BTA "mouth" question.

[$eaba$$]

So, I just look at my BTA, which I got last saturday, so I've had it almost a week. When I got it, it was bleached, and still is, but is starting to get a bit better. Earlier during the day, I tried to feed it some mysis shrimp, but am not sure that it ate it. Now, probably about 6 hours later I look at it, and it opens its mouth, and a bit of slime comes out. Is this normal? Is it just excreting what it ate?

Thanks!

 

[garygb]

That's very normal, especially when you first get an anemone. Even established ones do that sometimes.

 

[$eaba$$]

Alright, thanks for the reply! Now it looks fine and looks just as it did before. Does this mean there's a good chance that it ate the mysis shrimp I fed it?

Thanks!

 

[garygb]

There is no way to know unless you just watch to make sure it ingests the food. Sometimes they will eject food later, even after they take it in. For a new anemone like you have there, I would feed small pieces of say shrimp, squid or silverside, no larger than a small pea. After it settles in for a few weeks, you can feed two or three of those pea-sized pieces of food. At this point, I wouldn't worry too much if the anemone isn't eating. I would try a small piece of fresh food every day or two, watch and see if it eats, and if it doesn't try again the next day.