BTA help**** new ? and pic***

[Big_Pun]

first off i know your suppose to plan ahead and research before you buy anything. I took a rbta in trade for some coral, didnt really want to, heres a pic of it, its been in the top back part of my tank since yesterday. so any tips to help make it happy, and feeding tips. heres a pic

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/AnenomeMedium.jpg

[hobogato]

could you post a better pic, i am not so sure that is a rbta.

[Gseclipse02]

yea it doesnt seem like a RBTA

[JimD]

Looks like it may be an lta, if thats the case, they like to bury their foot in the sand and dont need as much light as the bta's.

[Big_Pun]

i wasnt sure either

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/rbtaSmall.jpg

[JimD]

Nope, not an lta... Looks like a bleaching bubble tip.

[Big_Pun]

it came from pets r us,(goin out of buisness), i did get to see it at the store so i dont know how it looked, so if its bleaching what should i do, and if i need to ill give it to a better home.

[JimD]

Give it a few days to settle in, once you see decent extenstion, try feeding it a small piece of Silverside, if it accepts it and keeps it down, youre on the road to recovery.. You lighting may be an issue... 24w 50/50 isnt a whole lot of light.

[Gseclipse02]

there stuff didn't look healthy at all every thing looked like it was starving to death i will say my zebra/dart goby that i bought from them is doing good .... real skinny but eating

[hobogato]

yep, i think jim is correct about the lighting. you may try feeding something small like krill or even large mysis once it has settled in a bit.

[Big_Pun]

thanks for the help, i can always rely on my fellow maastards, i was thinking of buying the 2x24w kit from nanocustoms(49.99) or goin topless and getting a 70w mh. what would be best for this tank. im only doing softies and zoas/palys in this one.

[JimD]

Well, Im a halide kinda guy so you can guess what Id suggest...

[msmith619]

Silversides seem to be the best food for BTAs. There is a lot of controversy. They will get MOST of their food from the photosynthetic algae in their tissues, that is what gives them their healthy green, brown or red tentacle coloration. Yours is bleached and will be starving. They can recover from bleaching and some articles say they recover faster if in a tank with other healthy BTA and they may derive some algae from them. Yours WILL need to be fed until it colors up. I will add a link to a great article I found that has more answers than you have questions on BTAs. Your anemone may move around quite a bit until it finds a spot it likes. Watch the powerheads so it doesn't get sucked in.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/bta/bta.html

Mike

[Bill S]

See the other thread on silversides. Personally, don't feed them to my BTAs. And, as many here know, I've had 15 or so clones. Mine get pretty much whatever they manage to snag. MAYBE a krill or 2 every once in a while.

[Big_Pun]

i found this in my over flow during maintenance i have a piece that goes over to surface skim and then grates behind it so i dont know how this piece got there is it a "clone" or what, it would have to climb over the grates or it was smaller, it fits on a dime

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu357/stangchris/pieceSmall.jpg

[Gseclipse02]

hmmm... i don't know if its was me i would move the anemone around and see if he is falling apart if he is be sure to have a net handy to pull all the pieces out

[Big_Pun]

if falling apart should i pull just the pieces out or the whole bta

[Gseclipse02]

whole thing IMO dont quote me on something i could be wrong but i just state what i would do

[Big_Pun]

looks fine now really mad

[aggman]

when my rbta split i thought it was only 1 clone. but i found a small little dude with only 2 tentacles and no mouth. don't know how that happened, because i thought it needed a mouth, but i guess not. he has been in my extra tank and still growing. has a mouth now too. your anemone could have popped that little piece off.

and i agree with jimd, that mh is probably the way to go.

so, have you been able to feed it yet? he didn't look bad in the pics, maybe it was just getting used to your tank.

~alex

[msmith619]

When I bought my BTA, he moved all over and got sucked thru the California overflow grill. I found him on the filter floss in pieces the next morning. I put them back in the tank and got 2 full-size anemones now. At first, they had no mouths visable but after a few weeks grew mouths, took on a nice, healthy green color and went from quarter and half dollar size to 5 or more inches. Don't give up, they may survive.
*NOTE* This is not a recomended way to frag an anemone!*:bigsmile:
Mike

[Big_Pun]

when my rbta split i thought it was only 1 clone. but i found a small little dude with only 2 tentacles and no mouth. don't know how that happened, because i thought it needed a mouth, but i guess not. he has been in my extra tank and still growing. has a mouth now too. your anemone could have popped that little piece off.

and i agree with jimd, that mh is probably the way to go.

so, have you been able to feed it yet? he didn't look bad in the pics, maybe it was just getting used to your tank.

~alex

thanks alex, its still just chillin in the back of the tank i turned the rock last night to look at it, also i lost that lil piece this morning so after work ill look for it and put it somewhere safe, so if i pulsed it in a blender ide have a bunch of mini bta "mini sirloin burger" lol i wouldnt do that

[Bill S]

I've had them go thru a piece of eggcrate before. Amazing how "stupid" they can be! As long as it doesn't start disolving, just keep an eye on it - it should be fine.

No, a blender, just like a powerhead, doesn't work.