BTA flipping!

demonnite57

demonnite57

New member
Is it normal for a BTA to move and then fall and land so it's "foot" up and then just sit there? Mine's did this yesterday and it's really irritating my Cinn. Clown. Also, all my water parameters are exxcellent, and I just put two new Koralia 1's in my tank (which is better than the BioCube Powerhead we had)
 
How long has it been in the tank and how old is the tank?

...and what size is the tank?

I'll leave the parameters alone because I'm thinking the new powerheads made it try to move then knocked it over (depending on the size of your tank)
 
It's been in the tank for a couple weeks now and we're talking about a standard 20g tank and the tank is about 3 months old. Hoping he finds a new place to settle soon
 
What are your parameters (with numbers).
Your tank is still very new, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see some of these goofed up a little.
What are your lights? (type, spectrum, wattage, number)
Where did the nem come from? (store, local, wild/propagated)

No, this is not normal. Even if you got more powerheads BTA's will not just let go and float around. If it was a flow issue, they are far more likely to crawl across the rock. It is very dangerous (in the wild) for a BTA to completely let go - predetation, getting ripped on a rock, never finding another rock again etc - so this is a sign of something major going on. You say you've had it for a few weeks, so you put it in there when the tank was 2 months old? That's really pushing it, even for and old pro with tons of experience. Can you take a picture? Often times we might be able to see something about the anemone that may not register to you.
 
Are the powerheads pointed directly at it? That would make it let go. What sort of lights do you have?

Maybe put it on a rock crevice and cover it with a basket til it gets a good grab. The cinnamon might be nagging it too much for it to settle
 
I'll give the parameters when I get home (currently at work). I apologize for not being to give enough info at the moment. But we have t5's (2 Actinic, 2 10k bulbs.) and unfortunately I can't give the wattage until I get home. I apologize once again :( My girlfriend and I just tested everything last night and everything was good (as far as I could tell). What needed to be at 0 was at 0. (once again running off of memory).
 
Here's the numbers I got from our test kits:

ph - 8.8
cal - 420
SG - 1.024
P04 - 1.0
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - <5

The lighting I have is a Coralife T5 (4x65W - 2xActinic / 2x10k Day)

I got the BTA from a LFS who informed me it was Aquacultured

Also No Powerheads were pointing directly at it
 
I apologize (*slaps head*), just looked at the light and it's a 2x65W. Once again I'm sorry for this, I'm still learning my girlfriend is the one who bought all this stuff lol. Anyway tank dimensions is 24x12x18

The bulbs looks like it's 4 of them....somehow or another both bulbs are 10k/actinic

(I apologize for the newbishness =D)
 
Yeah 50/50s... I will let the others answer on this one. How long have you had the nem? It could be trying to acclimate to your changes or lighting. I have had my sebae for a few weeks now just trying to get it acclimated to my halides. It came from a store with old crappy pcs lol. I kept LTA's under 48w of t5's in a 37g tank for many months. 2 of them actually.
 
I've had the nem for about 3 weeks now. And I have a Sebae in another tank. We're trying to nurse him back to health, since he was bleached, but he's doing fine. He's eating and sticking in one spot. Anyway, would I need to get better lighting for one (for the BTA)?
 
If your water quality stays very good, you are able to get the nem to attach to the rocks and eat, you will be ok with that lighting. It's not T5, it's PC's. Many have been known to keep them under PC's, though it is on the lower end of the level of light. They are easier to keep with more light. I still will maintain that your tank is very new, and just because you are not seeing any levels of chemicals on your test kits doesn't mean there isn't a whole host of reactions going on in the tank. I'd venture to guess that the anemone is mad about it's water quality and is hoping by drifting around it will find better (they aren't very smart to know they are in a glass box!). Do some water changes the next few days, and make sure to cover your powerheads so it won't get chopped up. In the mean time, try to position the anemone on the rockwork where its foot can get inside of a good sized hole or crevice, and it's head can be out in the light. Once it attaches, try feeding very small pieces (no larger than pencil eraser) of meaty foods to see what happens.

Hos is it's color? pics?
 
Here's where I found him after work today.

BTA-1.jpg
 
It can vary depending on type of clown. I know Maroons and Tomato clowns can be a little rough on their hosting anemone. I believe the general rule of thumb is to have the diameter of the anemone 3-4 times bigger then the length of the clown.
 
Alright, appreciate the advice! We've separated the clown and the anenome and see if the anenome can calm down and be all back to normal!
 
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