BTA splitting--Please help

[monicaswizzle]

Don't bother to read all of the longer posts I have been making (unless you want to, I have fun telling you what is happening), but if you have experience and/or other reality based information about BTA splits, I would love to have answers to the following questions:

I bought my first BTA less than 24 hours ago and I am pretty sure it is splitting. So:

1) Does splitting often include very large amounts of movement? My BTA has spent hours moving about very "wildly"--average speed probably 5 to 10 inches per minute. Some of it "on foot" gliding about, lots of it rolled up into a ball (foot inside) tumbling with the current, lots of it standing on "edge" and rolling about like a wheel NOT with the current, some of it by "dancing" about on a rock and then flying off into the water column and floating down again, only to climb the same rock and do it again. It can and does hold fast to the same area for hours at a time in strong current, but that is the exception, not the "rule". Somehow I thought that when BTA split they sit in one place and slowly pull apart. Is this likely something else? (What?)

2) For whatever reason, should I turn the powerheads off or down during these periods of high activity? They are pretty well shielded, so injury is unlikely, but when I turn them off the BTA does tend to settle down a fair amount.

3) Right now the BTA is in the same rather dark and unlikely spot (DSB with just a bit of rock and tank edge to hold to) and has been for about three hours. Does splitting involve long periods of "resting" between or after the more active parts?

4) Assuming it is splitting, how long will that likely last? Hours? Days?

Thank you all! It is fun, but I am a lot surprised and a little worried.

 

[Victor1046]

I think the BTA is looking for a place it likes with some flow
and good lighting

Better wait for more exp. reefers to reply tho

Good Luck

 

[Anemone]

1) - no. BTA's don't particularly move around when splitting, unless you count half of the BTA moving away from the other half.

2) - no. Your BTA should be able to stick to the rockwork once you start up your powerheads after they've been off for a while. If the BTA can't stick, something is wrong.

3) - no. It does however involve them becoming a bit reclusive for a short period before the split.

4) - most splits are accomplished within a few hours.

Kevin

 

[monicaswizzle]

Thank you Kevin! Exactly the things I need to hear other opinions about. Right now it is still in the "dark" odd spot, but it looks healthy, showed a strong interest in (grabbed agressively) food but did not eat it, and has not done the wild movement stuff for the whole time the MH has been on (they go off in an hour--we'll see then if it moves back out and around some more). I will check my water parameters (again), offer it food every now and again until it actually starts to eat some, and not sweat it until something else happens. Marc (Melev) did record some splits that took several days from start to finish, so I am not ruling that out, but maybe I just got a wild (sick?) BTA and have a wild imagination.

Thanks again!

 

[bureau13]

I agree with Anemone. My RBTA likes to stick his foot deep in the rockwork where I can't get to him, and then stretch for the light, making that whole side of the tank inhospitable to other corals. They don't really move their feet at all once they've found a place they like in terms of light and flow. I suspect they're splitting when they act sort of reclusive and don't stretch to the light for a few days. I had two clones and I just saw the other day that one wasn't coming out like it did...sure enough, it split in two. The smaller is still down in the rockwork, but I'm sure he'll come out in another day or so.

Other than the fact that it was kind of interesting the first couple times, and the fact that I can trade them in for store credit, I wish they would stop. I can't put corals over there...I was up to five clones stinging the crap out of all my frags earlier this year. And its a serious pain trying to get them out.

jds

 

[monicaswizzle]

jds--Interesting "problem". I guess it is better than killing every Anemone you try to grow, which used to be the "norm" if you believe the books about it. However, I can imagine it is a drag if you want to do corals as well. I had a recent "melt down" in my tank (boxfish who went toxic) and the few corals that I had (I have been taking the "slow but sure" route) didn't respond real well to that. The shrooms seem more or less ok (shrooms I seem to not kill too often), the pumping Xenia actually seemed to feed on whatever was in the toxic soup (I did change 50% of the water ASAP and another 50 the next day, but there must have been some powerful stuff in the water--I even lost the cleaner shrimps). The Xenia was actually more vigorous than ever, but I had a temp spike the next week (now have fans on a Ranco) and the barium (green star polyps) took a big hit from the toxin and then lost more ground to the hair algae bloom that was a combo of feeding off the toxin (my theory), no more algae eating fish and a weakended clean up crew and the heat spike. The barium was just starting to recover when I added the BTA which went over and "jumped" oral disc and tents down onto it as it's first act of refusal to stay put. They are toast. Some zoo type polyps are doing great. the creeping monti is, well creeping. The Acropora coral, which was suppossed to be the one "hard one" I allowed myself is still the best specimen in the tank. Go figure.

So, if my BTA splits like wild, it will be better than the empty tank syndrome, and I can't afford to stock it again after loosing more than $1K of fish to the boxfish.

My little sob story. I appreciate hearing yours.

 

[bureau13]

I don't have it handy, but search around a bit for the shot of the guy's tank that was totally taken over by BTAs. Its actually incredible looking in an odd sort of way, but its really not what I was shooting for, and one side of my tank was starting to get that look! You're right though...better than a bare tank.

jds