LTA in timeout

DaveInSavannah · Aug 26, 2024

I have a new purple LTA that was delivered on Friday. We shall call him Timmy the toddler. I gave him 24 hours with no flow and minimum lighting in the tank to help acclimate.

On Saturday I added more light and turned the circulation pump back on. He puffed up beautifully with fully extended tentacles. He roamed around the aquarium sampling what I had to offer in terms of real estate; not finding any of the porridge that suited his particular tastes.

On Sunday he inflated his collumn enough that he floated away like a hot air balloon. This was entertaining for my entire family. Likely it was less entertaining to the corals he was zapping (RIP pulsing xenia). It's kind of like what happens when a 4 year old picks up a baseball bat to "play" his brothers. It's cute, but you know someone will be crying soon. I gently corraled Timmy the toddler towards better and safer spots which worked as long as I was there to keep an eye on him.

Today is Monday. Timmy is now pouting in timeout. He has 4 small tears in his column and foot from pretending to be an underwater sailboat amongst the jagged live rock. This means that he is in a half gallon plastic container with a tiny dose of chemiclean. The container dropped from 81 degrees to 77 degrees so I floated it in the aquarium and fastened it in the corner with a little bit of duct tape. Yup, low iron rimless glass with duct tape on it.

Assuming Timmy heals up, how does everyone feel about mesh baskets or clay pots to keep roaming anemones in one place? I've seen it at a LFS before. They had some rock in the bottom of several baskets with BTAs and LTAs on display. Ideally the anemone will find a good spot in the sand bed. Until then, he may need a little more protection.

Seancj · Aug 26, 2024

Unfortunately, holes in the foot/column of LTA's doesn't end well. They can, but rarely recover from those. It's a direct line of infection and with an irritated foot, they will not bury their foot in the sand where they belong, and if they do, it's only temporary. They will quickly let go and float around the tank again. I would put it in a basket, in an area of mild to moderate flow, just enough to move the tentacles and move out debris but not so much that it will blow the LTA out of the basket and see if it recovers. I wouldn't put any sand or rock in the basket with it.

DaveInSavannah · Sep 1, 2024

Seancj said:
Unfortunately, holes in the foot/column of LTA's doesn't end well. They can, but rarely recover from those. It's a direct line of infection and with an irritated foot, they will not bury their foot in the sand where they belong, and if they do, it's only temporary. They will quickly let go and float around the tank again. I would put it in a basket, in an area of mild to moderate flow, just enough to move the tentacles and move out debris but not so much that it will blow the LTA out of the basket and see if it recovers. I wouldn't put any sand or rock in the basket with it.

Thanks for the comments. I did move the LTA to a basket back in the tank with the other anemones. Unfortunately it had deteriorated further, so I moved it back into a small container yesterday. My order of ciprofloxacin showed up. The LTA is getting 12 hour water changes, 12 hours of lighting and doses of cipro (250mg per 10 gallons of water). The LTA is not in great shape, but he looks better today than yesterday.