Coloring-Up a faded RBTA

[Newreeflady]

So, during shipment my anemone lost its gorgeous colors. It went from bright red with a green base to an orange/red-- no green base. I have been feeding silversides soaked in Selcon daily...

Any other suggestions?

 

[Mike31154]

How long have you had this anemone in your tank and how large is it? Daily feedings may be too much. I feed my GBTA only every 2 to 3 days. I think it needs that time to properly digest the food. Keep an eye on it after feeding to ensure it's not expelling the food right away. It should shrink a day or so after feeding and expel waste.

 

[dc]

Feeding seems to be the key with coloring these up, maybe you just need a little longer. I know mine never ate silversides very well, I feed prime reef, and soak in zoe and or zoecon. Just a different brand of selcon.

 

[a4twenty]

time.


he will colour back up when he has been under sufficient light to allow the remaining zooxanthellae to repopulate. the feeding will help him keep up his strength until then and as long as he is eating it all i wouldn't worry.

 

[Newreeflady]

OK, thanks everyone... I will just continue this trend.

Debi, mine seems to like the silversides. I've also fed krill and that goes over well. I tried a bit of Rod's food and also some mysis, but didn't get response.

It's probably about 6" expanded. The color went from stunning to drab, but if everyone is in agreement that it will come bay I'll stop worrying I've had it for 2 weeks.

-A

 

[stagefright13]

Remember some anemones are dyed to make them colored to catch a higher price. Usually red ones I have heard. After a while the dye will disappear and it will become tan again. Not saying that is the case but worth considering.

And good lighting is paramount. They are almost like plants. They need sunlight. Except in their case even more so. And a 250 MH like you have is plenty. It may even have to get adjusted to your lighting over time. Many stores keep them under low light and save the MH for the corals...

 

[Newreeflady]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13074328#post13074328 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stagefright13
Remember some anemones are dyed to make them colored to catch a higher price. Usually red ones I have heard. After a while the dye will disappear and it will become tan again. Not saying that is the case but worth considering.

And good lighting is paramount. They are almost like plants. They need sunlight. Except in their case even more so.

This is from the diver's den. IMO it would have been pretty difficult to dye it two different colors, anyhow



-A

 

[stagefright13]

I heard Diver's Den is a reputable place. So that is probably not an issue. And you have great lighting. So I would just give it time. And don't feed it constantly. Every few days is cool. Wish you and your nem well.

 

[Newreeflady]

Well, the Drs. asked me to feed it at least once daily to get a colored up nem. I'm taking their advice, just wanted to know if I could do anything more.

I haven't seen any bad response to the food quantity, but if a lot of you think it's a problem I could bring it up with the Drs.

-A

 

[a4twenty]

i think the only response you will see from feeding everyday is the nem will start to grow faster. this is a method some use to get their BTA to split. i try to fed my nems a little bit every other day rather than one big weekly feeding, they so far have responded well.

BTA's are photosynthetic and get the majority of their C/E from the symbiotic algae they host. the algae relies on light for growth, so some time under good light ( 250W halides are great ) will soon bring him back to his original colour. for now the additional feeding will help keep his energy levels up.

good luck and post a pic when he ( or she ) recovers.

 

[Newreeflady]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13074849#post13074849 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a4twenty
i think the only response you will see from feeding everyday is the nem will start to grow faster. this is a method some use to get their BTA to split. i try to fed my nems a little bit every other day rather than one big weekly feeding, they so far have responded well.

BTA's are photosynthetic and get the majority of their C/E from the symbiotic algae they host. the algae relies on light for growth, so some time under good light ( 250W halides are great ) will soon bring him back to his original colour. for now the additional feeding will help keep his energy levels up.

good luck and post a pic when he ( or she ) recovers.

Cool, I'll post a pic when the he/she colors for sure! :]
-A

 

[Slakker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13074328#post13074328 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stagefright13
Remember some anemones are dyed to make them colored to catch a higher price. Usually red ones I have heard.

The most frequent dye jobs are the yellow Sebae anemones, but on the whole dying is becoming less and less common. Dyed nems are painfully obvious to spot, as well.

 

[criccio]

Is your lighting different from what the Drs. use to light their nems that it would look different in your tank, because your nem isn't going to lose color overnight. At most it missed what, a day of lighting, that's not going to do a thing to it's color.

 

[Newreeflady]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13075144#post13075144 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by criccio
Is your lighting different from what the Drs. use to light their nems that it would look different in your tank, because your nem isn't going to lose color overnight. At most it missed what, a day of lighting, that's not going to do a thing to it's color.

hmmmn... I was concerned this was the case, but they said it could have lost color in the shipment as well. I'm running the Geisemann megachrome coral bulb w/LED actinic supplementation. Most of my other stuff has come in true to color... even the elegance that they sent me looked great until I lost it:/

-A

 

[dc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13074408#post13074408 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Newreeflady
Well, the Drs. asked me to feed it at least once daily to get a colored up nem. I'm taking their advice, just wanted to know if I could do anything more.

I haven't seen any bad response to the food quantity, but if a lot of you think it's a problem I could bring it up with the Drs.

-A

I used to feed mine everyday. It did grow fast, now that I have 4 that's a lot of food.

 

[Newreeflady]

LOL! Holy crud. Did it split and then the two of them split? How long did that take?

-A

 

[dc]

It took 4 years for the first split, then each split split about 4 months after the first.