BTA help

[snowlynx]

Hi

I have a BTA for 6 days now. Got it online and it came cream color as show in photo, no reef lighting. It is supposed to be a common GBTA.

It was doing well for few days then started moving around.
I covered the wavemaker but not the aquaclear intake.

I woke up and found it stuck to the intake tentancle side.
I turned off the aquaclear but there was some damage.
It was all shriveled up.

It has been in a 1 gallon bucket with air stone for few hours now.
It is now clinging on the side of the bucket. I have a light on it as well.

I am using seachem stressguard and prime though those may not help it.

Some of its tentacles are still damaged. My question is how long
should I keep it in the bucket for observation. It was very weak previously
and could not grip but now handing on the side so it has some life in it.

I don't want a toxic time bomb in my tank either.

I know they move around but do sick ones tend to hang on their sides?

How would I know when it is safe to put it back into the main tank?

Lastly, temperature is my main concern with it being in a one gallon bucket.
I can do daily water changes for few days but not sure about the temperature.

Drops to maybe 68-70 deg. F in my apartment.

I am using that ebay 165W Wifi LED reef light set to about 40-55 level,
range is 0-255.

Thanks

 

[aznflyfisherman]

you should put it in a collandar n place it in your tank so it can heal, make sure it has water moverments. Keeping it in the bucket will probably kill it. From what you said it doesnt have major damage and should recover. Just monitor it to make sure it doestnt start melting away.

 

[snowlynx]

good idea using colander. I did place it back in the tank, it is very slowly opening up.
turned off the wave maker for now, still getting flow from the aquaclear.

darn thing might move out of the colander :-|

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Leaving it in the tank will give it better chance of healing up, i see worse n it still recovers. If its only some of the tentacles yours should be ok. From my experience gbta took longer to find a place it likes then all my rbtas.

 

[snowlynx]

Do you know roughly how it takes for them to heal?

What if they find a spot where they are sideways or upside down?

I turned light intensity up in case it was too low

 

[Lance M.]

Do you know roughly how it takes for them to heal?

What if they find a spot where they are sideways or upside down?

I turned light intensity up in case it was too low

Turn the lights down. It is better to have less and slowly increase than to have too much and try to have it recover. Yours in particular is already bleached so you need to acclimate it to your lighting.

It is still acclimating to your tank.

Depending on how healthy it was to begin with and stability of ideal conditions in your tank, it could heal overnight to a couple weeks.

 

[snowlynx]

It is still alive and hanging sideways. It's not eating. I have been target feeding with
Marine Snow.

Currently hanging sideways under a rock, tentacles facing downwards toward the sand

If it moves to where I can get to it gentle, I will put it in an isolation container, waiting to receive it since I don't have a colander

 

[aznflyfisherman]

You need to stop feeding it and let it heal up first. If your water parameters n lights are good they dont need to feed.

 

[Lance M.]

It is still alive and hanging sideways. It's not eating. I have been target feeding with
Marine Snow.

Currently hanging sideways under a rock, tentacles facing downwards toward the sand

If it moves to where I can get to it gentle, I will put it in an isolation container, waiting to receive it since I don't have a colander

If it is attached to the rock and looks ok, leave it alone and let it heal on its own.

Marine snow is fairly small. I would use mysis shrimp or something similar. Also after it heals.

 

[snowlynx]

This is what it looks like now in the isolation tank, I drilled holes for better flow.

This morning without lights on, it stretched up really tall and inflated.
Then the lights came on and it deflated to the size you see in the attached
photo. My lights are on 9 hours a day.

Does bloated tentacles mean anything? what you see in the photo.

Around the mouth area, I see 3 bright white streak, don't know if
that means anything.

I gave it some mysis last night and this morning there is a tiny BB pellet of mysis next to it so it spit it out.

Doesn't it need sufficient lighting to heal if it is not eating?

Very annoyed to receive a bleached anemone for my first online
purchase experience.

I am still unclear meaning of bleached, it's received too much light, not
enough, neglated, sick, dying?

Thanks

 

[snowlynx]

photo here is just over an hour later, it's deflated

what is normal and not normal when it comes inflating/deflating?

