Yay! My BTA split today! Questions

[EvilTwin]

I have a small greenish BTA that I bought about a month ago. I had added it to my preivous tank, a 60g hex, which I replaced two weeks ago with a 75g. It seemed to transition to the new tank well, but for the last week it has not been eating. When I looked today, one side was really deflated, the other normal. It had planted it's foot deep in a hole in a piece of LR. When I picked up the rock to look closer, I found that it had split. My only concern now is that the one is still quite deflated. I assume it should open up again in the next day or so, yes? Should I wait a bit before I attempt to feed either one again? Here's a pic from before it split, about a week ago or so.

[AquaReefer]

I would hold off from feeding the smaller one and watch over it closely. If it does not open up within the next day or 2 I would remove it. That is the last thing you want is an anemone breaking down in your tank. Good Luck, keep us updated

[melosu58]

As mentioned the other day by Brenden, A BTA splitting is not always a good sign. They split when under stress.. Keep an eye on them to see how they are doing. I might even think about some PWC to make sure water parameters are not the cause of stress.

[EvilTwin]

Well, both have reinflated now and are remaining in the same hole. I suspect that one may have to move if they are healthy and start getting bigger.

[Phyl]

They will also split when well fed, which by the looks of it, yours is. My gBTA has split twice now (and I'd like it to stop, thankyouverymuch)! I don't even feed mine as the last thing I want to do is encourage him to split! Your gBTA looks beautiful. Nice bulbs on it. I'm sure the baby will start taking food in a few days, but give it time to recover and start off with smaller particle sizes as they'll be easier to digest.

[h8z2luze]

About how long does it take for them to split?

[EvilTwin]

When I bought it, the guy working at the LFS where I got it said that they feed their anemones well. When I bought it, this gBTA was much smaller than the other two they had, but the others were a bit more bleached. Surprisingly, the guy recommended I buy this smaller one. I would think most stores would get rid of the bad specimens. I like this LFS, but I always ask where the day's SW expert is before I buy something.

Here's a pic I took the day I brought the bta home, after it planted it's foot in the hole it settled into:


For now, the two BTAs are staying in that same hole. I suspect (and hope) one will decide to move out at some point