I try and I try, but I just can't keep BTAs....what's wrong?

[Anonymous]

So I have a Rose BTA clone that I transported from my 30 gallon tank. It was such a small clone I was worried about my clowns pestering it, so I kept it in my refugium under a 55W PC for about a year. It expanded its tentacles every day, I fed it a small piece of thawed shrimp every other day, and it generally seemed happy by not moving.

I moved this guy to my 6 gallon tank attached to the same rock he was on. OK, before anyone says "6 gallons? You fool!" I have growing Acropora and Montipora in the tank, so the water conditions are pretty good. I placed him in an area where he could retract into shade if he wanted, but expand into the light as well. The flow was moderate, about what you would put a frogspawn coral in. I fed him the same way, and he was happy for about a month. He became less and less expanded every day, and now he's just a red lump on a rock. No eviscerated guts or anything, but he looks like he's a goner....so my question is, WHAT am I doing wrong!?!?!?
1) Are BTAs better suited for a relatively nutrient poor (SPS) tank or for a tank with more dissolved nutrients like a soft coral tank??
2) Is there anything wrong with my placement? From what I hear, they like a hole in the rock where their foot is protected on all sides, and they can retract into shade.
3) Lighting? I doubt I light shocked him. He went from a 55W PC to a 65W PC. I've seen BTAs mostly under MH, and I know this is ideal, but the light seems adequate to me.
4) Feeding? Anything wrong with my feeding regimen? Too often, not enough?.....

Sorry about the essay, and thanks for any advice or help.

 

[fungia]

i am no expert but i have the same problem in my 29. i had a rose and it shrank and shrank until it looked like nothing but a stump and before i gave up on it i gave it to a friend. in his tank it came back and is huge, much bigger then when i first bought it. i wouldnt give up on it but maybe give it away or move him to a different tank. i think it has to do with something in the water it doesnt like but i could not tell you what (i wish i knew too). i know the feeling man

 

[Joey French]

Man, I don't know what to tell you, mine I just feed, waited for the day, (usually about on day out of the week), to shrink up, take a poop basically. Then feed again the next day when it is expanded fully. Works out to about once or twice a week. He eats table shrimp and sometimes formula one and new life spectrum that I feed the fish and has done well since day one. If it is shrinking slowly, then I would suggest he be fed more, given more light, or both. Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Well, the problem is that he doesn't have any more tentacles to feed. The lighting should be sufficient. I have acropora growing at a lower point in the tank, so I think this is a good indicator of sufficient light.

 

[EmilyB]

I personally just think the tank is not big enough to keep the water parameters stable.

 

[Desolas]

The things you did not touch on that may make a difference is the specific gravity and temperature, also the swing of both. If your sg is swinging or your temp is daily it will cause harm. So like what EmilyB said, your water parameters may just not be stable enough.

I've personally noticed mine reacts greatly to temp/salinity shifts.

According to Dr. Ron they are more suited to more nutrient poor environments, no ammonia or nitrogen can be present. Your feeding sounds fine, but I think your light is low. Also something to try is feeding it fish instead of shrimp, adult BTA's apparently shift their diet towards fish. I've found better growth with mine when I started feeding it cut up full-size silversides, organs and all.

Also if your shrimp was shipped to the store frozen it may contain perservatives (some kind of phosphate) which may be reacting badly with the anemone.

Just thoughts..hopefully they help.

 

[Joey French]

A 29 is well large enough to keep a bta happy and healthy! If you can keep acro happy in it, a bta should be fine as well... the size of the tank is not a factor, in as much as feeding, light and other factors...the only way it may be too small is if it starts wandering.
Joey

 

[Anonymous]

six g does seem a bit small for a creature eating shrimp (even a small chunk) every other day.

how's the water test on nitrate and PO4?

 

[Joey French]

Woah, I didn't realize it was for in a 6 gallon...that could be trouble. What do you have in place to prevent salinity, temp, pH, any kinds of changes? Seems feeding in a 6 gallon could also be a pain in the ass, a tank that size could mean trouble, bioload and processing wise. Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

I somehow knew it was going to turn into this....

The tank is in a thermally controlled lab building, temp maxes out at about 80 in the day and drops to about 78 or so at night. The tank loses about 200-250 mL of water per day, and the amount of evaporation is pretty stable because of the temperature/humidity stability of the building the tank is in. The specific gravity is right where it should be, 1.026 (Read with a refractometer.) The topoff was a nurce type system that automatically replenishes the water throughout the day, it's since been switched to a Litermeter dosing pump. The tendency for pH to drop at night is countered by a reverse daylight refugium with macroalgae. The BTA was about the size of a half dollar fully expanded. I fed him about a half a pea sized piece of shrimp every other day or so. Honestly, I haven't tested for nitrate or phosphate in a very long time, but I don't have any outbreaks of algae or cyano. Montipora and Pocillopora grow just as well under my lighting in this tank as they did under a 250W MH, although they've changed color a bit. They're VERY close to the light, and I believe the intensity is sufficient.

 

[Anonymous]

Move him before you lose him. Put him back in the 30gal tank. Get him well again if possible. I would then try a food mix. Target feed a little of the Omega One marine foods. Use the one made from salmon skins. I don't have a bubble tip, but my two anemonies really like the Omega one and they don't always seem to fully digest all shrimp pieces for some reason.

Careful target feeding should keep excess nutrients under control.

Good Luck :!:

(disclaimer: I am sure there are other similar brands of food that would be quite acceptable. Omega One is just what I use and everybody in the tanks love it.)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I would love to put him back in the 30 gallon, in fact I never would have moved him in the first place, but I had to break that tank down to move to a smaller apartment. Hopefully he pulls through.

 

[npaden]

I would say that it needs a change of scenery of some type or it is a goner for sure. Is there anyone that could babysit it for a while for you?

Could be chemical warfare or something like that in a small tank. Do you run carbon regularly?

FWIW, Nathan

 

[consigliere]

got one suspect in this case : BRISTLEWORMS ....they will slowly leech an anemone to death if not kept in check....

 

[Anonymous]

The bristleworms commonly found in reeftanks are scavengers and detrivores, and are harmless to an anemone or any other living invert. If you've witnessed anything like what you indicated, then you either have a different, rather rare species, or you witnessed a freak occurence!

Cheers
Jim

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, the chemical warfare is a definite possibility. I run carbon once a month for a day or two. The tank is largely SPS corals though, except for a green open brain. I added some zoanthids and a mushroom recently, but the BTA began its decline before that. Just bugged me a lot, because it was looking great for a month and then started this decline. It especially bugs me because all the other corals in the tank look great. I don't know anyone who could babysit this guy. I suppose I could put it in the university's 180 gallon reef tank, but it's filled with soft corals and a Merten's carpet anemone.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[fishinsouthga]

i dunno what to say, ive had mine for about a year and hes white as a ghost, won't come out to the lights no matter how i have them setup and has split 3 times..... happy?? i dunno but he has all options as his disposal......