amcvay1979
New member
Typically I don't buy much from Petco, I don't agree w/their standards and their tanks are almost always suspect for ich and other fun things, but one day I spotted a small rock with 2 Green BTA's attached. Deal was too good to say no to so I viewed it as me "saving" them from the Petco tanks.
My tank is a 150 tall (48x24x30) with AI Hydra 52's about 12 inches off the surface. Temp is 80-82, Salinity 1.026, Alk 9-11 dKh, Cal 450-480, Mag 1350 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate between 5 and 7 ppm. Phosphate 0. All tests are Hanna Checker or Red Sea test kits. I run a pretty powerful skimmer as well as a 36 watt UV filter.
So my conundrum is this: One BTA is doing fantastically well. He/she/it has moved twice and finally found it's home, near the top, on a flat rock in heavy flow right under the light. It will expand to about the size of softball every day and bubbles it's tips up. It accepts food regularly, never seen it spit food out, etc.
The other BTA is still attached to the same rock I purchased it on. It's never moved, but I have moved the rock twice to see if would do better in a lower light/lower flow area of the tank. It remains to be the same size I bought it several months ago, about the size of a silver dollar, maybe larger. It does bubble now but only in full daylight and even then it looks like a Ricordia mushroom more than a BTA. At night it will completely fold in on itself which concerned me, but it's doing it so regularly now and then opening up under full sun that it's just become part of it's regular habit. When I do feed it mysis, it appears to accept it readily but I've never seen it spit anything out and I've never really seen it "eat" the shrimp. It's sticking to its tentacles but I don't see it go into the mouth. Maybe it lets it go or something I'm not sure.
So far it's not gotten any bigger, but it hasn't gotten any smaller either. My lights are on acclimation mode until next month so they are running at about 60 percent of full power so I don't think it's getting too much light. I really thought if it were getting too much light or flow it would move, but it's never left that rock that I originally purchased it on.
So it seems to be "living" but not thriving. What suggestions would anyone have for me to try?
My tank is a 150 tall (48x24x30) with AI Hydra 52's about 12 inches off the surface. Temp is 80-82, Salinity 1.026, Alk 9-11 dKh, Cal 450-480, Mag 1350 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate between 5 and 7 ppm. Phosphate 0. All tests are Hanna Checker or Red Sea test kits. I run a pretty powerful skimmer as well as a 36 watt UV filter.
So my conundrum is this: One BTA is doing fantastically well. He/she/it has moved twice and finally found it's home, near the top, on a flat rock in heavy flow right under the light. It will expand to about the size of softball every day and bubbles it's tips up. It accepts food regularly, never seen it spit food out, etc.
The other BTA is still attached to the same rock I purchased it on. It's never moved, but I have moved the rock twice to see if would do better in a lower light/lower flow area of the tank. It remains to be the same size I bought it several months ago, about the size of a silver dollar, maybe larger. It does bubble now but only in full daylight and even then it looks like a Ricordia mushroom more than a BTA. At night it will completely fold in on itself which concerned me, but it's doing it so regularly now and then opening up under full sun that it's just become part of it's regular habit. When I do feed it mysis, it appears to accept it readily but I've never seen it spit anything out and I've never really seen it "eat" the shrimp. It's sticking to its tentacles but I don't see it go into the mouth. Maybe it lets it go or something I'm not sure.
So far it's not gotten any bigger, but it hasn't gotten any smaller either. My lights are on acclimation mode until next month so they are running at about 60 percent of full power so I don't think it's getting too much light. I really thought if it were getting too much light or flow it would move, but it's never left that rock that I originally purchased it on.
So it seems to be "living" but not thriving. What suggestions would anyone have for me to try?
