First RBTA

[mksalt]

I got my first anemone, a RBTA, already attached to a rock, and put it in my tank last Monday late afternoon. He’s just a baby.

Fed him a very small piece of freeze dried plankton on Tuesday and another small piece tonight. It seemed to immediately react when I touched the food to his tentacles and move it to its mouth.

Placed him pretty high up in the water column. Now only running 72 watts of PC lighting. I turned off the other 72 watts Tuesday after he seemed to retract up. After reducing the light, it seemed to relax more and expand. Maybe coincidence?

I have zero anemone experience. Attached are some pics. Does he look ok? Any recommendations on care or feeding?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[littleshark]

Nice anemone. Love the tank. How much if you dont mind??

 

[mksalt]

The LFS wanted $45 for just the animal. They wanted an extra $5 for the rock. I figured it was worth the extra $5 to keep him on a rock he likes.

So far so good.

 

[a4twenty]

you should be able to turn the other lights on now that he has acclimated a bit. i'm not familiar with feeding anemones with freeze dried food, i use either frozen krill / silversides / mysis and many use regular frozen shrimp from the super market.

nice tank

 

[mksalt]

Thanks a4twenty, I think I will start phasing in the other set of lights today. At least for a couple of hours. So more light is better for these guys?

One question I’m looking for feedback on is: Would it be better to feed smaller portions more often or larger portions less often.

Day six and it is still looking good. I think. After reading some of the trails people have had, I’m a bit tentative.

Also did 10% water change today.

Clowns show no interest. More interested in hanging around the candy cane.

 

[mksalt]

I thought anemone were supposed to sting. My overly aggressive cleaner shrimp pulls and tugs at the anemone trying to get food from it. The shrimp does not seem to be effected by any defense the anemone is putting out.

 

[fisher1234]

The anemone looks great and so does ur tank. With anemones make sure they get fed and are getting sufficient light and flow. If the flow is not right they will move to where they like and have the potential to sting your corals, but usually with fish and inverts it doesnt bother them. One sign to watch is if the anemones mouth starts to like open up really wide it either means hes not gettin enough flow or nutriton so thats always a key sign to watch for. Another thing with anemones is make sure ur temperature doesnt swing a whole lot because when it does anemones can not hold their shape, they may be completely wilted or half may be flowered out and the other might just look deflated, so just watch for those things. What kind of clowns do you have?

 

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13580111#post13580111 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mksalt
I thought anemone were supposed to sting. My overly aggressive cleaner shrimp pulls and tugs at the anemone trying to get food from it. The shrimp does not seem to be effected by any defense the anemone is putting out.

The shrimps will do this, they aren't affected by bubble tips stings. So in order to make sure your bubble tip gets its meal, you have to feed the shrimp first and then feed your anemone. Make sure you give the shrimp a big enough piece of food to keep them busy.

BTW..beautiful tank.

 

[a4twenty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13571481#post13571481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mksalt
So more light is better for these guys?

yes they are photosynthetic ( or at least the algae hosted within is ), mine love it under 400W halides.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13571481#post13571481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mksalt
One question I’m looking for feedback on is: Would it be better to feed smaller portions more often or larger portions less often.

i prefer smaller more frequent feedings, while others feed more less frequently. i usually feed my anemones a little bit twice a week, this keeps them happy and planted where they are. a hungry or unhappy anemone will start to wander around the tank, which can be very aggravating and dangerous.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13571481#post13571481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mksalt
Clowns show no interest. More interested in hanging around the candy cane.

BTA's are not a natural host for flase percs but it can happen. for right now you are better off with them ignoring the nem, he is very small and hosting clowns can be very aggressive.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13582085#post13582085 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wicked_NaCl_h2o
.............. you have to feed the shrimp first and then feed your anemone. Make sure you give the shrimp a big enough piece of food to keep them busy.

that's what i do, a small piece of silverside tail for each cleaner shrimp first then feed the anemone.

 

[mksalt]

fisher1234, Thanks for the compliment on the tank. Tank is 14 months old at this point. Getting a little crowded in there. Need to move a few things out to make way for some lobophyllia. Day 8 and anemone still holding in original location. The plan was to add more flow, but may hold off on that for now. May have about a 2 deg swing from morn to night. Average temp around 78 deg.

wicked_NaCl_h2o, This shrimp is crazed. I would have to give a very large piece of food to distract him for very long. I have to hold him off with a piece of rigid plastic tubing when I try to feed my acans and the anemone. Some days I’d just like to grab him and make a shrimp cocktail out of him. I was so looking forward to that anemone giving him a good sting. When he croaks, he’s about a year old, I do not think I will get another shrimp. Thanks for the nice comment on the tank.

a4twenty, I am in Toronto as I write this. When I get home, I’m going to start phasing in the full lights ASAP. And I like the idea of less food more frequently. Three times now in eight days I have fed it a small piece of the freeze dried plankton that I soaked in water first. That seemed to go well. The perks are tank raised, so I’m not sure they will ever host. But the one seems to like to lay in a crevice of a head of candy cane.

Anyone tried to feed an anemone pellet food?

 

[mksalt]

Looked into the tank last night and this is what I saw. Startled me as I had not seen this before. My first reaction was that I had a problem. But after about 45 min or so, it returned to normal. It did seem to expel what I am assuming was digested food. My one clown actually picked it off of the anemone and ate it. Yuck... I was also surprised at how quickly it changed from one shape to another. Day 12. So far so good. Shooting for a 10% water change every 4 days right now.

 

[jkrentz2515]

Nice tank, and the nem seems to be doing just fine. I have basically the same setup as you and my nem was very unhealthy (starving basically with nubs for tentacles) when i got it and I was able to nurse it back to health. They grow very fast, so hopefully it grows upwards and doesn't touch any of your nice corals.

 

[Mike31154]

With respect to the pesky shrimp, I have a GBTA and the same happened when I first got the nem. It was small and somewhat bleached. The tentacles were not particularly sticky when food was presented so the shrimp was right in there. After that I made sure to feed the shrimp first and that worked for me. That was well over a year ago and the BTA has grown substantially since then. At some point the shrimp could/would no longer raid the BTA. It's tentacles are very sticky now and I've even observed the pincers of a mithrax crab get a little stuck when they contacted the tentacles. The mithrax hangs around when the nem is expelling waste. I've seen it help pull out the excrement several times. But haven't seen that happen recently, I suspect the tentacles are doing their job quite well these days.

 

[Mike31154]

Forgot to mention that my BTA no longer has bubble tips, the tentacles are very long and dark, full of xoozanthellae. Yours looks great and I suspect its colour will also darken as it acclimates completely. Tentacles should get stickier with time.

 

[mksalt]

Well, it took about 5 weeks, but my clown finally decided to host. For about a week or so, he was rubbing against the side of the nem confused on what he actually should be doing.

 

[bprice]

Is the RBTA a darker red now than when you first got it? I thought it looked a little bleached (compared to mine) in the original pics, but it seems to look darker red in the most recent one.javascript:smilie('') I wouldn't feed anything much larger than mysis to one that is that small.

 

[mksalt]

bprice, You are correct. It has gotten a bit darker. I have been feeding it mostly freeze dried plankton.

 

[Mako Shark II]

mksalt (I love you already. MY initials are MK adn I'm from Chicago)

Again, lots of the same info here:

Feed them Silver Sisdes, Sand Eels, moderate light adn flow. Llike teh Clown. Lots of great stores up there, especailly near Woodfield.

Feed ME, some Lou Malnati's Pizza!