final adding to the the tank

[WarOrks15]

ok so the tank has been up for 7 months now and i would like to add some more stuff. i right now have some corals and a yellow watchman goby, 1 clown fish percula and 3 chromes, and a cleaner shrimp. well i would like to get one more cleaner shrimp and 2 more chromes (so they school) and i would like to get a pistal shrimp. a colorful one something for the yellow watchman. would this all be too much a 46 gal tank? oh i would also add a rose bud to the tank. but this would after i get the 4x 96 watt bulbs on the tank. what do you think? would this be too much for the tank. and would they fight?

 

[steve-s]

The cleaner shrimp or pistol will not add anything to the bioload and will not be a concern. The only concern is to be sure the other shrimp are larger than the pistol as they can prey on smaller crustaceans at times (rarely).

You could get 2 more chromis but that'd be about it for the fish load. You may also wish to consider a mate for the perc as an althernate. Clowns in general live much longer healthier lives if kept in mated pairs as apposed to solo.

As far as the BTA, you may have to much light once you upgrade to include the additional 2x96w. Contrary to popular belief, BTA's are not intense light anemones. With the amount of LR you have it should find a decent spot easily enough depending on your aquascaping where it can hide and extend outward as needed. If your water parameters have been stable for several months, you may be fine with the addition. If there has been anything amiss recently I would hold off a few more months. Just be sure you try and get a clone if possible, nothing wild caught.

Cheers
Steve

 

[WarOrks15]

ok so i went to the lfs today. and i was looking for the bta and i did not find one. but i did find a very good looking lon tentical. i took a pic just before i went to work and he had been in the tnak for about 30 min so he dose not look the best but i think he has good color. will my light be too strong for him too? after the 4x 96 watt pc?

why am i getting a message that i ahve reached my upload quota of 2 mb? how do i get past that?

 

[WarOrks15]

ok so i found out what i need to do to do more uploads to the site. i will give the site some money. but until then i have put it in the pic. here is the link to the pic.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4638&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1
dose he look like he is doing well? he was only $75 and i think he look very healthy.

 

[lando]

Hey WarOaks...Just FYI. I was in A Wet Pet in Apple Valley two days ago and they had a couple really nice Rose BTA for sale. Not sure what the price was. When I bought mine some time ago it was $65.

 

[steve-s]

Hard to be definitive about the health of an anemone without seeing more detailed pics but I did not see anything in the pic you posted to suggest it's unhealthy.

That said though, if you wish to forgo the BTA for a different species I would suggest waiting a few more months. The lighting would be fine for an LTA but they are as a rule much harder to care for and always WC.

Cheers
Steve

 

[WarOrks15]

you you are saying that the lta likes the bright light? and the 4x 96 watt will be good for him? i dont think i will have both the bta and the lta at this time. i think i will only stik with one for now. and i was reading up on them and i found that they like to be in the sand. is that right? i started him on the rock and he has worked his way down to a ph but ont worrie i have a sponge on the intake of it. and he has been sitting there for about 12 hours or more. i think he likes it. but i dont. it is on the back side of my rock and i cant see him. but i did get a look at him a little bit ago and his mouth looks like it is closed and that is a good sign. he is fully inflated and looks to be doing well. so far.

lando i have been to wet pet many time in the past weeks and never really saw any rba.
i think that they must have just gotten them in. i like this one and i am happy with him. but thanks for the ehads up. i got him at the place in savage. he was very cheap (only $75) and i know there corals start at like 100 so it was a good deal. and there stuff is always in realy good health

 

[steve-s]

and i was reading up on them and i found that they like to be in the sand. is that right? i started him on the rock and he has worked his way down to a ph but ont worrie i have a sponge on the intake of it. and he has been sitting there for about 12 hours or more. i think he likes it. but i dont. it is on the back side of my rock and i cant see him. but i did get a look at him a little bit ago and his mouth looks like it is closed and that is a good sign. he is fully inflated and looks to be doing well. so far.

Sounds to me like you already bought the LTA. Yes they will inhabit the sand moreso than the higher rocks due to the fact they like to bury their foot. Typically they will either place the foot deep into a rock crevace or dig into the substrate where the sand and rock meet.

4x96w will support the LTA just fine but the 2x96w is a bit iffy depending on where it ends up. Sometimes unfortunately we don't like their prefered homes once they find their "happy spot" but there's not much you can or should do about it. If you move the anemone, chances are you could damage it or it will simpley return to that spot later. They choose them for a reason, water flow and light intensity primarily.

Cheers
Steve

 

[WarOrks15]

well i just gave the lta a sliver side. it was about 3 in long and he ate it all. it took him some time to put ti in his mouth but he ate it.

is there any way to get him off the rock he is one and put in on the floor? he is in the back side of the tank. i can see him very well becasue that side is right up to the wall. and i cant just move the rock because the rock he is on is big.

lando i did go to a wet pet and look at all of there rba. the few i saw were really small and i wanted some bigger. but thanks for the heads up.

 

[steve-s]

well i just gave the lta a sliver side. it was about 3 in long and he ate it all. it took him some time to put ti in his mouth but he ate it.

