Update3

Update3

The lta is Still hanging on,

not much change..Was wondering what else to offer besides silversides??..Heres the True Perc i got the other Day...Please forgive the Poor photo Quality..