I hate my BTA

[twelvefive]

I bought him 2 months ago. He looked great in the store. I put him in my tank and he hasn't been happy since. He spent the last month hiding in a corner with no flow in between a rock and the glass where he decided he wanted to be white. 3 days ago, I picked him up and put him in a hole in a medium flow area. He hasn't looked good, but he hasn't moved either.

Amm 0, Nitrate <5 (upped my vodka dosing regimen so that should be falling to 0 quickly), phos 0

Today he looked like this

Any ideas?

 

[edsbeaker]

Can't see image

 

[twelvefive]

Should be up now.

 

[mikecc67548]

Whats he doing eating? digesting? pooping?

 

[twelvefive]

Whats he doing eating? digesting? pooping?

He eats mysis, not sure if he digests or poops, though. I always feed in the evenings and can't sit and watch him for hours to monitor that.

 

[twelvefive]

Hard to see, but he's a totally different anemone at night.

Fully open, mouth closed... *** am I doing wrong?

 

[mikecc67548]

He eats mysis, not sure if he digests or poops, though. I always feed in the evenings and can't sit and watch him for hours to monitor that.

Might be what he is doing then. Eating, digesting, or pooping. I dunno. Mine shrivels many times a day. I think its when it gets some food it closes to work it to its mouth. I may be wrong, as I so often am.

Hard telling. I can always sit for hours to observe.

Further more....Don't hate.

 

[ocellaris123]

Your anemone is severely bleached and starved. What is your lighting like?

 

[slapshot]

your anemone is severely bleached and starved. What is your lighting like?

+1

 

[Anemone]

Your anemone is severely bleached and starved. What is your lighting like?

+2

The color indicates it is bleached. The shortened tentacles indicate it is starving. It needs to be fed some meaty food a couple of times a week (a 1/2 piece of frozen krill would suffice), and you need to tell us your lighting.

Kevin

 

[twelvefive]

It won't take anything but mysis. I feed him every two or three days.

He wasn't bleached until he decided he wanted to move to the shade and never come out in the light.

I'm running 4 ft Ecoxotic Pro, 4 foot Ecoxotic Actnic, and two stunner strips. At the lfs, he was about a foot under just a Ecoxotic Actnic. I brought him home and placed him about two feet under my lights. At first he crawled into the shade, then moved until he was in a dark corner of the tank and he sat there for a month until I moved him a few days ago. I'm trying to save it, but he's being a *****.

 

[twelvefive]

Update, just got him to eat krill. I hadn't tried it since he went into hiding about a month ago. He ate a piece about half an inch long.

In his current state, should I try to feed him daily or what?

Thanks for your help and insight, guys.

 

[slapshot]

Krill is way better than mysis. Do not feed him mysis any longer. I would feed him twice a week. I'm not sure why he doesn't like your lights. Are the bulbs fairly new? As long as he is eating he can make it. Usually when they crawl into a dark corner especially after they are stressed they split. The fact that he bleached that fast is concerning and odd. Your rocks appear to be covered in algae. Is that just the picture? How new is your tank. recheck your parameters and recheck your phosphates. No eay its zero with that kind of growth. If they are good you might think about a Kole tang or an urchin to clean that up. That or slow down your vodka dosing.

 

[sjwitt]

Do not feed it a piece as large as a half inch. That's too big. Make the food about the size of a pea and feed it just one. Watch it for a while because they will take the food but spit it out later if its too large. That will make it even worse because it used all that energy to try to eat but didn't get anything from it.

It is very bleached and starving which is why the tentacles are so nubby so I would feed this one a very small piece every two days.

 

[twelvefive]

Krill is way better than mysis. Do not feed him mysis any longer. I would feed him twice a week. Sounds good I'm not sure why he doesn't like your lights. Are the bulbs fairly new? 6 month old LEDs As long as he is eating he can make it. Usually when they crawl into a dark corner especially after they are stressed they split. The fact that he bleached that fast is concerning and odd. Your rocks appear to be covered in algae. Is that just the picture? Just the picture at night, rocks are blueish green when the lights are on How new is your tank. I've had it 4 months, it was an up and running tank about a year old when I bought it recheck your parameters and recheck your phosphates. No eay its zero with that kind of growth. Planning on checking tonight.If they are good you might think about a Kole tang or an urchin to clean that up. That or slow down your vodka dosing. I just ramped up to 10ml/day from 5 ml/day when I noticed the nitrates rising, maintenance dose probably needs to be 7.5ml/day instead of 5.

 

[twelvefive]

Do not feed it a piece as large as a half inch. That's too big. Make the food about the size of a pea and feed it just one. Watch it for a while because they will take the food but spit it out later if its too large. That will make it even worse because it used all that energy to try to eat but didn't get anything from it.

It is very bleached and starving which is why the tentacles are so nubby so I would feed this one a very small piece every two days.

I'll feed it a smaller piece tomorrow. He ate 3/4 of the piece I gave him, just spit out the head.

 

[sjwitt]

:thumbsup:

 

[twelvefive]

Parameters are still where they should be. He's staying open throughout the day and in the light, now. He's eating a small piece of krill every other day. He still has stubby little tentacles, do you guys know how long it takes to recover from that? He moved last night after I changed the flow in my tank around trying to keep stuff from settling on the sandbed, but he picked a spot on the glass where he would be in light when they come on.

 

[slapshot]

They have a mind of their own. They are very sensitive to light and flow changes. I would not make any changes until he is healthy and rooted in a spot again. It will take 4 to 6 weeks I would guess. I'm glad he is doing better!!!!

 

[twelvefive]

Update. 17 days into this recovery attempt and his tips are getting fatter, there are a few tips that have some brown in them, his mouth is staying closed, and he's open throughout the day instead of running from the light.