Had my BTA for a week, not looking so hot

[njudson]

So I picked up this green with pink tip BTA at the LFS last Sunday. I floated him and dripped acclimated for ~45 minutes and then introduced him to a spot I thought he might like. After a few hours he had bubbled up and was looking great. That night he move to the underside of one of the rocks in my tank and hes been in a new spot every day since. The wandering doesn't worry me as I know he is just looking for a good spot and expected him to move about. What has me concerned is that it seems to be hiding from the light. (Was under halides at the store and I have T5s so I didn't think I would need to put layers of screen up to introduce him to the light) When the lights are off he is mostly inflated but curled up showing mostly his foot. When the lights are on he is significantly smaller and looks like this.

An employee at the LFS thats a good guy and seems to know his stuff said that this was likely a nitrate issue. Do you guys agree? I plan on doing 10g water changes the next few weeks instead of my usual 5g in order to clean up my water. I've got some cyano growing and am sure I have nitrates / phosphates in my water. (I generally just test Alk, Ca, Mag and salinity on a regular basis) My SPS and clam are doing great though, good color growing quickly.

Any advice for a new anemone keeper? Tank is about 9 months old and has been stable for a while. I appreciate the help

 

[garygb]

It could be nitrates, one test I would recommend marine aquarists get. Also, it could be the change in light. If the MH bulb was old or of a significantly different spectrum, then your T-5s may be shocking it.

 

[sakrei]

I'm not an expert but I've read that BTA's can do things like this while getting aclimated to new lighting.

 

[njudson]

It could be nitrates, one test I would recommend marine aquarists get. Also, it could be the change in light. If the MH bulb was old or of a significantly different spectrum, then your T-5s may be shocking it.

Have the test kit, just not in the habit of using it. Just tested and nitrates are 5.0 or less by my API test. Which leads me to think the lighting is the problem. The fact that it shrinks when the lights are on supports this too ... will it adjust? What should I do? Hoping this is a situation where I just need to be patient and let it settle in but its already been 6 days ... when should I worry?

 

[njudson]

Pic update. He must know were talking about him. This is the best I've seen him look with the lights on in a few days.

 

[sakrei]

I'm telling you, I think just takes them a week or so to get used to the light

 

[jeffreylesser]

BTAs are pretty mobile and if healthy will tell you exactly what they need in your tank. I stress healthy, if the BTA is bleached or unhealthy I would operate differently.

IME, a healthy BTA will move to higher flow areas if they need more flow, they will climb the glass if your lights are too dim, and they will hide under rocks if the light is too bright and/or a spectrum shift for them. If your water conditions are poor, the BTA will constantly move and detach itself in an attempt to have the current take it somewhere else. It doesn't know it is trapped in a glass box.

Generally with a BTA I will observe it in a tank before screening it. If it seems to be hiding or moving down the rockwork, I will then throw layers of screen on the top of the tank. This is to help coax the anemone out from hiding and to help light acclimate it. This is probably what I would do in your case.