New RBTA hiding .....

[TackleBox]

HI , 2 weeks ago i purchased a small RBTA around 1" big when deflated, 2-3" when inflated, attached to a piece of LR from my LFS. everything was fine the first week, placed him on the bottom of my 37g tank and he stayed on his rock and i was able to feed him mysis 2x that first week. Well my turbo snails decided the algae growing on his rock was tasty and ended up knocking his rock over on 2 different occasions so i needed to move him to a different more secure location up higher in the tank .

A day or so after this he decided to move n hide in my rockwork. I read they do this n will come out when they want , but it has been over a week now , and last night i caught a glimpse of him and his mouth was gaping. He has now moved into one of the holes in my rock where even if i wanted to get him out i cant. He hasnt been fed since he went into hiding and is in the dark. Just wondering if i should leave him alone, or what to do.

He is in a 5 Month old (I know its alittle early) 37g tall with with 15 lbs of Fiji LR and 35 lbs of Pukani dry rock (cured/cycled in tank for 4 months before stocking) and a 20g long sump/refugium with Chaeto. Lighting is a DIY LED using 12" Makersled fixture with 12 3W Cree CW and 12 RB on dimmable meanwell drivers and 4 moonlights on a separate driver . CPR overflow, Reef Octopus NW150, mag 7 return , and 1 Koralia 1050 for flow

Pics seem to be giving me probs , here's some links...srry


Before...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89405425@N03/8139455176/in/photostream/

After...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89405425@N03/8138653314/in/photostream/


Water Paramaters:
PH 7.8 (i know its alittle low)
Temp 78f
SG 1.024
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
PO4 0 ppm
Alk Dkh 8-9
Ca 500
10% Wc/Week Using Reef Crystals and distilled water, and not dosing anything

Am i just freaking out about my Rbta or should i be worried?

Thanks for any help and suggestions , just dont want my little guy to kick the bucket,
Dan

 

[TackleBox]

Well , he just came out of his hiding spot thankfully , however he parked himself inbetween the rockwork and a sleeping Turbo Snail, which it looks like he is thinking about climbing lol. However his mouth is still open and looks white and swollen... Atleast I can keep an eye on him and he's getting some light

 

[sparky45]

I would try and feed him a little mysis.

 

[TackleBox]

Thanks, ill give it a try n see if he takes it .

 

[TackleBox]

well its sticking to one of his tentacles but he not goin for it. guess ill try alittle once a day , and see how that goes.

 

[baldbean]

I suggest not feeding it until it settles down. It may be hiding because of your lights. Just give it time to settle in and find its happy place. When i first added mine, I placed it in a shady spot it took a week to settle in, then after that it started to slowly creep out into the light. Now its the highest thing in the tank and eats like a pig.

 

[TackleBox]

Bald, I was hoping that it was my lights as well. It came from the LFS which appears to only have 2 t5 actinics over the tank it was in. I turned my lights down to just under 50% yesterday just to see and today it decided to come out. Might just be coincidence, but im hoping this may have been the problem. Just have to wait n see now that hes out n about.

 

[Tmoriarty]

You have quite a bit of LED's for that size tank so there is a good chance it went through some light shock.

Give it some time to adjust and it should be fine. Also for my anemone I feed them as soon as they are willing to take food, the extra energy never hurts.

 

[TackleBox]

Tmoriarty, yea I wanted to make shure i had enough light to eventually have a clam and some sps, so i copied the AI SOL. I have the fixture 12" off the water with 60 Deg optics. Starting to really get worried now, my RBTA detached from the rock n started getting knocked around in the current n almost got sucked into my PH. I caught him before that happened but it looks like he still suffered some damage from knocking around. Seeing some purple jelly looking stuff on his outside above his foot that is just swaying around. He ended up on the sandbed and i moved him back on to a rock , but he wont reattach and ended up in the current again on the sandbed , so i placed a decent size rock next to him to block the current . Also turned the moonlights off..... I dont know what else to do for now, really stressed n i hope he makes it :headwally:

 

[TackleBox]

Well , hes on the move again so hopefully the damage isnt too bad... hope i can find him in the morning, im off to bed.

 

[TackleBox]

Just found him behind the rockwork, starting to dissolve. Just pulled him out ... Thank you everyone that tried to help me out.

 

[sparky45]

I'm Sry to hear about your loss.