My first LTA

J

JoeVandal49

New member
Posted this in my build thread, but thought it would get sen better here.

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!

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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.
 
little update.

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.

He has stayed fully extended for the most part, color looks good still, mouth tight etc, so hopefully he stays put for awhile.

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.
 
If the outlet behind the tank is powering your tank, I hope there's a GFI somewhere protecting all your equipment. VERY important, as not having one can kill you.
 
taylor t said:
If the outlet behind the tank is powering your tank, I hope there's a GFI somewhere protecting all your equipment. VERY important, as not having one can kill you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding me. Installing this weekend. Never even crossed my mind until a friend was over this last weekend and mentioned it.
 
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.

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What are tank parameters? Your anemone is searching for a good place to call home, but is unable to find one. You may want to redirect your flow so your anemone will get more of it when he's on the sand bed.
 
If you did so much research on anemones, you'd've read that it's suggested you let a new tank mature for at least 6 months before adding a nem. Since you already have it, keep up on your water changes to maintain ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels near 0. What's the lighting above tank? If nem is moving higher up, it's searching for more light. Don't feed it or move it. That'll just stress it out more. Just leave it alone & let it find it's sweet spot. On a positive note, at least it won't have much to sting along it's path, & if it gets too close to zoas, just move them. ;)
There's a wealth of knowledge here. Read & ask questions here BEFORE buying anymore livestock--no matter how pretty it is (or how much the LFS says your 55gal system is enough to support a regal tang). Get a handle on your water parameters, don't add anything for at least a few weeks. Just enjoy that nice zoa frag & pretty sweet LTA (NIIICE score, btw) for awhile longer before adding anything else... Impulsive purchases in this hobby w/o knowing the requirements of the animal are a recipe for disaster. Good luck & welcome to Reef Central!
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

Tank has been steady using an api test kit at-

0 amonia
0 nitrites
5 nitrates

I believe my Nitrates are at acceptable levels from what i have read?

Planning another water change this evening. I have been afraid to do more than 5 gallons at a time because i dont want any major swings.

dont have cal/alk tests yet etc. Plan on ordering some this week.

the lighting is a 4 bulb t5 setup, two blue, two white, not sure exact wattage, ill have to check when i get home, but i beleive each bulb is 54watts brand new bulbs.

I did know it was recommended to wait atleast 6 months, and i had intended to do so, but admit i got baited by the price.

My tank had an extremely fast cycle, i believe because i used fully cured(over 6 months) live rock and has maintained the current levels pretty much since it first completed its cycle.

Also i replaced the crushed coral with fine sand in the corners of the tank, thinking he would like that more.

Since the last post he has moved into the large cave directly under where he was. his foot was attached to the top of the cave this morning.

I guess all i can do now is give it time.
 
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So i came home today, and it appeared that my LTA was spawning.

i was observing the tank for a while, and the LTA began to puff up its foot, close up its top, and then white smokey like substance began to come out of it.

Im assuming this is a very bad sign?
 
im going to be proactive here and realize i dont know enough yet to take proper care of this creature. I called a local reefer, who i dont know personally, but who has been in the hobby a long time, the LFS gave me his number. he has agreed to take the anemone from me and attempt to save it. he is going to treat it, and if it survives give it a home.

i will definitely learn from this mistake. Thanks everyone who helped.
 
JoeVandal49 said:
im going to be proactive here and realize i dont know enough yet to take proper care of this creature. I called a local reefer, who i dont know personally, but who has been in the hobby a long time, the LFS gave me his number. he has agreed to take the anemone from me and attempt to save it. he is going to treat it, and if it survives give it a home.

i will definitely learn from this mistake. Thanks everyone who helped.
Click to expand...

Everybody makes mistake . I am in this hobby for 6 years and still making mistakes sometimes. :facepalm:
 
Yea, we've all made mistakes or impulsive buys...With all the mistakes I made, I shudder to think of all the coin I dumped down the toilet early on...Just learn from it, let your tank mature a bit, then try another anemone later down the line.
 
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