Anemone without tenacles

[IdahoCindy]

I had a healthy green BTA which split into two healthy BTA's. They are in a year-old tank. I recently added two clowns which immediately went to the anemones. In a matter of a couple of weeks the BTA's, both of them, were without tenacles and looking VERY bad. I moved them over to the 40g and they did not improve. Their mouths still looked like mushy cottage cheese and they were without tenacles.

I have since closed down the other tank and at that time I moved everything over to the 125 including these two. I figured they would either make it or they wouldn't. I put them on a rock and they latched on. They have since moved about and yesterday one of them looked like it was falling apart for sure. It was in a place I couldn't reach so I just hoped the skimmer would take care of the problem it may make in the tank. It has now been about 6 weeks for these two in their bad condition.

Now this AM the BTA has moved out of the bad spot, very much alive.

My question is this...will a BTA grow its tenacles back? Can it recover? Not WILL it, but CAN it? Anyone with any experience such as this?

BTW I have since purchased 2 very large RBTA's who are very healthy and hosting a group of 4 clowns.

Thanks for any input and advice.

 

[Anemone]

Yes, it can. A BTA without tentacles is generally starving to death. If you want to ensure it survives, you will need to feed it. Since it has no tentacles, you will need to hold a small piece of meaty food (I usually used frozen krill) against the BTA's mouth and allow the mouth to swell outward to engulf the food (don't push the food into the BTA's mouth!).

A small piece of meaty food a couple of times a week until you BTA has tentacles again and can hold onto its own food.

Good luck,
Kevin

 

[IdahoCindy]

Great! I'll try that. I was concerned that I would just make things worse by trying to feed it. I'll dive into the tank right now!