HELP don't want to lose my BTA

[rcoughtrey]

I brought my BTA about 3 weeks ago. Everything has been going just fine, the BTA is feeding well and my clowns took to the BTA and each other within hours of having the BTA secure.

So, I woke up this morning to find the BTA had gone for a walk, took me a few minutes to find him. I'm not sure how he moved unless it swam the current in the tank. I remember when I was trying to get him secure it floated all over the place.

Unless he walked around the tank holding on to the rocks maybe?

Below are some pics

Locations:

He is now under the rocks where less light is, but more water flow.

Could he have moved for feed purposes?

 

[bues0022]

It doesn't look bad to me at all. BTA's are able to move easily without "swimming" as you say. Think of it more like a snail. They will extend one part of their foot, bring in the back side, rinse and repeat.

BTA's like to have their foot in the shade, and head in the sun, so it's not surprising that it crawled under some rocks. It appears as though the tentacles are out and able to get light, so I wouldn't worry about losing it just yet. However, there is a reason why it moved. I posted the other day another thread about BTA's moving my list of factors. Try finding that thread and giving it a read. (I'm just lazy and don't want to retype everything right now)

 

[rcoughtrey]

Yeah I was looking through the threads. In my opinion it was due to water flow. Being at the end of the tank I believe it was lacking in direct water flow.

We turned the lights on about 1 hour ago and it has fully extended more than it did before.

Good tip about the foot need shade does make sense.

Will keep an eye on it

 

[garygb]

You asked if it moved for "feeding purposes." I doubt that would be it. Water quality and an unsuitable attachment site are the most likely reasons, along with problems with lighting and water flow.

 

[Dwyer]

I think this is normal. If you added him recently he is just trying to find a place he likes. Mine wasn't out all the way for a couple weeks when I got him.

 

[Dwyer]

Sorry just noticed you wrote that you added him 3 weeks ago. Could be food or flow...

 

[rcoughtrey]

Thx all,

He is still on the move, been moving around most of day in the same small area.

It does seem to be trying to latch its foot in the shade from looking at places it picks for an hour or so.

Seems to be healthy enough from looking at him, should have recorded him, was fun to watch it slide around

 

[SwampyBill]

I doubt if it has anything to do with food so soon after adding it. Most likely because of light or flow. What type of lighting do you have & how did you acclimate BTA to them?