New LFS LTA ... Now gaping??!

[PJtree23]

Hi,

I just checked my params twice and they were good, last weekend and today. The nem has been with me for a few days and looks like this:

Random pix for clix

 

[Jkraft136]

Looks awfully bleached to me.

 

[aday2remmbr]

Looks awfully bleached to me.

plus one it is very bleached and that is why it is gaping, just keep params good and feed it and keep it healthy and it will recover nicely

 

[PJtree23]

Cool thanks guys. Heres an update. He is severely bleached. But I want him to color up in my tank und my lights haha

 

[PJtree23]

Update

Is this elongation typical??? It's fun to watch but I hope he eventually plants his foot there.

 

[Conrad25]

Umm your sand looks extremly shallow. How deep is it? If its only a 1" or so like it looks. You should add more sand as these guys need 4" to really be able to bury there foot and be happy. Otherwise get a 3-4" piece of 5-6" pvc with a cap on one side and fill it with sand and than set him in there and he will settle in nicely usually

 

[BonsaiNut]

Umm your sand looks extremly shallow. How deep is it? If its only a 1" or so like it looks. You should add more sand as these guys need 4" to really be able to bury there foot and be happy. Otherwise get a 3-4" piece of 5-6" pvc with a cap on one side and fill it with sand and than set him in there and he will settle in nicely usually

+1

This is a sand anemone. Unless you get some sand he will never be happy and will always be "letting go" and blowing around your tank.

 

[PJtree23]

Well guys...it's a sad day...his butt was spilling out of the back and his stomach was coming out of his mouth. Tentacles all deflated and my fish were nipping at his body like it was a feeding block...

I'm going to assume it was caused by stress as he was severely bleated when I got him and [PetCo] had just gotten him in that day (bad idea on my part)

Next time I'm going to buy a healthy one that has been established and colorful from the get go as all my params are perfect.

My only other guess is that my healthy zoa colony 6" away could have stung it to death??? My nem did roll by him a few times.

 

[BonsaiNut]

The first photo shows him expelling his zooxanthellae - which happened AFTER you got him in your tank. He looked pretty healthy to me in the first couple of photos. I would worry more about your tank environment before you tried another sand anemone. These critters are used to being buried up to their oral disks in sand or coral rubble. Their column/foot is very soft and defenseless. I don't doubt that your fish were eating it - and there was nothing it could do about it

 

[PJtree23]

The first photo shows him expelling his zooxanthellae - which happened AFTER you got him in your tank. He looked pretty healthy to me in the first couple of photos. I would worry more about your tank environment before you tried another sand anemone. These critters are used to being buried up to their oral disks in sand or coral rubble. Their column/foot is very soft and defenseless. I don't doubt that your fish were eating it - and there was nothing it could do about it

What do you mean by my environment? So he wouldn't have died if I had a 5" sand bed? I was planning on adding another layer of sand after he settled in. Why would the anem just die then...he must have been sick from the pet store...he was completely bleached out.

PJ