BTA question

[Yankees2519]

This is my second thread about my poor BTA. I bought him about 2 weeks ago, he was bleached and his tentacles are very small (about 1/3"). Well he is starting to look better- well half of him anyway. half of the tentacles grew about another 1/2" but the other half are still tiny. He eats regularly, and is usually pretty deflated during the day. As soon as the lights go out he inflates to a good size. last night i aquascaped my tank and moved him to a low flow area, overnight he moved for the first time since i added him. He is halfway off the edge of the rock and his whole body is elongated. His mouth is stretched also, im wondering if he was in the process of splitting when the light came on and he just stopped midway. My question is this, im going on a business trip for 3 days. Ive heard that a sick anemone might do better if i leave the lights off for a while. Since hes been in the tank ive been on a typical lighting schedule (8 on) and he hasnt made much improvement so im wondering if i should leave the lights off for 3 days while im gone? thanks in advance and sorry about the long post, i wanted to give some background info.

 

[PRESTO2345]

I would say with a bleached anemone, yurning off the lights might do more harm that good. Remember it needs the light to regenerate its zooxanthellae which is what gives it its color.

 

[garygb]

I'm with Presto, don't leave the lights off for three days. You have PC lighting, that's not too strong. It might not be used to it, but it needs the light so it can acclimate to it. Also, I would increase the photo period to at least 10 hours for PC lighting. If you could, a pic and water parameters might give a clearer picture, so to speak, of what the problem(s) is.

 

[livingcorals]

I would add zooplex....
Helped out with 2 of mine!! 100%

good luck

 

[BIOCUBE UNIT]

Leave the lights on (reg schedule) and try to protect him from any kind high flow intake (powerhead), incase he decides to move while you are home.

From my limited experience, BTA likes to plant their foot up underneath a rock, so that their body makes a "J" like configuration pointing to the light source. I have noticed both of my anenomes do the same manuver when finding a spot. Neither of mine liked being planted on the top part of the rock, I think they felt more secure planting their foot underneath the exposed bottom portion of a rock.

I would just feed him a silver side (fish) before you leave and leave the normal light schedule on. Keep in mind that they can regenerate like crazy, so if one side of his tentacles are deflated, that is no big deal. I have seen an anenome regenerate from nothing more then the foot portion.

 

[Yankees2519]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12002581#post12002581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BIOCUBE UNIT
Leave the lights on (reg schedule) and try to protect him from any kind high flow intake (powerhead), incase he decides to move while you are home.

From my limited experience, BTA likes to plant their foot up underneath a rock, so that their body makes a "J" like configuration pointing to the light source. I have noticed both of my anenomes do the same manuver when finding a spot. Neither of mine liked being planted on the top part of the rock, I think they felt more secure planting their foot underneath the exposed bottom portion of a rock.

I would just feed him a silver side (fish) before you leave and leave the normal light schedule on. Keep in mind that they can regenerate like crazy, so if one side of his tentacles are deflated, that is no big deal. I have seen an anenome regenerate from nothing more then the foot portion.

great info, i think youre right about the "j" thing it seems like that what hes going for. As long as he stays attached to the rock he wont get sucked into anything. Thats my main concern is that hes gonna let go and go floating around until he gets stuck to something and blended

 

[garygb]

For that reason, cover the intakes with either sponge or screen. Murphy's law says it will wander while you are away, so secure the tank before you leave. A blended anemone can kill whatever you have in the tank.

 

[BIOCUBE UNIT]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12004548#post12004548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by garygb
For that reason, cover the intakes with either sponge or screen. Murphy's law says it will wander while you are away, so secure the tank before you leave. A blended anemone can kill whatever you have in the tank.

Yep. I totally agree, for some reason, if you are afraid of it happening, then it will happen lol. Kinda like the ability to predict the future, but the inability to do anything about it.

Usually if the anenome is happy with the spot it is in, then your fear of it floating around for a new spot becomes less of a concern. I watched mine for 3 weeks before I was able to let my guard down. Before that, I would turn all the powerheads off if I was not at home. But yeah, you know better about your anenome, if you think it is happy with that spot, then you should be okay. But still, if there is a powerhead in the tank and it doesnt have to be on, I would turn it off before you leave. I have seen pictures of anenome vs powerheads and it really doesnt look good.

 

[Yankees2519]

hes been in the same spot for a couple days. unfortunately im already away from home so im crossing my fingers that he will be happy with where he is. when i first put him in the tank he had a lot of flow on him, i moved him to a less flow area and he moved himself back into the strong current so hopefully he stays

 

[BIOCUBE UNIT]

Funny how we worry about those little guys. If he moved himself there, chances are that is where it will stay, unless the 3 factors (light, current, and food) are not meet. My nem moved itself to its current location and has not moved since, chances are yours will do the same. Good luck!