GBTA issues and preventing them?

[nanomania]

Hey guys, iv just built a new tank, though imnnot tht new to hobby, but im new to nems. Im planning on a gbta, coz its the most hardy nem and not agressive and good for beginners.

Iv heard many issues of gbta committing sucide by crawling to the wavemaker. Iv got a few questions:

1) what should be done to prevent it from sucide?
2) what shud be the best placement?
3) what if it crawls in the front of the glass, then how to rwmove it?
4) do i need to feed it or its fine?
5) can i introduce it in a month old non lit new tank?
6) is it ok if i introduce clowns before the nem?
7) what if it actually commits sucide, will it kill all my fishes and inverts? (45g tank)

 

[happyhourhero]

1. Place it correctly the first time.
2. Mine has never moved. I placed it where it could duck out of the light or extend into it and where it could reach into flow or stay secluded. They like to stick their foot in a crevice in the rocks.
3. Hope it doesnt but you can gently coax its foot off the glass or use an ice cube.
4. I only feed mine on occasion. It gets little bits from when i feed the fish.
5. I would urge you to have a stable tank with quality lighting before introducing the nem. Any change you go thru like switching lights may cause it to react poorly.
6. I had clowns before my nem and then it took another couple months before they hosted.
7. If it gets chopped up, you can certainly experience a tank crash.

Know that in the first few weeks they inflate and deflate and look like hell but dont freak out and let them be and they will be ok assuming you have good water and husbandry practices.

 

[nanomania]

1. Place it correctly the first time.
2. Mine has never moved. I placed it where it could duck out of the light or extend into it and where it could reach into flow or stay secluded. They like to stick their foot in a crevice in the rocks.
3. Hope it doesnt but you can gently coax its foot off the glass or use an ice cube.
4. I only feed mine on occasion. It gets little bits from when i feed the fish.
5. I would urge you to have a stable tank with quality lighting before introducing the nem. Any change you go thru like switching lights may cause it to react poorly.
6. I had clowns before my nem and then it took another couple months before they hosted.
7. If it gets chopped up, you can certainly experience a tank crash.

Know that in the first few weeks they inflate and deflate and look like hell but dont freak out and let them be and they will be ok assuming you have good water and husbandry practices.

Thanks bro.. i guess ill wait for a while till the tanknis fully stocked n running before introducing the nem...

 

[nanomania]

https://youtu.be/mmEO-sQ6aCg

 

[Bent]

Truthfully I might be the only person on this forum who abhors BTAs.

1: they only naturally host maroons, which I can't stand. Any other relationships are a dice roll.
2: they walk all over the place for no apparent reason without warning.
3: their sting is ungodly powerful
4: the splitting is super annoying

I'll never have another.

 

[NaasReefer]

Hey guys, iv just built a new tank, though imnnot tht new to hobby, but im new to nems. Im planning on a gbta, coz its the most hardy nem and not agressive and good for beginners.

Iv heard many issues of gbta committing sucide by crawling to the wavemaker. Iv got a few questions:

1) what should be done to prevent it from sucide?
2) what shud be the best placement?
3) what if it crawls in the front of the glass, then how to rwmove it?
4) do i need to feed it or its fine?
5) can i introduce it in a month old non lit new tank?
6) is it ok if i introduce clowns before the nem?
7) what if it actually commits sucide, will it kill all my fishes and inverts? (45g tank)

I've had a GBTA for about a year and I love it, here's my attempt to answer your questions.
1) Read as much as you can about their care and don't add it too early.
2) Place it on a rock that is far away from the wavemakers in a place where the foot can go into a crack or hole if it wants.
3) Slowly massage the base to remove from the glass, don't pull it off. If it was me I would leave it on the glass and wait for it to move, if it goes close to any wavemaker then turn off the wavemaker or move it.
4) I feed mine a small piece of raw shrimp 2 or 3 times a week and I think it looks way healthier than when I don't feed it.
5)I would not add it to a month old tank or a tank without lights. The recommended minimum time is 6 months and good lights.
6) I had my clowns for a year before my nem, they didn't look at it for 6 months until one day they were in it without warning. Now they defend it like a castle!
7)If it is dead remove it as quick as you can and do a water change. I've heard of them going through powerheads and killing nothing.
8) They deflate every now and again, mine does it a few times a week. This is normal and fine, check out this video of my guy deflated.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gYQmrGKlSfw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[nickp87]

Truthfully I might be the only person on this forum who abhors BTAs.

