Rbta acting normal?

[JReefaddict]

Hey guys so I picked up a gorgeous rbta from my LFS over the weekend and I'm curious, is it normal for them to go into hiding when they are in a new tank? I have tried placing him in different spots in the tank and everytime I come home from work I find him under the back of a rock hidden from the lights. Today his tentacles were all shriveled up and he was shrunken up. Is this normal behavior?

 

[shifty51008]

Yes, they will usually hide till they get used to the lighting and get used to the water.he'll come out when he is ready

 

[cet98]

hiding is normal as the nem needs to acclimate itself to both your water conditions and your lighting. unless the nem is moving into harms way or on a path to harm a fixed coral, I would not attempt to try and place it where you want as it will settle in its own spot. what's not normal is for it to be continually shriveled up...IMO thats not a good sign of health.

if you can post some pix that would be helpful...also, how long has your tank been setup and what type of lights do you run?

 

[JReefaddict]

will post pics, seems like he is just getting used to the tank, it is a 57 gallon deep blue with t5's and ATI coral plus and ATI blue plus bulbs that has been set up for just shy of a 2 years. he isnt always shrivled up, just towards the end of the day he is. im new to nems and was hoping he would host my mated perculas pair eventually. just want to make sure that he isnt doing anything thats a sign of a problem. will post a pic of him tomorrow

 

[Azedenkae]

Sounds like you're making the common beginner mistake of trying again and again to place your nem where you want it. That'll just stress your nem out. If it didn't work the first few times, or even the first time, don't move it.

I can only assume due to the stress, it's still moving, and also is the cause of the shriveling. Leave him alone (or just take care of him indirectly) and he can bounce back.

 

[JReefaddict]

never had one before, just wanted to make sure it wasnt a sign of something wrong, i left him be and hes doing just dandy, my male perculas is slowly starting to swim into him for a few seconds.

 

[tatuaje08]

That's a nice looking bta.

 

[JReefaddict]

Thanks. Found a smaller LFS that seems to carry a lot of the stuff I could only find online before