Just because they have a mouth does not mean they need to be fed. If you feed the tank for fish on a regular basis, I would forgo any future feedings or at the most feed only 1-2x a month with small portions.

is there any way to get him off the rock he is one and put in on the floor? he is in the back side of the tank. i can see him very well becasue that side is right up to the wall. and i cant just move the rock because the rock he is on is big.

Not without causing possible damage or stress to the anemone. About the only thing I would attempt is a low flow powerhead pointed at the base of it's foot. It may irritate it enough to move but there is also a high possibility it could cause a good deal of stress or force it to move to an even more undesirable location. Personally I would suggest you leave it be.

Cheers
Steve

 

[WarOrks15]

i was reading on all of the sites that you need to feed it about 1-2x times a week. the lfs also feed them. i feed the fish and other things in the tank flake food or shrimp. shrimp about once a week or so and the flake food about every other day or every 3 days.

 

[lando]

So you got your LTA at Sea Dreams? That is like three minutes from my house. About a month ago, the manager of the store either quit or was let go, they are not clear as to the details. The owner just said that he was no longer with the company and that he wishes him luck. That usually means he was let go. Anyways, Todd the owner, said they were going to get a lot better selection of fish and keep the great selection of corals that they already had. He also told me they were dropping the prices of all of the livestock. You can get most corals now for under $100. I just got a huge torch coral for $79. It would have easily been $150-$200 with the other guy there. Todd just hired a new aquatics tech named Jason from Arizona. He seems knowlegable and as long as the corals and fish keep looking spectacular I will continue to go there and suggest them to others. How was your experience buying the LTA? Sorry it is a little off topic. Lando

 

[lando]

Oh, forgot to mention...checked out your gallery and your tank looks great! Something to proud of! Lando

 

[WarOrks15]

thank you. but the live stock still look just as good. and the person who helped me was VERY helpful. she married to pat. i dont know her name but when i got it the 2 clown fish did not want to leave it and they even stayed in it when the thing was out of the water. she asked me to call her and tell her how it looked when i got it in. very nice people.

 

[steve-s]

i was reading on all of the sites that you need to feed it about 1-2x times a week. the lfs also feed them. i feed the fish and other things in the tank flake food or shrimp. shrimp about once a week or so and the flake food about every other day or every 3 days.

I am very aware of the recommendations that people convey concerning anemone care and few (if any) of those actually keep them. They simpley pass on what they've heard. The circumstances for directly feeding an anemone greatly depends on it's environment and general feedings that take place within the aquarium. Very few anemone's actually require it or benefit from it save non-zooxanthellae producing species, BTA's for cloning purposes and when recuperating from a bleaching episode. I can only relay to you my personal experience with keeping them and I can assure you, they don't need it.

I leave the choice to you

Cheers
Steve

 

[Atari]

Steve, when you say they don't need it.. do you mean to get-by or to thrive? Would there be any detrimental effect from feeding?

 

[steve-s]

Steve, when you say they don't need it.. do you mean to get-by or to thrive?

To thrive. I have never believed in the "get by" way of doing things. Any animal we care for should be given optimal conditions to prosper, not minimal.
Lets be clear though, wether or not to suppliment the feeding definately depends on the overall circumstances of the tank and how much is generally fed. Each set up being different, there will always be variances.

Would there be any detrimental effect from feeding?

Definately. Anemones store a fair amount of energy reserves in their tissues. When feeding solid foods too often or in large amounts the anemone uses up a good portion of those stored energies as it must process the food and then expell the wastes. It is when expelling these wastes that the anemone can burn up a great amount of the stored energy especially when done on a continual basis. When the anemone shrinks into nothing to expell the waste and the recoveres to it's original glory many assume this to be a normal happening and nothing to be concerned about. In fact this is increadibley stressful to the animal and often contributes to their downfall and shortlived captive lives if on any kind of regular basis. They will often start to lose overall mass and begin slowly shrinking in size or worse never adapt to the constant food source and simpley give up. They should not need to go through this draining event frequently or unneccessarily.

Treat this part as purely speculative but if you consider that over 85% of their natural food source is from the zooxathellae in their tissues in which is converted to sugars, you are in effect changing their high carbohydrate food diet to that of a high protein diet. This too will have an effect on their overall health and what I believe also contributes to wasting and in some cases a quick death for those that cannot adapt.

I am by no means suggesting that an anemone should never have supplimental proteins but it should be minimal and what is given and in what frequencey should (if any) be balanced with what is fed for any fish that may also be in the system.

Thank for the opportunity to rant 8)

Cheers
Steve

 

[lando]

good info Steve. I am feeding my Rose BTA one chunk of froozen krill and one chunk of froozen mysis once a week. So it gets target fed twoice weekly, and I ussually soak the krill in garlic. This this a good schedule?

 

[steve-s]

BTA's are a bit of an anomaly in this regard. Most seem to adapt but is typically seen by way of cloning. Instead of the expelling of wastes, the excess foods are used in reproduction which I find is unique to this species. I would still not suggest "going to town " in hopes of producing this affect but rather a slow build of nutrient to see where a comfortable ground would be. They are not what you would consider a typical light pig as most host species would be. This would suggest that supplimental feeding may play a larger role but is not true of other host species.

Keep in mind that BTA's not only clone when food supply is abundant but also as a means of survival when under constant stress. The key is recognizing the difference.

Cheers
Steve