LTA kind of attaching

[MHG]

I have a new addition. A purple LTA. I turned off the power hears. places him in an area with 4" of course aragonite and about 12" away there is a rock barrier keeping him away from my corals. He just kind or stretched and drifted up against the barrier head first and stayed there. Not attached. I would say about 90% extended...


A few days later I really needed to turn my power heads back on so I dug a new hole for him agains the glass. He imediately attached about 15% of his foot to the glass and is staying put. But he is really not digging in. The rest of his foot is just flopping in a slow current. My MP10 is running as slow as it will go but my other smaller heads are on.

All my nutrients are at zero. My tank is about 6 months old. Everything else is doing pretty good. My LED's are turned down quite a bit as I did have some bleaching. He is in the side near the overflow so the light is not crashing into him...


Just the movement from my hand trying to burry his foot will blow him out of a hole. Even using a stick. This is the most attached he has been in about 5 days.

He cas stay there if he wants but is it typical for them to make a halh attempt at anchoring? How long can that take?

 

[bradleym]

If an anemone is unhappy or sick it will sometimes release and try to relocate. In either case you just have to be patient and give it the best conditions possible, and hope it will find a spot to settle in.

 

[MHG]

Well it is now about 70% attached to that glass...

Last night it was about 50% (Photo attached)

So I guess he is fine for now in this spot.

I guess once he starts to eat he is probably happy...

 

[edmondspl]

Good luck I'm in the same predicament right now with my purple LTA. I just got him 2 days ago and he is only slightly attached to some LR. Keep us updated.:thumbsup:

 

[MHG]

well he at the other day and now I think he ate one of my green chromis so me must be happy. But he remains attached to the glass anywhere from 20% to 70% depending on his mood I guess...

 

[MHG]

I wonder if he finds the gravel pieces irritating? He is holding on to those little bits...

 

[MHG]

So is it bad for it to only be partially attached? look at how much the foot swells with water on one side because it is not attached...

 

[garygb]

An LTA isn't happy unless they are buried into the sand and attached to the bottom. They need at a minimum 4 inches of sand. At some point, if your anemone is doing okay, it will dig into your sand. Often they will do this where the liverock and the sand meets.

 

[MHG]

well once he fully attached to the glass I burried his foot. It not looks like he is digging down...

 

[garygb]

The way the sand is attached to the column suggests that maybe it is starting to dig in. Keep us posted. It's a very nice colored LTA.

 

[MHG]

It seems to stretch its body out during the day and shrink up at night close to the sand and every time he gets more verticle. I think he is getting bigger...

 

[MHG]

He seems to be scooting closer to the corner. staying deep in the sand while he does it...