does a dead bta still keep its foot stuck?

T

timrandlerv10

New member
well, will a dead bta stay stuck to its surface even if its dead? we have three who look in horrible shape at the bottom of the tank, and i dont want to pull them out if i can avoid it...

we came in to work today, and the tank's systems were unplugged. the display tank was a horrible cloud, and we had several snails and crabs dead, one mandarin missing (assumed dead) two b&w clowns hiding in a rock, and the btas had moved to the bottom of the tank and are looking very bad. we plugged everything back in, changed 5 and then 10 more gallons out of 50, and put carbon in a sock in front of the return pump as well as replacing the gfo with carbon in a reactor.

the lights are out, the dead things we could find have been pulled out, and now i'm trying to figure out if i should start sniffing things...


thanks,

tim
 
I cant answer you question but I am curious to know what happened to your tank.....did someone just unplug everything?
 
I am also still waiting for an answer... My BTA that ate a bad silverside has been hiding under a rock upside down for a week and he looks all stretched out but still attached at the foot. I would hate to throw him out when he is not dead but I don't want him to crash my tank.
 
Well mine started loosing some tentacles and his mouth was wide open so I was going to take him out but then he inflated his foot and moved so I didn't. I kept watching him and he would look horrible during the day and then at night inflate his foot and move so i thought he is trying to find a place to settle and repair himself. Well he finally settled on the underside of a rock and if he died I would have to take my whole tank apart to get to him. He looks horrid but I don't take him out because he is still attached at the foot and inflates it everyday.
 
this morning we decided to pull them all out, sniff them, then quarantine...harsh maybe if one was on the edge, but we didnt want to lose everything else.

when i came to work monday morning, the power strip with everything but the lights was unplugged. i dont know if i did it saturday afternoon when i was doing tank maint--i dont know why i would, but i'm kind of haunted by it being my fault--or somebody else (cleaning crew, another person, whatever).

the tank was 'foggy' when we came in, and it was a little cool (72) and all the pumps (skimmer, PH's, return).

today one was looking melted, and when i pulled his rock out, he just fell off in a pile.

the other two are keeping their shape, staying attached to their rocks, and dont look like they're falling apart...we had to take them out, and we put them in a 20 that we had set up (there was only an urchin in it, and we put him in another tank).

that is a very temporary situation...9 watts of light and i'll put a small PH in there this afternoon. i think we're just waiting to see if they melt or not...what else can i do?
 
one gone, one looks bad, the other looks even worse. my wife commented that when she walked between the tank and the light, the bad looking one would puff up and lean that way.

we sprayed some brine shrimp on it and it reacted very positively--actually even caught some, although i dont think there are enough tentacles to get it to its mouth. the other didnt move.
 
u should have left them in the tank. when they r dead u will know. they let go and start to decay.

maybe u should put them back in the tank.
 
My BTA has been shrivled for a couple of weeks now since I fed it a bad clam. But the mouth is still tight & its attached.

If they were attached I think I would have left them alone, did a large water change & crossed my fingers.
 
hmm...too many votes for back in the tank. i'm worried that there are still bad 'whatevers' in the old tank, and that we'll put them at risk by exposing them to it if we put them back. plus we have to move them again. in the 20 i can do 5g water changes if need be.

they are both attached to rocks (small ones that can be moved).

i also have my 75 w/55 sump which is very clean, but would be yet a third system. it does however, have 2x150 mh and 4x54 t5 in it.

options?
 
Tim, don't move them again. They are stressed enough and should stay where they are for a few days. See if you can increase the lights though. I know the 9 watts is only temporary, but maybe you could hang a MH pendant up high over them. This will help with their recovery.
 
i have a 100w with a really old bulb...i could hang it like 2 feet over the waterline...

they were both still responsive (read: alive) today at 5.

tomorrow morning we'll start running a phosban reactor with carbon in it hanging on the back of the tank too. small water change time?

solid food or dont even try?
 
I would not try food... but hey.. this is the first sick anem I've ever delt with also.

I think food would just stress it out more. It takes energy to digest food & it needs as much as possible to recover right now.

If you really must try some food, try a few pieces of mysis.
 
No but if you don't think they will make it, get it out right away. Mine died in my aquarium and it stunk up the water and put my water para out of wack so bad.
 
they are looking significantly better this afternoon...i really want to put them in the 75, but i dont want to stress them again.

whats less bad:
20 with a maxijet, hang on filter and old 100w light 2 feet above the tank

OR

75 w/55 sump and skimmer w/2x150 15k and 1x54 actinic BUT requires another move

?
 
If they're improving, give them a few more days before you move them to the 75 which is much better for them.

Try to feed them something small on Friday, then if they take it, I would go ahead and move them on Sunday or Monday to the 75.

Place them low in the 75 or diffuse the light somehow, they need time to acclimate to a brighter light.

Glad they are doing better. :)
 
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