BTA Growth rate?

[JMLewis]

So I ordered a BTA its gorgeous, bright pink tentacles, green mouth area sprinkled with white. However when the site said 3/4-1" they weren't kidding...

It's about as big in diameter as a nickel, was almost comical when I opened the box. So anyways how fast can I expect this guy to grow? And should I toss it a brine shrimp or a mysis once in a while to help it out?

 

[ClayaLaLeona]

How much did you pay for it?

 

[barry_keith]

Mine grows pretty quickly. I have only feed it once or twice. I notice my clown feeds it sometimes though.

 

[JMLewis]

It actually caught a couple pieces of brine when I was feeding so hope it'll grow pretty fast. My clowns have never seen an anemone before but they keep eyeballing it. Hope they don't try to love on it to fast.

 

[jmadison]

I never target feed my nems. Sorta keeps crazy growth spurts in check, but if you feed krill/other stuff 1-2x/week you'd be quite surprised how quickly they will grow. I'd say yours would probably double in size within a month or 2.

 

[JMLewis]

I never target feed my nems. Sorta keeps crazy growth spurts in check, but if you feed krill/other stuff 1-2x/week you'd be quite surprised how quickly they will grow. I'd say yours would probably double in size within a month or 2.

Sounds good. I might just let him be he caught his own without me target feeding. Only thing I'm worried about is if he catches a couple every day when I feed is that a bad thing? Can they over eat?

 

[jmadison]

Sounds good. I might just let him be he caught his own without me target feeding. Only thing I'm worried about is if he catches a couple every day when I feed is that a bad thing? Can they over eat?

The little bits and pieces it is "catching" out of the water column will not over feed it, unless you are dumping TONS AND TONS of food in(but this will likely cause many other issues[water quality/etc] before your nem would be considered overfed). Many people never target feed BTAs as they receive the lion share of their nutrition from proper lighting. It's mostly a personal preference, if you want them to grow slower and not reproduce at a rabbits pace don't target feed; if you have the real estate to have a big (and they CAN get BIG!) BTA or many BTA clones moving about your rock work then go ahead and target feed 3-4/month (maybe 2/week). Some people have had success with forcing splits by having a steady feeding schedule then stopping feeding and doing a large water change. Mixed results and feelings towards this practice.

I wouldn't target feed anything but enriched mysis or tiny chunks of krill. Your nem sounds way to small for larger chunks. It takes a toll on the nem digesting food so the smaller pieces the better. I would lean towards the lesser side of target feeding for this very reason.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[JMLewis]

Sounds good thank you :beer: