Rescuing an anemone

[tripper]

I went to one of my LFS last night to pick up some food and salt. I was looking through their small SW fish selection (which is usually not in very good shape) and noticed an RBTA that was looking pretty bad. It was in a 10G aquarium with just flourescent lighting. I knew this guy was not going to last much longer in that condition so I decided to see if I could save it instead. I have a stable 72G tank that is 8 months old. I have 4X65W PC lighting right now but have the Coralife MH hood coming on Thursday.

I have various corals but this is my first anemone. I know my lighting isn't strong enough yet, but it is better than what he had at the LFS and will get better in 2 days. After I got him acclimated he roamed the tank for a bit and finally stopped pretty high up on the glass. Is this ok? Is there anything I should do to help him out. He has opened up pretty well and has much better coloration than in the store.

Thanks for any help.

tripper

 

[lando]

Actually, the lighting you currently have is great for a BTA. I have two in my 72 gal. (had one and it split!) and they are doing great under 260 watts of CF lighting. The BTA is one of the lower light species. They have been know to hide from intense MH lighting. Just make sure you photo-acclimate the tank with the new hood as we talked about on a previous thread. The BTA is also considered one of the easier to keep anenomes so I do not think you will have a problem. If it dies, it is most likely becase it was on it;s way out at the LFS and was too far gone to be saved. Good luck! Lando

 

[Jason]

If he put his foot on something that is a good sign. The reason that it's on the glass like that is because he is trying to get to the light. I had an anemone do that same thing and then when I got a better light he moved back down to the rocks. I wouldn't sweat it if you've got a MH comming on thursday, you should really see what kind of light they are in before you see them at the LFS ..... you would be surprised . I'm pretty sure it'll be okay until you get your new light, and it would probably be okay without it.

Another thing that might freak you out about that little guy if the whole inflating deflating thing. It's normal for it to look like it's dying one minute and then be totally fine the next. So it's not your light that's making him do that, he's just turning your tank into a toilet.

I would actually say that it is a good thing that he's on your glass, it gives you a good chance to look at his foot. Most of the time people look at the tentacles to tell how healthy they think an anemone is, but really if you get a chance to see one's foot when it's attached to something you can really tell. If the foot looks healthy, there is a good chance the anemone is.

hope that helped a little, and good luck with that rose!!

 

[tripper]

Thanks for all your replies. I'm looking forward to getting home today to see how he is doing.

His foot was sticky when I first put him in the tank, which I heard is a good sign. He attached to a rock immediately after I placed him in the tank. Like I said, he has moved around a bit and is now on the glass, but unfortunately it is the back glass and I can't see his foot at all. Maybe he'll move around some more and give me a better view this evening when I get back from work.

Feeding . . . is Misis or Krill ok? Anything else you would suggest?

 

[Jason]

misis and krill are fine to feed with. they'll eat brine and freeze dried shrimp too.