BTA Question

[fishman]

I bought a BTA last Thurs. He has been open from time to time but appears to still be acclimating and finding his area. I have another anenome (pink tip condy) that has been in the tank for about 4-5 months. My tank is a 125. Friday and pink tip decided to move and both anenomes were on opposite sides of the tank but almost back to back. So I decided to help the BTA out and move him. I dont think I harmed his foot but move him to the other end of the tank. He has been there since and been on the same rock. he hasnt moved from that rock but has been closed up quite a bit. So I decided to move the rock and the BTA came out since. He had been under a PH so I moved him to a less current area. Again he has been in and out. My question is:
1) I know I shouldnt move him, but do you think I damaged his foot and he isnt moving because of this? I didnt see any portion of his foot on the rock I moved him from.....
2) how long does it take to acclimate to the tank?
3) he hasnt eaten other than me target feeding him with liquid phyoplnkton (sp).
4) Is it normal for him to be closed up half of the time he is in the tank?
5) When should he start eating? I placed a small peice of krill in the middle and closed up on it one time, but wouldnt take it.
6) Do people with cleaner shrimps have problems with BTA? My cleaner is wanting to clean the anenome...
Thanks

[fishman]

Also how do you know if a BTA is dieing? My still looks ok but when he is closed up, (not all the way) his mouth is open. I do not want to take a chance on this BTA dieing and taking my tank down with it. I got it in hopes of my clowns hosting it (False percs)

[Atari]

Anytime you handle an anemone you take a big risk.. if it's mouth is open then that is supposed to be a bad sign. Keep an eye on it and if it starts to expel it's guts then that's the time to remove it.

[fishman]

What type of time frame is it when it dies?? Is it 24 hours, 8 hours, etc?? Or is there a set time frame??

[Atari]

I've never personally experienced it so can't help there unfortunately.. I would assume once it starts to deteriorate then it all happens quite quickly.

Good luck.. hope the little guy pulls through.

[fishman]

I just dont want it to detroy my tank....I have heard and dont know that its true that if one dies it will destroy a tank...is this true? Its a 125...

[Atari]

You will definitely need to remove it as soon as possible once it's a goner.

[fishman]

Well its still intact and "solid". My only concern is its mouth is open quite a bit when its closed up. Maybe Im just paranoid as I have only had one other anenome (pink tip)...

[Atari]

Are you sure it's not just deflated after expelling waste?

[HoopsGuru]

Can you take a picture? It would really help determine if the mouth is indeed open and gaping.

Aslo, what kind of lighting do you have on the tank..filtration...etc.? IMO, every time you touch and/or move it around you could be annoying it and causing it to stay retracted even longer. IME, bta's are pretty darn hardy in good water conditions.

[klam]

My bta has been in my tank for 6-8 months so I have very little experiance with them. Try some other kinds of food like silversides and mysis.

Here is a good link for BTA questions with lots of pics. Hope this helps
http://www.freewebs.com/karenssaltwater/

[MT79]

IMO, every time you touch and/or move it around you could be annoying it and causing it to stay retracted even longer.

I agree. They really don't like being interfered with. If it was to die it may happen quick, 3-4 days, or over a period of a few months it may slowly shrivel away. If it is not taking food, that isn't a good sign. IMO, leave it alone for a couple of weeks, let it get comfortable and move where it wants, and then try feeding a small piece of shrimp, etc. Keep in mind it is not good to overfeed an anemone. In a 125 gal. you have a good amount of water so I wouldn't stress about it nuking the tank, just watch it. HTH.

[fishman]

I see bits from time to time of something coming out of its mouth...Doesnt appear to be a lot so i dont think its spitting out its guts. Dont know what it would be expelling as I have had it for 3 days now and fed it nothing but phyoplnaton with a syringe.....and very little of this. when its inflated, the mouth is generally closed. I wouldnt say its gaping but its open. I have VHO 440 watts over a 125. Have a wet dry. been set up for 1.5 years. All levels as of today are perfect...PH 8.2. Temp 80-81. Even tested for phosphates and its almost undetectable. I have touch it a few times (not directly) so I imagine I am annoying it for sure. I just dont want it to die in my tank.
Also the foot looks like its attached really well too..when its inflated it looks perfect...Was open most of yesterday that i was home and even last night after the lights were off. I went in around 12:30 PM and it was still open.
Plus I dont think the CBS or the cleaner shrimp are helping either...they are way to curious and want to sniff around it..I just want to be prepared to pull it out if it even shows signs of dieing...

[HoopsGuru]

Everything sounds fine tank wise...and I concur with MT79 that with 125g of water, you can rest easy at night that you won't wake up to disaster if it does pass. After a bad batch of salt (and a large water change), I had one "melting" before my eyes that I kept in the tank for over a day before I was sure that it was dying and removed it. This was in a 55g. Just keep a watchful eye, you will have little doubt if things are really going south.

In the meantime, I would completely leave it alone. They really don't require feeding in the presence of good lighting, although you can feed meaty foods to supplement their diets. I would not use phytoplankton in the future, but rather small chopped up pieces of fresh, uncooked seafood (shrimp, fish, etc.). Keep in mind also that feeding your fish will inadvertantly feed your anemone at the same time, I am down to feeding my BTA pair once every two weeks or so, and will probably elimate it altogether. I found no real benefit from the heavy feeding I started with.

A picture would still be nice to get a good look at it, if possible.

[fishman]

Another question reg this same issue. I went home to find the anenome looks great and was full so all appears well. However, 2-3 times now I have noticed that the anenome has its mouth open and a clear film with what appears to be "poop" coming out of its mouth. Is this how they expel waste? Most of the stuff coming out is a clea film. I think I read somewhere yesterday that this is what their waste looks like...any ideas?

[revhtree]

Yes, it sounds like it is just expelling waste.

When it does, it looks like a long stringy film, that is transparent looking. Sometimes a little dark.

[HoopsGuru]

What goes in must come out....and they only got one "opening" . I would just keep a close eye for a few days. If it continues to remain full most of the time I think it would be fine.

[fishman]

Rev
yes it looks like a transparant film with "bits" of stuff in the film. Your exactly right. I will assume its taking care of business then. I dont know what it would have to expel as it has eaten nothing that I know of.
Everytime I have gone home he has been full and looking healthy. Will keep my fingers crossed.

[Atari]

It doesn't have to be fed food to produce waste.. remember they get most of their nutrition from the light.