Buying Green BTA, How to acclimate properly

[Tmoriarty]

Im thinking about buying a GBTA online because my LFS doesnt usually stock them, my question is if im buying online what is the best method to acclimate it to my tank seeing as it will be stressed im sure from flying here. Also if it matters im thinking about using liveaquaria if anyone has any experience with them.

I would just like to get a GBTA but i dont want it to die in my tank. I tried a Sebae a little to early and it climbed up the glass wall and into my powerhead. I know that i saw a thread where the guy put it in a glass tubaware and put that into the tank and let the nem climb out on its own, is this the best way?

Another thing, should I turn off my powerhead for a couple days to allow the nem to settle in, or should i leave it on and let the nem find a spot it likes with the flow already going?

Also can someone explain drip acclimation better to me? ive read around but cant seem to find a good explanation of it. Thanks

 

[cet98]

How do I acclimate my new anemone?
Acclimation procedures for anemones are similar to acclimation procedures for other
sensitive invertebrates. When you first bring an anemone home, you will want to float
the anemone bag in your reef tank in order to equalize temperature. After 15 minutes or
so, you will want to open the bag and start to slowly dilute the bag's water with water
from your system. There are many ways to do this, the easiest of which is referred to as
"œdrip acclimating". Drip acclimation consists of setting up a small line of tubing that has
a very tiny amount reef water running through it from your system's pump, and allowing
a small amount to "œdrip" into the anemone bag, so that over the course of an hour or so,
the water in the anemone bag is completely replaced with water from your system. When
you remove the anemone from the bag, gently place it somewhere in the tank where the
environment is best suited for the anemone species. Be cautious about providing too
much light too soon for an anemone that may have been out of bright light for a while.

taken from the "Anemone FAQ" post from DC, check it out here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12447073&postcount=1

 

[Tmoriarty]

Thank u for the drip acclimation description...can anyone tell me about there experiences ordering online?

 

[psusocr]

if you do a search in this forum there are tons of threads on acclimation and ordering , even specifically from LA

 

[hypnoj]

I have 16 separate genetic lines of BTA's in my tank. (I'm telling you this so that you know I'm not some inexperienced person feeding you bull crap) My advice is take it out of the bag and put it directly into your tank. No acclimation necessary. If you have it shipped ask the shipper to ship it with almost no water in the bag. Just enough water to keep it moist. BTA's are very hardy and have been found sitting on rocks completely out of the water during low tide where they are baking in the sun and surviving perfectly. LFS's cause problems when they ship them fully in water and the anemone continues to produce waste until it poisons itself. When shipped with almost no water it goes into "low tide" hibernation mode. No need to acclimate, tides come in fast.
Just my 2 cents

(I expect I might be flamed, but if you read posts from Anem farmers, most will all recommend these methods for the best survival)

 

[sjwitt]

I have had better luck with the RBTA that I ordered from Live Aquaria than with any I've gotten from the LFS. I test the SG of the bag it arrives in and the SG of my tank and if they're the same or really close, I just drip acclimate as I would with anything. Using only maybe half the water it came in allow that to double, remove half and allow volume to double again.

I put a little bit of flat rock in the container and my RBTA went to it and attached. Once the acclimation was complete (I did less than an hour b/c SG was the same) I placed it lower in the tank in a shady hollow and allowed it to go where it wanted. Mine went up into the rocks and spent a day or two on the edge (poking into the light for brief periods) and now is in the top third of the tank and out all day under 250W 14K MHs.

 

[sjwitt]

In case you're interested, here's a pict. BTW, when it showed up it looked pretty small. Once it got into the tank it expanded to probably 3X the size.

 

[tntdsol]

I have never heard of the no acclimation for BTA but that sounds like good logic once you explained it.