BTA Deflating

[dwiseman]

I have owned a BTA for a couple of weeks and have noticed that almost every day it deflats for several hours. In fact last night it was deflated and this morning before work it was still deflated. Should I be concerned? Is there anyting I can do?

 

[chip721]

Your lighting seems adequate. Assuming your water parameters are in line, was it healthy when you purchased it - no damaged pedal, no gaping mouth, good color? How often and what are you feeding it?

 

[dwiseman]

It was in the lfs for weeks and every time I went in it looked very healthy. I will be honest I tried a few days ago to feed it a silverside but didn't seem to want it. I feed the whole tank with mysis and brine shrimp, cyclopeeze and photplankton on a rotating basis. Could it be that I am not feeding it enough and if so do I put the silverside right in the mouth.

 

[arson420]

Where is it placed in the tank? If it's towards the bottom of the tank then the VHO's might not be reaching it. How deep is the tank? It shouldn't be deflating for that long. I have almost the same setup you do. 100 gallon with 4 VHO's. I don't think that's sufficient lighting for most anemones.

 

[dwiseman]

It is at the top of the tank in the right corner by the overflow. The lights are brand new probably 3 weeks old. 2 White actinics and two super actinics.

 

[dwiseman]

Here is a picture of my BTA over a rock. As far as I know it did not inflate today. I did feed it a silverside when I got home and it ate it. The ricorda is above the BTA they are not touching each other. The circles in the pic are the BTA not two.http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/8806BTA.JPG

 

[dwiseman]

Does anybody have pics of a sick bta? I think I am losing mine.

 

[dwiseman]

Here is a picture that I took tonight. I could not see a mouth. It looks like the mouth has split. I know the picture is not that good. Does not appear to be decomposing yet. From the picture is the prognosis good or bad?http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/8806BTA_at_Night.JPG

 

[Beverly]

How large is your BTA? If it is still rather small, say, under 6" in diameter, I would not feed it a whole silverside. Try feeding it smaller amounts more frequently, such as a dozen mysis every 2-3 days.

Here's a short video on the way I feed my RBTA....

Feeding Mysis to my RBTA, January 26/06
(320 x 240 pixels, 9.3 MB, 2:11 minutes)

 

[dwiseman]

From the picture can you see if the bta is sick or does this look normal.

 

[shuldaqt]

my BTA does that from time to time, i mean just looks dead, but in an hour or so it would be big and bubbly again and i have MH so i doubt its your lighting.

HTH

Paul

 

[dwiseman]

I will keep my fingers crossed

 

[tonypittman]

Same for me, shuldaqt. Mine deflates and inflates....looks dead, but then looks totally filled out an hour later. I have 2 150W Metal Halides and 2 96W actinics.....so I think it has plenty of light in my 95G tank.

 

[tonypittman]

BEVERLY, great video. Thanks for that.

 

[Beverly]

You're welcome, Tony