1: they only naturally host maroons, which I can't stand. Any other relationships are a dice roll.
2: they walk all over the place for no apparent reason without warning.
3: their sting is ungodly powerful
4: the splitting is super annoying

I'll never have another.

Not entirely true,

1. BTA naturally host maroons, clarki, cinnamon, fire and tomato clowns, they also commonly host most other species quite happily in aquariums.

2. They don't wonder for no reason, they wonder because they are not happy with there current position or conditions in the aquarium.

3. There sting is actually pretty mild in comparison to most nems and and they do relatively little damage to most things the wonder across (prolonged contact is a different story)

4. Splitting can get annoying, but this again is usually a sign they are unhappy, splitting is a way for the nem to ensure part of it survives if it feels threatened/unhappy.

 

[nanomania]

Not entirely true,

1. BTA naturally host maroons, clarki, cinnamon, fire and tomato clowns, they also commonly host most other species quite happily in aquariums.

2. They don't wonder for no reason, they wonder because they are not happy with there current position or conditions in the aquarium.

3. There sting is actually pretty mild in comparison to most nems and and they do relatively little damage to most things the wonder across (prolonged contact is a different story)

4. Splitting can get annoying, but this again is usually a sign they are unhappy, splitting is a way for the nem to ensure part of it survives if it feels threatened/unhappy.

[emoji33] this is something really new for me, never knew that if nems split is because its stressed, i thought that they split coz the parameters are very good. I bot a split bta since i thought its good, currently doing good in my tank, its jus been 2 days though.. hope its does well.

 

[Bent]

Not entirely true,

1. BTA naturally host maroons, clarki, cinnamon, fire and tomato clowns, they also commonly host most other species quite happily in aquariums.
my point was that the only clowns that are natural symbionts with e. Quadricolor are all aggressive clowns that I don't like and trying to get an oscillaris or some other non natural clown to pair with one, that won't terrorize your tank, is a craps shoot at best.

2. They don't wonder for no reason, they wonder because they are not happy with there current position or conditions in the aquarium.
while that may be true, sometimes the reason is so minute it's almost inexplicable. There are plenty of people here who have had BTAs in the same spot for years and suddenly they decide to move and decimate everything in their path. So while it may not be for no reason, it might not necessarily be something the aquarist has any control over.

3. There sting is actually pretty mild in comparison to most nems and and they do relatively little damage to most things the wonder across (prolonged contact is a different story). sensitive corals don't stand a chance.

4. Splitting can get annoying, but this again is usually a sign they are unhappy, splitting is a way for the nem to ensure part of it survives if it feels threatened/unhappy.
similar to moving, I agree to a point. However, sometimes what stresses the animal and forces it to split can be something insanely minor that the aquarist may not have control over. Then the stupid thing splits one night or while you are gone and you come home to find decimated corals in its wake or the thing shredded in a powerhead.

This things just aren't my bag man. Some people like em, I am not one of them.

 

[Bent]

[emoji33] this is something really new for me, never knew that if nems split is because its stressed, i thought that they split coz the parameters are very good. I bot a split bta since i thought its good, currently doing good in my tank, its jus been 2 days though.. hope its does well.

Yes generally splitting is a sign that something is bothering it. Whether or not you will actually ever know what it's malfunction was, is a different story.

 

[nanomania]

Im plannin on 200g, i guess ill be converting the current tank to anemones only tank, let see. Can we keep 2 different species of anemone together?

 

[nanomania]

Today

 

[gallegos]

He is very bleached. Feed him silversides. Get that color up before considering anything else

 

[nanomania]

He is very bleached. Feed him silversides. Get that color up before considering anything else

Feeding frozen mysis

 

[bshow24]

He is very bleached. Feed him silversides. Get that color up before considering anything else

Don't EVER feed silversides. They can spoil very easily and feeding your nem a bad one (which you have no idea was even bad) can kill it over night. Silversides are a food to avoid when it comes to nems.

But overall, try and see if it's happy. If you are worried about it moving, you can always throw a foam protector on your powerhead in the hope it prevents it from being sucked up, but in all honesty, if a nem is floating around the water column it's probably not too healthy anyways.

A month old tank is relatively new but it can be done. I threw one of mine into a new nano after it cycled and now its my best looking anemone. Not saying it was smart, but it worked out.

