BTA not doing so hot?

[futureeyedoc]

Wondering what's going on with my BTA that I got about 4 months ago at my LFS.
This is in my 24g nano with 150w Hang on Metal Halide ( 14k).
I had previously had a condy in there that started out about the size of a baseball when extended and within 3-4 grew to about the size of a basketball extended.
Problem is my BTA just doesn't seem happy. He remains a pale orange-ish color, never really extends his tenacles, and is in "purge" mode I'd say more than 1/2 the time.
I'm wondering if the 150W halide is just too much for it?
I know water quality in that tank is prestine. Everything's at zero, pH, salinty, temp are great and consistant. Flow is good as well.
My clown is very happy hosting it but I'd just like to see the anemone itself doing a little better.
(ps- I feed it cyclopeeze, frozen brine shrimp, and occassional pieces of shrimp)

Any ideas????

Thanks

 

[wareagle35031]

are the bulbs in the metal halied getting old?

 

[NicoleC]

What light was the anemone under at the LFS?

 

[futureeyedoc]

I got him only a day or couple of days after he got the BTA in from elsewhere so it wasn't at the LFS long... wasn't under that strong of lights there....
The halide bulb in my tank was just replaced probably 3 months ago...

 

[gflat65]

Has it always been contracted, or does it sometimes look better than others?

Is it attached to the rockwork?

Does it move around at all, or pretty much stay in one place?

Any pics?

Depending on what you mean by pale green, it may not change color much. If it has lost some zoox, but still has color, it can recover. When you feed, does it actually eat what you feed, or does it bring it into the mouth, then let it fall away later?

How big the anemone (esp compared to the clown)? Clowns can be rough on them if they start off a little less than healthy. After 4 months, that wouldn't seem to be the case (if it were really unhappy for four months, it'd be detached and dying), but worth a shot.

 

[futureeyedoc]

It is pretty solidly attached to a rock but stays underneath the overhang away from the lights. Basically stays open most of the night when the lights are off, and then goes into "purge" mode for most of the day. But its been on the same rock for probably 3 months and doesn't move much if at all.
When its really open all the way its proly 6 inches across.... easily 2-3x the size of the clown.

Eating wise it will usually take and eat small pieces of shrimp...occassional it will drop it but thats not the case the majority of the time....

color is just kinda orange.... I believe was green tipped when I first got it but I haven't seen that in ages.
It had nice little "bubbles" - the classic ones you always see in pics for tenacles at the LFS, but hasn't ever done that under a higher light condition such as my current tank....

 

[mltmtascp]

What kind of clownfish do you have hosting in the BTA? My Tomato clowns will kill a bta. They host it to death.

Monica

 

[futureeyedoc]

its just a regular old percula
and the anemone was acting this way even before the clown started hosting it...
Plus it looks the worst during the day when the clown doesn't pay any attention to it....

 

[futureeyedoc]

I'll try and get some pics up soon... maybe I'm just stupid and the guy at the LFS snuck a different anemone in instead of the one I picked when I turned my back to look at other stuff....lol

 

[mltmtascp]

Do you hand feed your bta? We have two under pc light and they are doing great. We buy raw shrimp and feed them once or twice a week.

Monica

 

[NicoleC]

I suspect we have some combination of excess light, harassment by the clowns and poor water quality. "Poor" doesn't have to be something you can measure, it could be a minor contaminant, perhaps introduced by your hands or in the air.

It doesn't sound critical, but the anemone should have settled in by now. I would start a routine of a little TLC. Keep your hands out of the tank unless gloved and watch for aerosols or other possible airborne chemicals. Begin weekly large water changes with well-aged water to dilute anything that may have contaminated the water. Also *small* daily hand feedings with very small particles. One BTA favorite is finely chopped table shrimp including the shell, but they also like frozen formula 2.

You may also consider using several layers of fiberglass windows screening to reduce the light over the anemone to see if the anemone reacts better. If yes, then remove the layers slowly (about one per week) to acclimate the anemone to full light in that tank. In general, BTAs don't like that much MH light, but they will adapt to it given the chance.