 

[Lance M.]

photo here is just over an hour later, it's deflated

what is normal and not normal when it comes inflating/deflating?

It needs water flow in that area.

Make sure there are a lot of holes and bigger if you can. It is very important to be getting a good amount of flow, especially when they are injured.

Yes it still needs some amount of light.

Bleaching is when it has lost a significant amount zooxanthellae from its body giving it a white appearance. It can happen due to stress from shipping, stress from new tank, and most commonly either too much light too soon or too little light over time. Too little light also normally results in loss of body mass, also shorter/fewer tentacles.

The white opaque steaks in the body, usually near the mouth, are normal.

 

[snowlynx]

It needs water flow in that area.

Make sure there are a lot of holes and bigger if you can. It is very important to be getting a good amount of flow, especially when they are injured.

Yes it still needs some amount of light.

Bleaching is when it has lost a significant amount zooxanthellae from its body giving it a white appearance. It can happen due to stress from shipping, stress from new tank, and most commonly either too much light too soon or too little light over time. Too little light also normally results in loss of body mass, also shorter/fewer tentacles.

The white opaque steaks in the body, usually near the mouth, are normal.

I drilled larger holes and put a smaller power head on the opposite end of the tank. It does not seem to like a lot of flow, stronger flow, less grip it has. I moved it further away from the power head but still has flow.

This is what it looks like in the morning without the reef light turned on.
It's bloated and laying on it's side, not even gripping to side wall.

Oddly when reef lights on, it deflates to size about 1-1.25" diameter

I think it may be still too weak to grip with it's foot?

 

[Lance M.]

I drilled larger holes and put a smaller power head on the opposite end of the tank. It does not seem to like a lot of flow, stronger flow, less grip it has. I moved it further away from the power head but still has flow.

This is what it looks like in the morning without the reef light turned on.
It's bloated and laying on it's side, not even gripping to side wall.

Oddly when reef lights on, it deflates to size about 1-1.25" diameter

I think it may be still too weak to grip with it's foot?

It looks like it is trying to right itself from the inflated foot.

Other than the color, it looks ok, definitely not in that bad of a place. I can not really make out the mouth.

Give it some time, probably several weeks to recover. Make sure it is getting some light and if its mouth is tight, I would try to feed it small amounts of mysis or you can try fish pellets. Just do small amounts, every other day if possible. Some can take every day. It depends on the progress it makes.

 

[snowlynx]

It looks like it is trying to right itself from the inflated foot.

Other than the color, it looks ok, definitely not in that bad of a place. I can not really make out the mouth.

Give it some time, probably several weeks to recover. Make sure it is getting some light and if its mouth is tight, I would try to feed it small amounts of mysis or you can try fish pellets. Just do small amounts, every other day if possible. Some can take every day. It depends on the progress it makes.

here are some more pics. rear view of the isolation container.
whatever reason, it wants to be on it's side and it's foot is not gripping.

I tried dropping few pellets this afternoon but it is not eating at all.

it has light and flow. all water parameters are good. will see how it goes.

 

[Lance M.]

here are some more pics. rear view of the isolation container.
whatever reason, it wants to be on it's side and it's foot is not gripping.

I tried dropping few pellets this afternoon but it is not eating at all.

it has light and flow. all water parameters are good. will see how it goes.

Mouth is closed. Doesn't look real bad. Hopefully it will start recovering.

 

[lilyost4290]

looks alright, just a little bleached. give it light and flow and it looks like it'll be okay

 

[chitown tom]

BTA's are resilient. I had a powerhead accident a while ago. I turned off the wavemaker and it came out.

Looked rough for a few days then starting healing up. After a few more days it split into 2.

Half a year later I have 2 healthy nems.

Make sure to leave it in the main tank and don't bother it too much it will be just fine.

 

[eppersonm16]

I have been growing bulb anemones for years and so I have accidentally torn many of them when i had to move the rock they were attached on and about 99% of them recovered, so from my experience they are very resilient.

 

[snowlynx]

Thanks

So when it heals, it will get a footing and tentacles straight up?

This one seems to tend to lay on it's side and not using it's foot

but I guess it's normal for them to inflate/deflate, move around.
Friggin shape shifter lol

hard to tell whats normal and whats not