LTA wandering

[Alace]

I got a LTA 3 days ago and I have tried everything I know of to get him to attach but nothing is working

I just did tests and this is what I got.
amonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
cal.:460
KH:11
PH:8.0
salinity:1.024

I have tried to place him in a few different spots (I dig a hole and place sand around his foot) but he pulls his foot out with in an hour, I tried spots next to rocks, glass and in the open, and nothing works.
He really seems to want to stay out in the middle of the tank up-side-down...I roll him over and he goes right back...

could it be the light.... I have 4, 400 watt MH over my 250 gal tank???

Is my water ok???

 

[Alace]

oh, and he stays fully open and happy looking, my kids say he is just wanting to tan his butt.... when I roll him over his mouth looks good and closed but he sure rolls back real fast.

 

[zoomfish1]

I think it's trying to hide from the light. You need to let it acclimate to the halides over several days. You can get it to stay by putting it where you would like to try and get it to stay, and make a rock pile around it.

I should attach in a few days. It probably didn't come from a store with 1200w of halides, so it will take a little time to acclimate to the lights.

 

[Alace]

ok I went and put him back against the rock in a little more shaded area and also turned the lights off on that side, and I will try and keep the lights on that side of the tank off a little more.... he still will get alot of light cuz he is kinda close to the middle and I can only turn off the right or left side of the lights with out alot of problems....

 

[mrbill70]

I've had issues with a wandering LTA as well. Mine has been in the tank for 10 days now. Most of the time it looks fine (mouth closed, fully expanded) but sits on the sand without attaching. I modified my sand bed so it has a good 4.5" to attach and burried its foot, and hit uprooted overnight. Since then he just lies on the top of the sand. It hasnt eaten anything (attempted 3 times) and sometimes looks like it is done for (gaping mouth, deflated, etc.), but it has always recovered from that state within an hour or so. My lights/tank are on the other end of the spectrum, as I have a 20g tank with 130w pc lights. I have a 250w mh setup comming this week to try and fix things up. Hopefully you have better luck with yours then i've had so far with mine.

 

[GreenPuffers]

I know all about the wondering nem, Ive had mine for 2 weeks and it still cant find a spot.

 

[Alace]

I think it was my lights....he has not planted his foot but he is staying up right and staying where I put him last night... what I did was turn him over next to the rock (a little under a ledge) and turned the lights off on that side of the tank but left the other side on all day and when I got home I turned them on, on his side and so far so good... guess time will tell...

 

[xxseawolf]

give him time to find a spot he likes, when he finds it you might be able to move in a similar spot in the same area he settled. it worked for me twice with different nems. JMO