My 55g reef build.

[JoeVandal49]

Got a little update. Hadnt planned on adding anything besides additional cleanup crew for a little while, but the lfs had this LTA that i just couldnt pass up.

It wasnt an impulse buy per say, as i wanted one and had intended to have one in this tank, so i did do quite a bit of research, just wasnt intending to add one this soon. I know adding one this early to a tank is not recommended. I do work from home so can keep a close watch.

But then i saw this guy, and he looked healthy, was a nice good size, and was a great price. He hadnt attached his foot in the LFS for about a week, because the sandbed he was in was not deep enough, only two inches or so. His stalk/foot is 6 inches long, and when i saw him he was just laying on the sand bed, other than not being attached he appeared to be healthy to my untrained but researched eye. Because he hadnt attached yet, i was able to get pretty much a steal, so i decided i had to give it a try.

After a bit of reorganizing, i was able to build up an area of my sand bed to 5 inches to accommodate his long stalk. He is buried and attached to the bottom glass, and has been there for two days. He has opened up entirely it seems, and ate today like a savage on my first attempt to feed.

If he trys to move too much, i may be screwed, but for right now, he seems to appear pretty happy where he is.

Just thought i would share. Please excuse the dirty back glass. Havent cleaned in a couple days because i dont want to do anything that could possibly disturb the LTA
Please feel free to bring any comments or criticism. Thanks for following!

 

[JoeVandal49]

Am i mistaken that he looks pretty good?

Also is his stalk ok uncovered the length that it is?

I buried it deeper real gently a couple times, but he seems to like it with a bit of length exposed like it is. He seems happy as far as i can tell, and i dont want to keep burying deeper if he likes it how it is and potentially stressing him out.

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

Don't know too much about nems yet, just know they need good lighting and stable water parameters. Yours looks good to me, but I have little experience with them. I know the mouth shouldn't be open or sagging, and it doesn't look deflated - so that is good.

Hopefully someone else chimes in...

:beer:

 

[JoeVandal49]

Don't know too much about nems yet, just know they need good lighting and stable water parameters. Yours looks good to me, but I have little experience with them. I know the mouth shouldn't be open or sagging, and it doesn't look deflated - so that is good.

Hopefully someone else chimes in...

:beer:

Yea, today he was looking even better to my untrained eye. Mouth seems to be tight, opening when fed, or pitting out digested food, then tightening back up.

I posted in the anemone forums as well.

Thanks for the response! Was starting to get lonely in here, lol.

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

:wavehand:

How's the LTA settling in?

 

[JoeVandal49]

Hey Derek,

He seems to finally be settling.

He un dug his foot several days in a row, being in one spot for less than 12 hours at a time.

His mouth has remaind tight other then spitting out digested food. my crushed coral substrate is very course, and i thought that might be a reason for him un burying his foot. I decided to try the cup method. I got some fine dry sand, and reburied it. I gut some rubble rock at the bottom, stuck it in the cup, waited awhile for its foot to attach to the rubble rock, then i filled in the cup gently with the fine sand. So far so good. he has been in that spot for longer than any other spot, about 24 hours now.

He seems to hate any direct flow, so i had to adjust my flow, and get him on a spot where there is nothing direct. Im hoping he sticks in this spot, we shall see.

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

Hey Derek,

He seems to finally be settling.

He un dug his foot several days in a row, being in one spot for less than 12 hours at a time.

His mouth has remaind tight other then spitting out digested food. my crushed coral substrate is very course, and i thought that might be a reason for him un burying his foot. I decided to try the cup method. I got some fine dry sand, and reburied it. I gut some rubble rock at the bottom, stuck it in the cup, waited awhile for its foot to attach to the rubble rock, then i filled in the cup gently with the fine sand. So far so good. he has been in that spot for longer than any other spot, about 24 hours now.

He seems to hate any direct flow, so i had to adjust my flow, and get him on a spot where there is nothing direct. Im hoping he sticks in this spot, we shall see.

Glad to hear it!

Good looking nem, I hope it stays happy for you !

 

[JoeVandal49]

Glad to hear it!

Good looking nem, I hope it stays happy for you !

Thanks. I hope it does too. He has stayed fully extended for the most part, color looks good still, mouth tight etc, so hopefully he stays put for awhile. I purposely didnt add clowns as my first fish because i knew i wanted a nem, and i ddint want them to pester it until it acclimated.

Hoping this is the spot it settles. Its not as ideal for me, but it seems like it is more happy then the other spots, and is still viewable with my minimal rockwork so thats whats important at this point.

 

[JoeVandal49]

So a little update.My LTA was in the cup until the evening of 5/30. He decided he didnt like it there and took off.

Since then he has been attached and moving around on top of this rock work. Any time i tried to bury its foot it seemed to only stay put for a short while. He has been attached on top of this rockwork by far longer than any other one spot, although he has moved around of top of the rockwork slightly.

Its just a little confusing for me because i figured he would like his foot in the sand and less flow, but the top of this rockwork has some of the highest flow in the tank, and his foot is really long so he does quite a bit of swaying in the flow.

At this point im just gonna let him be and hope he settles somewhere. he still semms healthy. so i dont want to stress him by continuing trying to get him to stay in the sand. I only have one coral at this time, some Zoas, so thats not a worry at this point.