bta

[eddie]

Long story short I have just realized I have a bta in my tank. It has lived for 6 months without me feeding it. I started feeding it today with mysis shrimp and it loved it. How much do you feed it and how often? Like I said it has been doing ok for 6 months now without me feeding it. Thanks for the help.

[Viet-Tin]

As long as you have good lighting it may not require much feeding as it will draw most of its nutrients through the zooxanthelae it has inside itself. You can feed it maybe once or twice a week or less. Im sure someone with more knowledge of this animal will chime in and assist you more

[jroescher]

I feed mine a thumbnail size piece of table shrimp every few days, and then sometimes not for weeks. I understand that if you feed it heavily for a few days then do a large water change, they split. Mine don't though.

[Marlin]

You're not supposed to feed them anything larger than mysid shrimp.
To split them, just take it out of the tank and cut it in half with a very sharp knife. Rinse the halves in a bowl of saltwater from the tank and then put them back in the tank. In a very short time(1 hour) the tenticles should be extended and they should start healing where the cut was made.
We watched Anthony Calfo do this at one of the MACNA workshops. It was amazing, by the time he finished his presentation, the two halves of the anenome looked almost completely normal. It was hard to tell that he had cut it in half 45 minutes prior.

[blueboy]

i recently noticed another BTA in my tank too. must be from the last trip through the powerhead.

[eddie]

Actually, this is my first bta that I guess came from a snail order from reeftopia. They gave me something in a bag that i could not recognized. I put it in the tank and I noticed something about a month later. I thought it was a mushroom, since I have some in my tank. I feed the bta last night and it was hungry. Can you over feed them?

[eddie]

What happens if you over feed them? Is there a sign that I would be feeding it to much?

[blueboy]

if you feed them too much, they'll regurgitate in your tank, and you don't want that. a couple times a week is plenty, but i haven't fed mine in a couple of months.

[Bill S]

Hmm. I'm THINKING about trying this knife thing with one of mine??

[Marlin]

Bill:
Calfo said that the BTA's and LTA's are the best candidates to split by cutting them in half. He has almost 100% success rate with it. He did say that you should have the anenome in your tank for at least 4 months and it should be very healthy before you try cutting it in half.
If you try doing it, let us know how it works out. I have a very large (18") LTA that I have been thinking about cutting in half.

[Bill S]

I've got 5 - I just need to figure out how to get them out... Maybe Sunday afternoon I'll try it.