Sebae won't attatch!

Can I chime in here for a minute. I bought a Sebae about 2 weeks ago. Didn't want a Sebae, wanted a bubble tip for my false percula, but they sold me the wrong one.

He as regained some color since I got him, and I been feeding every other day. Sometimes he eats and sometimes not.

The problem is he still hasn't attached. He gets caught in the current and rolls around. He has ended up with his face in the rock and sand so many times and I have had to move him.

I tried to dig a hole in the sand, but his trunk area is not real long. Kind of bowl shaped which makes not a whole lot to bury. I buried him and he just floated back up. Put rocks around and the current still managed to catch him. Have him on a ledge right now about 1/2 way up. Have some rocks around hoping he will not float way. He will. It is just a matter of time.

Any suggestions on what to do? Should I try and bury him differently?

Not the anemone I wanted, but I still don't want him to die, and I fear that is exactly where he is heading.

Thanks.
 
This is exactly the problem I've had with mine and I've had it over a month...he still hasn't attached...he has however, as he has become more healthy...picked a spot in the front right corner of the tank where he is slowly digging his own hole...it is to the point now where both of my perc clowns are now hosting in him...one is hosting full-time and the hosts in it at night while he is sleeping (in my frogspawn during the day!)...I think he is digging his own hole to attach to the glass soon...he will stop flipping himself over the healthier he gets and the more brown he starts to regain...that's been my experience anyway...
 
What do they like best, rock or sand? Right now I have him on a ledge. Should I let him off and just let him go with the flow? He ends up at the bottomin one area where the current seems to spin him.

Also have a brittle star living under the rock he seems to get stuck at. If I shift his truck/leg to that rock, can the brittle hurt him?

Thanks
 
Mine was just like yours too, and now his trunk is extended more, and he's trying to attatch to places. Still hasn't eaten though... =(

They like sand best.
 
I think mine is stuck in a good place. I took him off the ledge and put him back on the bottom. Probably stressing him out big time by moving him all the time, but I can't seem to let myself just let him float.

Anyway, I made a pocket of smaller rocks near where he always floats to. The current is keeping him right there. So he now has a choice to move and attach either to rock or sand.

Mine eats. Though I read somewhere that his mouth should be tightly closed. Mine is a big open, I guess. A difference in color at the mouth. Hope it is not my fault by messing with him. But he will take some formula 1 about every 3 days. A pretty small piece, about 1/4th inch. I haven't been able to find shrimp around here. Just a frozen bag that is way too much. Costs too much to waste it. Need to find a place that will sell me maybe just 5 shrimp. That in itself would last for months probably.
 
petco, petsmart, bad lfs owners should all be arrested/sued for taking such beautiful creatures that can live for hundreds of years in the ocean, out of the ocean, and killing it just because they wanted money and/or to save money. It would be illegal if they were land animals, but no, since there "just fish" (even though there invertebrate) people dont really care about them or know about them.

They dont deserve to be killed by lfs, they should only be killed in hurricanes.
 
Okay, I thought things were going well, but now.....

For about the last week he was in a spot he kept floating to but I had put rocks around him to stop him from flipping over. All was well. Color has become a tan. I fed him a small piece of shrimp Monday.

Well, yesterday, I noticed a brown ball at his mouth. I am thinking either food that didn't get digested, poo or something even worse. A couple hours later, he has moved out of the spot he was in and is now floating, face first, against a rock. He never did attach there, just seemed content to let the current keep him there.

Not sure how bad this brown thing is. Looks kind of like a ball but not smooth.

Any ideas?
 
Nope. After I posted, I at least uprighted him. The brown thing fell off at that point. I don't think it was attached to him, or part of him. Must be something he spit out. I took it out and threw it away.

He's just floating around now. kind of stuck sideways on a rock at the moment. At least he isn't upside down.
 
No he is completely tan now. The only white thing on him now is his trunk/foot (not sure what you call it). By all accounts, he should be doing fine. His color is good, he eats. He just will not attach.

My nitrates run about 3-5. Can't seem to get it below that no matter how many water changes I do. Slowing removing bioballs from the back and will eventually put in some LR rubble back there. That will take months yet.

The brown thing that came out of his mouth must not have been a part of him. It just fell off when he was floating. I think it was either poo (which I am not even sure how they do that or what it looks like) or some undigested part of the shrimp he ate monday.

If only he would attach. He can't possible like being sideways stuck in a rock. I am trying not to get in there are move him around because I have no idea where to put him now.

thanks
 
If I were a better photographer, does your nem look like my avatar? Had him about month.

Having read your thread, seem you are doing what you can. Reading and talking with others, it seems they come in so stressed they just need to settle down and feel better before they are comfortable picking a spot and opening up.

Mine has not moved more than 2 inches from the spot I placed him in the tank, but he did not inflate or color up for a while. Walked in one morning after lights on and it was huge compared to deflated size. Sometimes it will deflate all day, sometimes part way. Right now its fully inflated but not expanded past the size of a half dollar. Eating is not great, but color is and I keep lots in the water column for filtering with phyto and cyclopeze (powder) each day.

I believe you can just continue to feed every few days, roll him over whe he gets his face stuck in the sand and let him find his spot when he's ready. We're, now the ones more stressed while we wait and watch feeling helpless.

Good luck to both of us.....
 
I agree we are probably more stressed than him. We are going to change the aquascaping a bit this weekend, and since he isn't attached yet, maybe this will help him.

We have a 29 gal biocube and some dead spots. Need to move a bit of rocks and try and make the flow better. Have one powerhead, but doesn't. seem to help a whole lot.
 
I have the 29 biocube. Sebae has stayed in the front right corner, opposite side of the pump outlet. I put a hydro flo to diffuse the output and cut back flow a little. Fish were even having trouble swimming and stayed in hiding until I put this on, even withoutlet pointed to top of tank: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=11363&N=2004+113782

Good luck. I will say, things seem to go better in my tank the more my hands stay outside. Now when I think I need to go in, I wait and look around and see if several things need to be done at once. Then I plan it all out in my head and go in quickly and out.
 
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