Help please with my BTA

[Jezzlambert]

Put a BTA in my tank on sunday, all was going perfectly, fed him monday night with half a lance fish and he took it brilliantly...
This was how he looked last night



Then he decided to put himself into a crevice out of the lighting which i thought was a bit strange....

So i woke this morning to find him all okay and looking normal,
But an hour later the wife sends me a pic of this


His mouth his open also and he excreted something aswell

Research tells me a mixture of things
1. Hes dying :-(
2. Hes just excreting waste and this can be normal on occasions...

Whats ur thoughts?

 

[shifty51008]

Prob just pooping out the fish you fed it. I would stick to feeding it mysis shrimp or scallops, bta's dont seem to handle eating fish with bones in them to well.

But he should be fine

 

[Jezzlambert]

Anyone else?

 

[sjwitt]

Don't panic. It's only been in the tank since Sunday so I don't think I would feed it too much. As shifty wrote, i would stick with softer food and small (in size and quantity) feedings. BTAs periodically deflate and do water changes... they look horrible when doing this - like a deflated balloon, so don't panic when you see that either.

 

[MelloW33]

I've kept BTAs for years with little to no feeding. I would refrain from feeding the anemone and would change your food if you do want to feed it.

 

[Toxic45]

That's a pretty sweet rainbow BTA. I would recommend feeding weekly at least; in my experience the food helps to supplement the energy it receives from photosynthesis assuming it has enough zooxanthellae. It looks fine. It should stop moving once it finds a suitable place to live. If it keeps moving then it may be upset with some aspect of your tank. If it's retreating from the light then it may not like the intensity of your lights. It'll find it's own "perfect" spot on its own. Unfortunately this may not be ideal for viewing purposes. Make sure any powerheads in your tank are off or else it might walk into one and shred itself.

Is the mouth base of your RBTA blueish in nature? I only ask because I'm trying to figure out if they actually have blue mouths or it's just the blue lights that make their whitish mouths look blue.

 

[Jezzlambert]

Thanks guys, thats put my mind at ease!!
He seems to be settled again now, its just a bit of a shock when u see them like that u tend to feel really sorry for it!
Plus he cost me a fortune!!
I will change his food and only feed him fortnightly i think.
My water changes are methodically done weekly anyway!
Thanks

 

[Jezzlambert]

That's a pretty sweet rainbow BTA. I would recommend feeding weekly at least; in my experience the food helps to supplement the energy it receives from photosynthesis assuming it has enough zooxanthellae. It looks fine. It should stop moving once it finds a suitable place to live. If it keeps moving then it may be upset with some aspect of your tank. If it's retreating from the light then it may not like the intensity of your lights. It'll find it's own "perfect" spot on its own. Unfortunately this may not be ideal for viewing purposes. Make sure any powerheads in your tank are off or else it might walk into one and shred itself.

Is the mouth base of your RBTA blueish in nature? I only ask because I'm trying to figure out if they actually have blue mouths or it's just the blue lights that make their whitish mouths look blue.

The mouth has definitely got a whitish colour not blue.