ReefNutPA
New member
Hello all!
I purchased a RBTA back on July 30th. Looked absolutely awesome and was very sticky. I added it to my year old 40 gal tank with an Aquactinics TX5 light fixture (5 bulbs).
The first or second week in the tank, it unfortunately consumed a 3" powder blue tang that I had not yet moved to it's larger home. I noticed this because the entire tail of the tang was protruding through the side of the anemone, obviously causing a tear. It expelled the tang the following day, and except for being deflated for a day or two seemed fine.
Since that day in the beginning of July, it has inflated/deflated numerous times throughout the day. It also lost all stickiness. To the point I haven't been able to feed it for quite a few weeks now. Not even frozen mysis...just blows away.
Two possible theories I came up with is the anemone wasn't adjusted to the lighting as it should have been (my error). I notice if I cover the tank directly above the anemone to block the light it opens a bit more. The other theory is the tear caused by eating the tang has done more damage than I thought. Possibly causing an infection? As it's attached well to a crevice on the underside of a rock, it would not be easy to remove at this point.
I have attached some pictures, the best I could get tonight. I do notice the tentacle along the outer edge are very short/stubby, but that could have been because it just inflated again shortly before the picture was taken. The mouth is not open wide an gaping, but it is 'puffy' and open a bit. Not tightly closed as the nems in my other tanks are.
Any advice on how to nurse my RBTA back to health, if possible, would be appreciated. I'm hoping to find a way to get it sticky again so I can feed it properly.
Tank parameters are:
Temp: 78F
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.0 (salifert)
Ca: 370 (salifert)
KH: 7 (salifert)
Alk: 2.5 (salifert)
Mg: 1140 (Salifert)
Thanks in advance for any help!
Tom
I purchased a RBTA back on July 30th. Looked absolutely awesome and was very sticky. I added it to my year old 40 gal tank with an Aquactinics TX5 light fixture (5 bulbs).
The first or second week in the tank, it unfortunately consumed a 3" powder blue tang that I had not yet moved to it's larger home. I noticed this because the entire tail of the tang was protruding through the side of the anemone, obviously causing a tear. It expelled the tang the following day, and except for being deflated for a day or two seemed fine.
Since that day in the beginning of July, it has inflated/deflated numerous times throughout the day. It also lost all stickiness. To the point I haven't been able to feed it for quite a few weeks now. Not even frozen mysis...just blows away.
Two possible theories I came up with is the anemone wasn't adjusted to the lighting as it should have been (my error). I notice if I cover the tank directly above the anemone to block the light it opens a bit more. The other theory is the tear caused by eating the tang has done more damage than I thought. Possibly causing an infection? As it's attached well to a crevice on the underside of a rock, it would not be easy to remove at this point.
I have attached some pictures, the best I could get tonight. I do notice the tentacle along the outer edge are very short/stubby, but that could have been because it just inflated again shortly before the picture was taken. The mouth is not open wide an gaping, but it is 'puffy' and open a bit. Not tightly closed as the nems in my other tanks are.
Any advice on how to nurse my RBTA back to health, if possible, would be appreciated. I'm hoping to find a way to get it sticky again so I can feed it properly.
Tank parameters are:
Temp: 78F
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.0 (salifert)
Ca: 370 (salifert)
KH: 7 (salifert)
Alk: 2.5 (salifert)
Mg: 1140 (Salifert)
Thanks in advance for any help!
Tom
