LTA acclimating or dieing?

Todd Kellley · Sep 15, 2019

I purchased this guy yesterday, mouth was open as it acclimated to the water, once in the tank it was stiff like a hockey puck yet attached its foot in this crevice. Mouth was still open this morning and it seems to be pulling itself into the rock more but gunk is now coming out of its mouth. I am hoping it's just still getting used to the new home but dont want to nuke my tank! Everyone else is doing so well! Its foot has a firm hold for my powerheads are back on. Advice please!

Saltyreef · Sep 15, 2019

Looks good so far. Nems do weird things. Keep your eyes open for it deflating and or the mouth opening more with tenticle retraction. Usually those are the signs its on its way out.

InkedReefLady · Sep 15, 2019

Long tentacles are typically sand dwellers. I have 2 of them and they are never in the rock. Up against it, yes, but the foot is in the sand. Do you have few inches of a sand bed?

Todd Kellley · Sep 15, 2019

InkedReefLady said:
Long tentacles are typically sand dwellers. I have 2 of them and they are never in the rock. Up against it, yes, but the foot is in the sand. Do you have few inches of a sand bed?

I have about 3 inches of sand, I have another one that is in the sand and has been in the same spot since I got it. So then the question I'd how to move this one to the sand without stressing it more? Should I move the entire rock to the bottom in Hope's it moves? Here's my other one.

Todd Kellley · Sep 15, 2019

Saltyreef said:
Looks good so far. Nems do weird things. Keep your eyes open for it deflating and or the mouth opening more with tenticle retraction. Usually those are the signs its on its way out.

You can see some on the left side starting to shrink. That's why I started to worry.

InkedReefLady · Sep 15, 2019

I'd give it a little more time to adjust. My LTA opens and closes for different reasons. The picture you posted doesn't seem like it's upset.

My guess is it's still adjusting, and will eventually find its way to the sand bed.

Dragon52 · Sep 15, 2019

Here's a pic of mine with an arrow to it's mouth which it puffs up every so often. I actually had a carpet that the maroon clown that owned it use to go all the way into it's mouth, so yes they do weird stuff.

Todd Kellley · Sep 16, 2019

Dragon52 said:
Here's a pic of mine with an arrow to it's mouth which it puffs up every so often. I actually had a carpet that the maroon clown that owned it use to go all the way into it's mouth, so yes they do weird stuff.

I have a carpet as well, but none of my clowns will host it. The purple LTA discharged more crap last night then its mouth started to close but back open this morning. I have BTA's that I learned to not panic about because their behavior is so random. MY RBTA will shrink to the size of those big pink erasers we used to stick on the ends of our pencils. You would swear its melting away and dieing but puff right back up in minutes or in a day. My yellow LTA is pretty consistent though so I guess I need to not judge the health of the new purple guy by comparing their behavior. I just work long days the next few days and will not be able to see how it is doing until 10:00 tonight. Plus I can not even see the mouth on my yellow one the way it sits in the tank so I have no idea if it keeps it mouth open like this one does or not. I guess I just panic! I love all my sea creatures!

Dragon52 · Sep 16, 2019

We all love our pets, water born or otherwise.

Todd Kellley · Sep 18, 2019

So update, it's still in the same spot on a rock and has not moved to the sand and still spitting crap out its mouth. Has everyday since I got it though it has looked better then it does now. Some please look at this pic and tell me what they think? Pic is from tonight when I got home.

Todd Kellley · Sep 18, 2019

Dragon52 said:
We all love our pets, water born or otherwise.

If you get a chance please look at the pic I just posted in the thread. Been spitting stuff up since Saturday though it did try and eat last night. Not sure if it did. Was moving a chunk of krill to its mouth then I walked away for 20 minutes and the krill was gone and not floating around the tank but I have a lot of other critters that could have grabbed it without me knowing. Was feeding my others and it grabbed some krill I dropped. Had no intention on feeding it at that point but i thought ok good sign? Now idk.

Dragon52 · Sep 18, 2019

If it's eating that's a good sign, it's not pulling inside itself so that's a good sign but sometimes there's just nothing you can do except hope for the best. I had a LTA that moved all over the place including the rocks, last time I saw it was heading toward the back of the tank where I can't see it without going outside & looking through a window. Haven't seen it when I do.

Todd Kellley · Sep 18, 2019

Dragon52 said:
If it's eating that's a good sign, it's not pulling inside itself so that's a good sign but sometimes there's just nothing you can do except hope for the best. I had a LTA that moved all over the place including the rocks, last time I saw it was heading toward the back of the tank where I can't see it without going outside & looking through a window. Haven't seen it when I do.

It shrunk up like a BTA does just not as tight and then inflated right back to this. Just not sure how much gunk it can spit up? Assuming its digestive system is in its cells like the algae dont think they really have "guts " to spit up so hoping it's just the stress of the move. Never had one take this long to acclimate, but maybe I have just been lucky.