 

[nanomania]

Don't EVER feed silversides. They can spoil very easily and feeding your nem a bad one (which you have no idea was even bad) can kill it over night. Silversides are a food to avoid when it comes to nems.

But overall, try and see if it's happy. If you are worried about it moving, you can always throw a foam protector on your powerhead in the hope it prevents it from being sucked up, but in all honesty, if a nem is floating around the water column it's probably not too healthy anyways.

A month old tank is relatively new but it can be done. I threw one of mine into a new nano after it cycled and now its my best looking anemone. Not saying it was smart, but it worked out.

I feed frozen mysis and im increasing 30mints everyday. Its hasnt moved yet..

 

[bshow24]

Not moving is a good sign it's happy in that spot. Keep feeding the mysis or if you can find frozen krill, they love that too. As was stated in another post, it's bleached and needs to regenerate zooxanthellae before it can go back to having lighting be a primary source of "food" through photosynthesis.

 

[slief]

He is very bleached. Feed him silversides. Get that color up before considering anything else

That is not good advice! BTA's are photosynthetic filter feeders and should not be fed large meaty foods such as silversides or large chunks of raw table shrimp. Not unless you want to stress them out. Their digestive system is not well suited for eating like that. People do it all the time but it's not a good thing to do and it will stress them. A little target feeding with some mysis is ok and really only needed in a tank that doesn't have a lot of fish and or isn't well fed. I have a MASSIVE BTA that I have had for over 10 years and I never feed it. It gets it's nutrition from the water column and the excess fish food and waste in the water. It's grown to over 24" across and hasn't moved in several years, isn't bleached and is as healthy and happy as can be. Bleaching is generally the result of lighting or water quality issues and lighting would be the first thing I would be looking at. It certainly has nothing to do with diet. Especially a lack of large meaty foods. Splitting generally only happens when they are stressed as has been mentioned above. They split as a means of insuring their survival. Normally BTA's reproduce sexually via spawning. Not splitting.

Like I said, I NEVER feed mine and it's as healthy and happy as they get.

 

[bshow24]

That is not good advice! BTA's are photosynthetic filter feeders and should not be fed large meaty foods such as silversides or large chunks of raw table shrimp. Not unless you want to stress them out. Their digestive system is not well suited for eating like that. People do it all the time but it's not a good thing to do and it will stress them. A little target feeding with some mysis is ok and really only needed in a tank that doesn't have a lot of fish and or isn't well fed. I have a MASSIVE BTA that I have had for over 10 years and I never feed it. It gets it's nutrition from the water column and the excess fish food and waste in the water. It's grown to over 24" across and hasn't moved in several years, isn't bleached and is as healthy and happy as can be. Bleaching is generally the result of lighting or water quality issues and lighting would be the first thing I would be looking at. It certainly has nothing to do with diet. Especially a lack of large meaty foods. Splitting generally only happens when they are stressed as has been mentioned above. They split as a means of insuring their survival. Normally BTA's reproduce sexually via spawning. Not splitting.

Like I said, I NEVER feed mine and it's as healthy and happy as they get.

He just got this anemone though, and it is bleached from the past owner. It's definitely not in a healthy position now where it can get nutrition from lighting because of the lack of zooxanthellae, hence the reason it needs to be fed (although I agree no silversides, I stick with small pieces of krill and mysis).

Also, in regards to splitting, it isn't always because the anemone is stressed. In this case, yes 100% believe it is stressed, but that's not a guarantee. If you do the research (I did because I've had mine split 7 times) you'll see there is much debate as to why they split, and it's either they are really happy, or they are really stressed.

 

[slief]

If you do the research (I did because I've had mine split 7 times) you'll see there is much debate as to why they split, and it's either they are really happy, or they are really stressed.

I've done quite a bit of research on the subject too. Most information online is based on speculation. I have kept BTA's for about 20 years now. The generally will split when they are stressed. That is an absolutely known fact. Whether they split when they are happy is subject to debate but having had some very happy BTA's and never had a happy one split without something triggering it leaves me doubting that one. In my experience, splitting typically coincides with a large water change or sudden change in water quality or lighting change. It's also brought on by feeding them large chunks of food. BTA's are male and female and their normal reproductive method in the wild is through spawning. I have seen them "bud" as well but that is not very typical.