Another thing to look out for is flow. While an anemone will usually move if the flow is to brisk or inadequate, some specimens just aren't real travelers and instead will stick in one spot even if unhappy. The flow should be enough to gently wave the tentacles.

 

[futureeyedoc]

hmm... yeah we'll see... I do "hand" feed it SMALL pieces of shrimp like 2-3 times a week... with a stick and let it grab it though - never sticking my hands in the water....
I guess there could be contaminants in the air - not sure what.... I don't really stick my hands in there much if ever and always use RO/DI water....
He detached today (first time I think in like 2 months) and settled on top of a rock now so we'll see how/what he does from there....
maybe I can get a pic in the next couple of days since he'll be more visible

 

[gflat65]

If he detaches and then reattaches right away, that can be normal. They usually walk, but I've had BTA's and an LTA detach so they could drift, then reattach.

Your issue is interesting because it is opposite of what most anemones I've had do-inflate during the day and look like crap at night. I had an issue with a bad RO membrane once where, as I noticed issues in the tank (nothing really out of line/range from test kits), I did more and more water changes. The conditions worsened. I began to suspect the water supply and borrowed some from a friend. Things turned around (same salt), so I replaced all the RO/DI filters. My 2 BTA's became 8 in two days time. They looked bad and I couldn't figure out why since test results were good. Of course, in that case, I lost most of my SPS, so I had a concrete identifier.

What else do you have in the nano with the anemone? Any signs of stress on other corals?

 

[futureeyedoc]

I think it most definetly was just a bad anemone from the beginning..... its really doing poorly now....

Are the water quality requirements that much more stringent with a bta than a condylactis????
Nothing's changed since I had my condy before and I know that that was not only doing well, it was doing amazing.... grew from really really small to like the size of a basketball in probably 3-4 months total.

Going to do some water changes anyways, my bta is on its last legs.... I think one of my crabs took a stab at one side and its pretty much just disintegrating away from that point....

My clown is really sad looking now and constantly looking for the anemone he used to host.. Its actually trying to host my goniopora (sp?) and keeping it from opening up much at all..
Anyone have an extra bta or Lta or especially a carpet anemone that they would like to sell/trade?
I'm fairly confident after all this that it was an unhealthy nem from the start b/c of the success with the condy and how awesome everything else in the tank is doing...

 

[futureeyedoc]

yeah, the more that I think of it - it never really did look good at any point in being in my tank.... proly should've taken it back right away.... feel like an idiot

 

[ChrisKirkland]

What is your water parameters?

 

[futureeyedoc]

-trates, trites, phosphates, amonia all 0ppm
-Specific Gravity was right in the middle of the range... I think like 1.023 or 1.024
-pH 8.3
-Calcium 400 to 405
- temps btw/ 79 and 80.5 but they don't fluctuate that much usually

 

[futureeyedoc]

and he's getting plenty of flow --- up to 400-500 gph if he wanted to be right in front of the return ( but he usually hangs out in the middle of the tank)
and plenty of light (150w MH - 14k)

 

[futureeyedoc]

What type of anemone do you suggest for my Percula clown then? I would say he's good size - 2-3" and hosts a little aggressively - doesn't nip at it's host anemone but definetly kind of snuggles in there once the lights go off...
Should I stick with a BTA, or go to an LTA or carpet or what?

Again, if anyone in the Birmingham area has any of those that they'd like to sell/trade please PM me.... I really don't want to pay $75-125 at the LFS for bta's and the like that aren't really all that healthy in the first place....
Sooner than later would be great - I just noticed my clown hosting the heck out of my flower pot coral this morning - I'm sure that can't be a good thing for either....
:rollface:

 

[gflat65]

If you're talking a nano, even a BTA will get too big at some point. Someone in the Chattanooga area is looking to get rid of a carpet. Both LTA's and carpets get/start huge (had a 24" dia LTA before the move). Not a whole lot of options for anemones in a nano, IMO.