Guess size does matter

[macperry]

For those of you that followed my thread "Anem Abuse!"...you will remember the saga of the too small Sebae crispa trying to put up with the two large percs. Well I started to feel bad for the little Sebae, and decided I would have to go trade him in for a larger anem. Here's a pic about an hour after the new anem went into the tank. It took about a millisecond before the percs dove in! An ID would be appreciated....not that I dont trust the LFS

[/IMG]

 

[maww]

BTA

 

[raoul]

I vote bta too. If there are no verrucae (bumps) on the underside, that's probably what you've got.

 

[macperry]

raoul: Happy New Year! I feel bad that I had to give that crispa back....but my percs were relentless. That crispa never got to eat a single piece of food for the entire 3 months that I had it...the percs or the cleaner shrimp would just swim up and grab it. This little anem has already eaten 2 eraser head sized pieces of shrimp soaked in Selcon. The percs and the shrimp tried to get it....but the anem wouldn't give it up! I have a clear look at his foot....no verrucae at all....just smooth and dark "tan" color. Anything special I should know about this BTA vs. the Sebae?

 

[phender]

BTA and ocellaris (not percs)

 

[macperry]

Stand back everyone...the anem is on the move. Obout a minute after lights out it decided to take a little stroll to all the places in the tank where I wouldn't want it to settle. But hey...that's what they do.

 

[raoul]

Macperry: Happy new year to you too! You did what you had to for the nem and your tank! My feeling is that I'm responsible for the whole thing, not just a new addition. We've worked too hard to knowingly put things at risk. It's good to know your limitations Then you only exceed them a little, not a lot

bta vs sebae : generally btas are considered easier because they're less demanding and more forgiving, but they're still listed in the difficult category. We just got one 9 days ago (I've been anxious, but I think it's doing well. I'm fairly certain it ate today!) but I've been waiting, reading, and asking questions for much longer! I found the FAQ for nems and clowns near the top of this forum helpful, as well as a site that I've seen recommended here (and I've recommended it too) called http://www.karensroseanemones.com/
it's dedicated to btas. Karen is a long time bta owner, has rescued many (although she doesn't recommed this for everyone) and has included a lot of pictures so you can see what she's talking about.

Glad this one's eating and that the clowns are loving it!
BTW - sometime this year I'm hoping to add some black occells too! My bta is a beautiful red rose I think the color combination will be striking.

Good luck!

 

[macperry]

OK...so now he is hanging upside down from the underside of a large piece of base wit his mouth about 6 inches from the sand. Why would he "hide from the light" after the lights went out??? Do you think he'll come back out when the lights go on in the morning?

 

[macperry]

phender: Thank you....I have no idea why I keep making that mistake....I've had em for a year now...you'd think I could at least call them by their correct names.

raoul: This anem eats anything that comes near it...and the clowns love it. It was happy all afternoon... now i'm all worried why it would decide to go hang upside down AFTER the lights went out.

 

[raoul]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8993105#post8993105 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macperry

raoul: This anem eats anything that comes near it...and the clowns love it. It was happy all afternoon... now i'm all worried why it would decide to go hang upside down AFTER the lights went out.

I think it's just what they do - just think of it as sleeping

Your crispa was a sand dwelling nem, mine closes into a ball at night (no need extending to absorb light that isn't there). It's foot is protected in the sand (generally speaking).

BTAs are rock dwelling nems. Generally they will find crevaces or caves to hide their foot. The reefer we picked ours up from had four in his tank (three clones from his original) and all of them were hidden in the rock work. When the lights come back on, they'll stretch out of the rock work to soak up some rays

Ours started in a cave near the sand, now it's higher in the rocks in a cave made where three rocks meet. There's a hole at the top near the back glass where she extends a little more each day for longer periods. I think she was out for about 5 hours yesterday. Let me rephrase that, she wasn't completely out, but I could see tentacles for about 5 hours yesterday.

You covered intakes in your tank, including powerhead intakes right? These guys seem to be drawn to them and it's not a good thing.

Enjoy!

 

[macperry]

raoul: right on the money as usual! This anem took a tour of the entire underside of the rock in my tank. I saw a tentacle poking up through a big gap in the rock, so I moved the rock that was sitting in there to the middle where you see it now, and bingo....here comes the anem! This stuff is fun....now he gets a silverside for coming out to play.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

 

[raoul]

I rewarded mine yesterday for the same thing! I'm hoping it encourages her, but she's not a dog and doesn't care about pleasing me, so we'll see!

I'm glad I was able to help, but it's only because I'm a few days ahead of you with my rose. Any info I have is from reading what other people have been kind enough to share. There are a lot of knowledgable people here and I've learned a few things from them in the last three years. This is a hobby I really love, so I read a lot...my husband isn't always happy about the amount of time I read and research, but it pays off sometimes when we're working on the tanks together
Have fun!

 

[macperry]

Is it possible to give a BTA indigestion? I was so happy that the guy was eating pieces of shrimp, I gave him a small whole silverside. He grabbed it and ate it in about 30 seconds. He has looked kinda sick ever since. He has been going through a lot of inflate/deflate cycles, and just doesn't look as inflated as before I started to feed him. Any ideas?

 

[GSMguy]

cut out the shrimp feed only silversides

 

[macperry]

GSMguy: No problem....the silversides are actually easier to find. Most of the shrimp you buy has been very heavily processed with all sorts of preservatives. I get my silversides frozen in a package at my LFS.

 

[raoul]

If they eat too much, they have the ability to spit out what they don't want/need.

Don't forget, nems have to get rid of waste too, and sometimes we see this as an inflate/deflate process, other times you see dark matter floating away from the nem's mouth.

It's also common to see this kind of behavior in the begining while they're still getting used to their new tanks, it's like doing their own little water changes so that their water matches the tank water.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, but maybe a little lighter on the food, if they do spit it out then it just pollutes your tank unless your clean up crew takes care of it.

A little off topic, but you might appreciate this macperry - I think a bristle worm went after my crispa's meal from last night, and then I think the nem tried to eat the bristle worm. Now, that might give a nem some indigestion! I have no idea what to think of this, I posted a thread and I'm hoping to get some ideas.

 

[raoul]

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and sometimes I don't see things I maybe should, but I didn't realize you had a 12 gal nano.

Since your nem is doing well, you might want to start working on a bigger tank

Your nem will probably outgrow your nano in a short time. The water stability in a bigger tank will be better for it too If you begin working on one now, it may be ready for your nem about the time the nem is getting too big for the nano.

Just something to think about, but it looks like you've joined the rest of us in our salt addiction so at some point you've probably thought about upgrading anyway

Have a good one!

 

[macperry]

raoul: I posted a question about my female ocellaris getting stung by the new anem after waking up a couple of mornings ago and seeing a "beard" of quills sticking out of her face. Turns out she bit a bristleworm that got too close to "her" new anem! As of today, most of the quills have dissolved and she looks fine. You're right about the tank upgrade....I am a full blown saltwater junkie now. I'm just starting to research what kind of tank to do next. Any ideas?

 

[raoul]

The best advice I can give for tank update is go as big as you possibly can, that will save you money in the long run since you won't have to upgrade for awhile If you get what you need now for the big tank, that means you won't have to buy another set of lights, a bigger sump, skimmer, heater, etc... That means you only have to buy these things once, instead of upgrading again later.

BTAs don't *require* metal halide lighting, but they seem to adjust to it. If you go with halides that opens up other possibilities for corals. You may be able to use some other lighting, but I'm not familiar enough with it to give you any info. I would definately research all your lighting options and go with the one that will give you the most flexability and options.

Let the fun begin!