LTA Placement

[Ken_wied]

I recently purchased a LTA. Looks great, opens completely and feeds. Problem is, he opens up all the way and then he simply falls over or rolls around. He is very pink and has great coloring, so he doesnt look sick. How do you get a LTA to stay in one spot?
Thanks

 

[stagefright13]

Maybe you can dig a hole in the sand for him in a bright spot. Stick it's foot in there and push the sand back. Like planting a plant. They like the sand.

 

[Ken_wied]

Ok, so how does he remain secured then? My clowns LOVE digging in the sand, and I usually have a huge mound to level out every water chance. Do they eventually secure to something under the sand?

 

[stagefright13]

Usually it should dig down thru the sand to the glass. Mine anchored itself this way and also has it's foot under the rocks partially. But it is pretty heavy so may need the extra support.

 

[crsswift70]

Mine dug in and attached to the lower part of a rock. I helped him along though by partially burying him.

 

[stagefright13]

I put pics in my gallery as a example.

 

[Toddrtrex]

It should be in the sand bed, you may have to dig a hole for it. Might help to turn off the powerheads while it is settling in. Is there a chance of getting a bigger picture? It looks a little bit bleached.

Once it is settled, and you look under the tank should see something like this,

 

[stagefright13]

Yeah mine HATES flow. If it has anything more than a gentle breeze. Not sure if they are all like that tho.

I initially put mine on the rock and it went straight to the sand and dug it's own 4 inch deep hole. Was kinda amazed how fast it did it too.

 

[Ken_wied]

I tried uploading a bigger picture, but it kept saying the pitcure was too big.

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

use photobucket.com or imageshack.us to host your picture

 

[Ken_wied]

Ok, I will have to do it when I get home. I also turned off the filter/powerhead on that side of the tank, and will see what happens. This morning again, I had to re-burry it. It doesnt appear to be stressed, as it doesnt get small, and as soon as it sits still for a bit, it opens up. When I acclimated it, I put it in a bucket with the water from the store, and did a drip acclimation - over the course of 1.5 - 1.75 hours. I didnt want to rush it, as inverts are more sensative. Its really kind of frustrating, seeing as I dont like messing with the inside of the tank much.

 

[Ken_wied]

I've also read you can loosely tie them down with a piece of rock under the sand, and they should anchor. Adviseable?

 

[unbreakable]

maybe you have too much flow. does the foot look damaged?

 

[Ken_wied]

I turned the flow in that area off, so its very calm. I inspected the foot and column, its soft, no signs of tearing or trauma and the animal responds to touch. I think I will try anchoring it with a loose netting material and see if it takes hold to the bottom glass or put a flat rock under the sand. Its worth a shot I guess.

 

[unbreakable]

you could try netting but dont tie it down. you dont want it to get a cut and tear

instead of burrying out in the open (not sure if you are), find an area with very low flow, put it against a live rock and see if it will attach and then move beneath the rock. my friend added an LTA to the front of his tank by putting its foot against the rock and with a couple minutes we could see it attach and start moving down towards the sand and then it buried its foot. the LTA used to be mine until i broke my tank down

 

[Ken_wied]

Oh, ok. I've tried butting it up against the corner glass, but no go. I will try netting it down against a piece of liverock under the bright lighting.

 

[unbreakable]

good luck. as long as its healthy it should find a spot. i know when i first got my PLTA it wouldnt settle down because of my flow. it ended up in the bank where there was no flow and it attached to the botton of the tank and it was next to a large live rock piece. just make sure to cover your powerheads and overflowbox in case the flow pushes it up in the water column. once they find the spot they like theyll attach and open up wide

 

[Ken_wied]

Well, he moved to the back of the tank. Now, my GSM's have apparently claimed him to themselves and they chase everything away from it. The nem seems a bit upset over this, and I wonder if the clowns were sampling pieces of his tentacles - I saw 2 very small pieces of them on the sand around him.

 

[stagefright13]

My big clarki bashes the heck out of my LTA. I bought a huge one so it wouldn't get killed. And sometimes I STILL wonder how it can endure the punishment.

They don't bite the tentacles off but bash them into the rocks. And that may be why you see pieces.

 

[unbreakable]

ouch. GSMs are known to be really rough on their anemone and rip tentacles off. how large is the LTA compared to the GSMs ?

i have a couple of black saddle backs with an H. crispa and it's barely big enough for them. they act like little kids jumping on a bed and slamming down on it