Mag not keeping its foot down completely

[Gig 'em]

The only time I've ever had issues with my mags not keeping their foot down was when I took my pumps out of the tank to clean them and perform maintenance. My magenta foot mad started moving around on its platform and was sticking it's foot out over the ledge looking for a better spot to move to. As soon as I got the pumps back in and moving the water around it settled back in and has been happy ever since. They really hate poor flow conditions!

 

[joshky]

I had 2 mp40s cranked up quite high in a 48x24 footprint, I mean too little flow is a possibility I guess, but why was the foot ripping up as it moved like it couldn't hold on? Maybe I'm being overbearing?

 

[Gig 'em]

It could be it's getting blasted with too much flow, too much direct flow, or not enough variable movement. It could also be too much light at the moment for it.

Is the anemones foot trying to move around and "reaching out" with an inflated foot? Or does it look like the anemone is trying to hold onto the rock, but is just peeling up off the rock? If the foot is kind of inflated where it's coming off the rock, then it's probably looking for a way to move from its current spot and the conditions aren't ideal for it to want to stay put. If it is simply peeling off and losing its stickiness, then it may just be in poor health.

 

[joshky]

When I get worried it looks as though it's starting to peel off of the rock, but it's only done this once when first introduced and then yesterday. Yesterday it was pretty firm on the rock, however it looked as though it was beginning to lose its foothold so I felt as though I needed to back off of the flow. Yesterday may have been nothing, I caught it early and I may have been reading into it too much. I changed the island/tower it's on a bit, and then also changed the flow up, it should be getting a bit less light now and completely different flow. If this doesn't work out I'll probably try putting it on a piece of shelf rock next, maybe it just doesn't like the rock it's on.

 

[OrionN]

Magnifica move by inflate their foot first then move it. If you see very inflated foot, he is likely trying to move. Keep you PH guarded and make sure you don't have anemone soup.

 

[D-Nak]

My new mag is also acting like this. It's in the display (after treatment that I don't think it actually needed) and has jammed its foot very deep in a crevice. I certainly don't have many concerns about it letting go of the rock any time soon, but it would be nice to see it unfurl completely. Mine came from an LFS in Indiana who got it directly from Bali. It's extremely dark purple (almost black) on oral disc and tentacles, bright green tips and a greenish column. Keep updating on the "posture" of yours, it's nice to hear about another one that jammed its foot into a hole.

Are you 100% positive that it's a magnifica and not a BTA? The only reason I ask is because mags don't like to bury their foot in a crevice, but BTAs do.

When I get worried it looks as though it's starting to peel off of the rock, but it's only done this once when first introduced and then yesterday. Yesterday it was pretty firm on the rock, however it looked as though it was beginning to lose its foothold so I felt as though I needed to back off of the flow. Yesterday may have been nothing, I caught it early and I may have been reading into it too much. I changed the island/tower it's on a bit, and then also changed the flow up, it should be getting a bit less light now and completely different flow. If this doesn't work out I'll probably try putting it on a piece of shelf rock next, maybe it just doesn't like the rock it's on.

Mags can take an insane amount of flow, sometimes it looks like the flow will rip off the tentacles (I don't recommend having that much!). You might want to try a different rock. Mags like to spread out their foot (I describe it looking like a fried egg) on a flat surface. They'll keep moving until they find a spot that suits their foot. Rocks that are porous or have a lot of holes like Pukani won't work well.

 

[joshky]

I will say one thing, even if the mag isn't happy with the changes I've made, the acros definitely are... I think the tower I made before was too tall and it was hindering the flow, it hasn't moved at all since the changes which I guess is a good thing, but it's not 100% where I want it haha. I'm still contemplating on merging a shelf piece into the aquascape, but still not sure how to incorporate it yet.

Thanks for all the input guys I really appreciate it.

 

[Banff]

Are you 100% positive that it's a magnifica and not a BTA? The only reason I ask is because mags don't like to bury their foot in a crevice, but BTAs do.



Mags can take an insane amount of flow, sometimes it looks like the flow will rip off the tentacles (I don't recommend having that much!). You might want to try a different rock. Mags like to spread out their foot (I describe it looking like a fried egg) on a flat surface. They'll keep moving until they find a spot that suits their foot. Rocks that are porous or have a lot of holes like Pukani won't work well.

No, I'm not completely sure. It's a very strange nem. It was ordered as a "ritteri" and I saw the invoice. It has no white at all on it, the oral disk is all a very deep purple. The column is very dark and I cannot see distinct verrucae. It has sticky spots (that are not distinct in colour or morphology) all along the outside margin of the column at the top before the tents. The tents are always club-shaped, not tapered or pointed. It still has its foot jammed down into a crevice. I've never seen the distinctive posture of a mag. So I am just taking care of it and waiting for it to make some sort of obvious declaration of identity. Between this nem and a completely weird canthigaster I've got, I'm starting to doubt my ability to tell the difference between a mushroom and a mysid. So much for that degree in zoology.

 

[OrionN]

If you have good pictures of the column and of the mouth, we likely able to ID it for you with near 100% certain.

 

[Banff]

I'll try tonight to photograph it. It's in a very awkward spot to get a camera to. Also, it's been looking fine, but my clowns got into it yesterday (they ignored it and stayed in their BTA until yesterday) and it deflated. Like flat-tents deflated.

If it looks bad when I get home tonight, I'll have to think about hauling it out and treating it again.

 

[Banff]

Still badly deflated when I got home. Pulled the rock out of the tank and began treatment with the 10 gallon set-up. Tried tapping the side lightly t get it to release from the rock and it wouldn't. It shrank down very tight and now....appears to be self-splitting. So I stopped messing with it and decided to just antibiotic nuke the rock rather than force it to detach mid-split. It is currently so shrunken and pulled inward that it just looks like a big brown peanut thing on the rock. I guess I just wait and see.

 

[joshky]

I have never seen or heard of a magnifica shrinking like you're suggesting, usually when a mag deflates real badly it looks like a pancake and the mouth gapes real badly. I would treat it on the rock if you can as long as it really is a magnifica, if it's a BTA then deflating isn't necessarily a concern as I'm sure you're aware. If I had to guess based on your description of the current behavior, I would have to say it's a BTA that resembles a magnifica when inflated, photos will definitely help.

 

[joshky]

Just an update my on my mag, it hasn't moved an inch since I redid the island it was on, it has never stayed so stationary for me. *knock on wood* I even twisted the rock the other day so the mag would be in a more visible/aesthetically pleasing spot. Time will tell but it's almost been a week so I'm pretty optimistic I found the issue, thanks again for the posts everyone and I will continue to update as possible.