Help with BTA

[alanbates12]

My BTA when I got him:

My BTA now:

Looks bleached to me. I've been reading and everyone is saying to feed it to make it healthy looking. Also I've been told the clowns would take care of it. Tried to feed it a silverside but it wanted nothing to do with it. Also I tried to Target feed it with some cyclopeez and a syringe. Water parameters: SG 1.023, Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, Nitrates 0, PH 8.2, Phosphates 0.03, Lighting is listed in my signature. Any ideas and help would be appreciated.

 

[Jakester59]

If that's only after a couple of days then you might have a problem. I bought a RBTA from a lfs and It was a different color and the size of a baseball card. after a week or so in my tank under 4 blue t5s and 1-14k t5 and 2-250 halides it is a pinkish orangeish color and 6 inches accross.

 

[alanbates12]

No he's been in the tank since February 15, 2011. Been in the same spot also. He gets bigger, just goes through cycles.

 

[cjcmcheek]

one thing that i find anemones like is a conch shell to live in. they are cheap and pretty easy to get.
i would suggest letting it find a low stress spot. i feed my anemones with krill, the little gelatin cubes. they loves those. if its small 1/2 of a cube will be plenty. feed him about once a week or so. you can overfeed it.

 

[alanbates12]

Wanted to share some good info I got via PM:

Yep, I used to work with BTAs. Yours is badly bleached, but there is a very good chance it can fully recover. Having the fish there will help since they provide a nitrogen source to fertilize the zoox that are left.

To help it along, you should keep offering it food, though it might not take anything initially. These anemones aren't fish-eaters, so the most natural things to feed are mysis, brine shrimp, cyclopeeze, and other small meaty foods. If you do offer silversides, it should only be in very small pieces. While it's recovering it's also a good idea to very slightly increase the flow it receives and if possible, reduce the lighting a bit either by laying some screen over the top of the part of the tank where it lives or by raising the canopy a bit. Try not to make any changes too dramatic though or you could just prompt it to move somewhere else in the tank.

 

[alanbates12]

Not seeing any improvements so I started reading last night. Found out reducing the lighting may not be the best thing. "The lost of color or “bleaching” is a result of the loss of an anemone’s zooxanthellae. This can happen for a number of reasons such as excessive temperature changes, excessive lighting, insufficient lightning, physical stress, excessive salinity, etc.
Just like corals, anemones use their zooxanthellae to feed on light. The other part of their nutrition comes from meat. Unfortunately, they cannot survive solely on captured prey as their primary source of energy. An anemone without zooxanthellae is usually on the brink of death so:
1) Don’t buy a bleached anemone
2) If your anemone start to bleach, find the cause and fix it quick.

Bleaching can be reversed, but it takes commitment and time. First thing to do is to is to provide excellent water quality and optimal lighting. He is not hiding but sitting out on a ledge in the center of a rock. If you fear your light is too strong, you can simply reduce the photo period and increase the time slowly over a couple of weeks. This will allow the anemone to adapt. When the light is too strong, the anemone will usually hide from it. The anemone should also be feed in small quantities on a regular basis (3-4 times a week) until it’s color recovers. This will keep it from starving since it dosn’t have it’s symbiotic algae to help out." Water quality is great. Salinity is 1.023 and I'm not sure if thats to low but thats what I keep the tank at. May try to raise it to 1.024 durning the next water change. Ive been target feeding but not sure he's eating. When I put the food down he contracts so I'm thinking he it holding the food. Nothing seems to stick to his tentacles. My light cycle I think was on the low side. It's T5HOs and my white lights were only on 4 hours. Blue lights on 12 hours. I changed the whites to 6 hours and the blue lights to 16 hours. Later I'll increase the whites but not the blue lights. What can I look for and how long will it take for the color to come back. Also my LFS gave me some Live phytoplankton and said this would help anyone have an idea about this stuff, http://www.dtplankton.com/

 

[alanbates12]

An update on my BTA. He started eating krill and has came back to life. What you can't tell from the picture is that it split a few weeks ago. Just wanted to share this good news and tell everyone thanks.

<a href=http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/?action=view&current=2011-07-17_21-26-14_169.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/2011-07-17_21-26-14_169.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

 

[drgnl8i]

wow, it split? good work, congrats!

 

[alanbates12]

Thanks it did split after it started eating good.. I"m very happy thought I lost it. It's nice to bring something back after it gets sick. So much to learn

 

[drgnl8i]

It's funny and scary when they split, they look like they're dying and you're almost ready to yank them from the tank. LOL.. Mushroom corals do the same except they don't look nearly as bad. Happy reefing!

 

[alanbates12]

New Photos of the BTA and it's clone,

<a href="http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/?action=view&current=0e0c474d.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/rab1212/0e0c474d.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>

 

[m758b033]

I would call that successful recovery lol
Well done indeed!