BTA help

[udorazio]

Hi,
New to the community figured i would join because always reading good info. Anyway i have a 92 corner that i have set up for almost two years now and i have had mostly fish and eay corals. I was in the fish store two weeks ago and saw a good looking but small rose bubble tip. I took a shot and my maroon clown went right to him once in the tank. Here we are a couple weeks later and the clown will still host to him but i can never tell if he is feeding him. I tried myself to place small bits of food but didnt seem like it took. He pulls himself completly into a whole in the rock at night and then comes back out when the lights come on but the last couple days his mouth is slightly open. After hours of reading im not sure what to do if anything? Any help would be appreciated.
2 150 w MH pennants
2 39 t5 ho ATI blue plus

 

[Alexwilson1337]

What's your pH at and how's your alkalinity?

 

[udorazio]

Ph is 8.2
Alk is 8

 

[Alexwilson1337]

Hmmmm water temp? And copper in the water, nitrates high salt ?

 

[udorazio]

WAter temp always 78
Do regular changes 10 gal a week.
My corals all look good just don't know much about anenome
Nitrates always around 5 ppm.
Sal 1.025. Use reef crystals.

 

[Alexwilson1337]

I guess it could still be acclimating to the tank. They typically don't absolutely need to be feed at they photosynthesize food and filter feed but it could just be that the maroon is being to rough with it they have a tendency to be like that

 

[udorazio]

Ok thanks for the info. Ill keep an eye on it and my fingers crossed

 

[Alexwilson1337]

if you start to see white stringy stuff come out of the mouth that probably means its on its last legs and you may want to quarentine it so it doesn't spike your tank enough to crash.

 

[tatuaje08]

Mouth open could mean several things, and not all are bad. How big is the maroon compared to the nem? Does it appear the maroon is too rough with it?

 

[udorazio]

The clown is small but about the length of the bta. The maroon seems a little rough at times but not sure if its too much. The nem is still opening and this morning pulled himself back into his hole. Also his mouth wasn't as open as before. I could be possibly overacting but I want to try to make it work. I saw a green bta alot bigger at the store and was thinking of adding it to try and let the clown work that one instead until the rose grows. Don't know if its a good idea or not. Thanks for the help

 

[Susan Lohrer]

I have a BTA that seemed reclusive and changed its mind a lot about where it wanted to be for the first week or so (it was also healing from just having split). The rock I put it on has five small caves, and the nem would mosey a few inches from one to the other. It seems to have picked one cave and sleeps in there every night and comes out every morning. I've never noticed its mouth being open, but when I feed it, it takes food and then curls up for a while. It's about four inches across, and one of my two-inch clowns hangs out in it from time to time. It doesn't seem to mind.

Depending on the size of your tank, you may not want to put a second nem in there. It might be better to put a cage over the existing nem to protect it from the fish until it's a little bigger and more settled in.

 

[tatuaje08]

The clown is small but about the length of the bta. The maroon seems a little rough at times but not sure if its too much. The nem is still opening and this morning pulled himself back into his hole. Also his mouth wasn't as open as before. I could be possibly overacting but I want to try to make it work. I saw a green bta alot bigger at the store and was thinking of adding it to try and let the clown work that one instead until the rose grows. Don't know if its a good idea or not. Thanks for the help

If the nem could be stressed by the clown. Usually, you want a nem much bigger in comparison to your maroon(s).

 

[Branden_Pearson]

I would say put the clown in your qt tank or sump if you have room and give the nem a week or two to get settled in and start taking food you give it. Then you can add the clown back to the tank and see if it does the same thing again and you will know if the clown is to rough. Just remember that every nem is different so there is no sure solution.