BTA & mated maroons...

[jnarowe]

I need a "nutshell" outline on how to introduce a mated maroon pair and their host BTA into my tank including acclimation, feeding, and placement.

My 8-year-old son made a RASH purchase... This set is so beautiful I cannot describe it!

One complication is that my QT is only a 29g Tall and I think that is too small for this group. The BTA is the size of a dinner plate and the female maroon is 5 - 6 inches and very protective. I feel that this is too much bio-load for the QT and quite frankly just not enough room for them to acclimate properly. My display is 1000g and the only fish in it are 9 chromis that are 1-1/2 - 2". The display has just finished its cycle and there are a few small corals and a lot of nuisance algae. The tank is 35" deep and I am using 1000W MH 20K lamps.

Any suggestions and in particular a plan for acclimation would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anemone]

I'm a little worried about the stability of your newly cycled 1000 gallon tank - I don't recommend anemones for new set ups due to stability issues that can occur as they settle in.

My first question would be where this purchase ariginated. If wild caught, then you'll need to quaratine the clown pair for a longer period of time. If they came from another captive set up (and I'm thinking they may have, since 5-6" maroon females with their male partner don't often enter the trade as wild caught), then you may be able to do away with the QT entirely, or at a minimum, Qt for for a relative short period of time (like a week) to ensure that there are no disease issuse.

As for the BTA, I'd put it in the display tank from the beginning. #1, the display tank won't be much less stable than a 29 gallon QT with 7-9" of fish suddenly added, and #2, if there are any disease issues in the QT, you wouldn't be able to treat them without removing the anemone.

Acclimating the BTA - temperature acclimation first (float the bag in the tank or sump for 20 minutes), then either drip acclimate or add small cups of water every 7-10 minutes to the bag until you have doubled the volume of water in the bag. Pour off half the water and repeat. Then add the anemone to the tank, on a rock near a crevice or cave. The anemone will probably either bury its foot in the cave/crevice, or crawl completely inside. Leave the anemone alone, it will come back to the light when it is acclimated.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[jnarowe]

Kevin,

I am so glad you replied. Thank you!

Yes the clowns came from another system and have been at the LFS for several months. I see no disease issues and monitored them over a period of weeks before making the purchase. The LFS owner originally was not going to sell them and had a "Not For Sale" sign on them for a long time.

The clowns beat the crap out of a couple of anemones before finally settling in with this one, and I think it was soley an issue of size. The little anemones were just too delicate for these clowns.

I understand the issues with a new tank and that's why the LFS owner agreed to keep them until I am ready. Currently I am getting good polyp extension on various corals and that is a sign of stability so although it may not be ideal, I think the risk is low enough to try it within the next week or so.

How about feeding? The LFS is feeding the BTA silversides and I am not sure what the clowns are getting. Any suggestions to prepare for that part of the equation?

 

[Anemone]

The clowns will eat almost anything. I feed mine a mixture of various frozen foods - Formula 1, Formula 2, Special Reef, Enriched Brine, and mysis shrimp. Once a day is ideal, but every two days, or occasionally every third day will be fine. In a tank of that size, the clowns will find some forage.

If you feed the clowns often enough, the BTA will get enough food on their own (I rarely target feed my clones anymore), but if you wish to "make sure," feeding twice a week with silversides or krill will be plenty for your BTA.

Kevin

 

[jnarowe]

sweet. thanks for all your advice!

 

[jnarowe]

So here they are on intro day. I drip acclimated the BTA and dropped it into the display. Then I drip acclimated the maroons starting with the male. The clowns hunkered down when introduced to the display so I had to "encourage" them with a pipe to find their BTA. All is well and the BTA sems to like right where I put it.

These pictures aren't the best but the BTA has a really nice green hue with speckles and the female maroon is really dark. The blue "eye brows" are really sharp under the 20K lamps.

 

[stykthyn]

gorgeous pair, I am jealous.
get a few lawnmower blennies to clear out the algea

 

[SEAFLOWERS]

Really sweet, I hope the BTA keeps it's bubbles!

 

[jnarowe]

Thanks! It went down into the rock about 70% last night and is out on top today but the lights aren't on yet. The clowns just won't give it a break!

SEAFLOWERS The picture doesn't do it justice, but it looks just like your avatar.

stykthyn You don't like my tank beard? The turbos are working hard but I will get a couple of lawnmowers in when I can.

 

[rrome]

I would discourage in the future from making rash purchases of livestock. it is a good way to lose animals or introduce incompatible species

To clear out the algae, you need to let the tank cycle/age and when things stabilize, then think about using anything other than snails

Just my two cents. I wish you luck

 

[jnarowe]

Apr 07 2006 07:17:19
Temp pH ORP Cond
76.0 8.29 468 45.2
phosphate 0
nitrate 0
ammonia 0
Ca 390

So I tried to feed the clowns today and dropped in some blood worms. They are so busy with their tentacle orgy that they wouldn't come out to feed. So I pushed the blob of worms over to them and the anemone grabbed them and ate the whole thing. What a thief!!

rrome I realize it's a bit soon to add livestock but this was a special circumstance! Water quality is good and the fish are all acting well. Ordinarily I would have QT'd them for a month but they are, as a set, too large for my QT tank and I felt that the display would be more stable. I also didn't want to have them separated for any length of time. We know from extensive experience that anemones and clowns can survive in a captive reef individually, but they flourish when they are kept together so I decided to keep the family tight and made a faster than normal transition. No floaters this morning!:lol:

 

[rrome]

As I said, I wish you luck. I agree that sometimes you see something real good that is hard to pass up. I myself would have held off. And I would encourage you to do that in the future, specially with a 1K g tank. Research purchases carefully.

 

[jnarowe]

kackle kackle bok
bok bok bok

bok bok

:hmm5: