BTAs and patch reefs

[fishy888]

I know that BTAs are found on rocky surfaces in shallow waters. I am wondering if anyone who has seen these in the wild can tell me if they occur on patch reefs with other corals or are they always alone on rubble? Just wondering since I am doing a patch reef biotope which has been coming together nicely for almost a year now but it will be a work in progress until the day I die (I would sure hope so anyway :fun4. I was not sure what direction I wanted my tank to go in until I realized that my favorite corals come from patch reefs for the most part (I originally thought about an all SPS or LPS tank originally then realized all the corals I have already are lagoonal/patch reef types. Having rearranged the rockwork about a month ago to make it look more like a patch reef and seeing the growth rate of everything from my softies on up to my monti caps is growing like crazy. I just want to keep in line with the whole patch reefs of the world thing and not introduce an anemone that would not go with the biotope. I do have good water quality, nitrates and phosphates which were problems for a long time have stabilized and I have a good skimmer and dose kalk as needed.

 

[velvetelvis]

One of the best online resources I've found for biotope information (within a limited geographical range) is http://www.underseaproductions.com/. I planned and stocked my Fiji biotope, with a pair of A. barberi, RBTAs, Xenia, and Chlorodesmis fasigiata algae, with the help of that site. You can do an image search by species, and watch brief videos of them in their natural habitat.

 

[phender]

I have seen pictures of them in stands of pocilipora, porites and fire coral. Sometimes they sting the corals around them and other times it seems like they don't.

Edit: The above posted website is awesome. I typed in tomato clownfish in the search function and got some great BTA biotype pics.

 

[velvetelvis]

Edit: The above posted website is awesome. I typed in tomato clownfish in the search function and got some great BTA biotype pics.

:thumbsup: I got the idea for my biotope after seeing footage of what looked like acres of bright-orange BTA colonies hosting countless pairs of barberi, with purple nephtheids (next on my list is a nice purple Stereonephthya) and bright-green C. fastigiata nearby. The colors were just amazing!

They have a couple of great DVDs too, including one just of clownfish and anemones in their natural habitats.

 

[FishNutty]

:thumbsup: I got the idea for my biotope after seeing footage of what looked like acres of bright-orange BTA colonies hosting countless pairs of barberi, with purple nephtheids (next on my list is a nice purple Stereonephthya) and bright-green C. fastigiata nearby. The colors were just amazing!

They have a couple of great DVDs too, including one just of clownfish and anemones in their natural habitats.

This one? I'm in awe...


Fishy88, that's really amazing that the scaping effected the growth rates so drastically-do you have a tank thread? I'd love to see some photos!