I probably shouldn't have, but I did

P

prickles

Premium Member
So i bought this pretty RBTA and put it in my new tank yesterday. My tank is about 3-4 months old and is a 110T. I am setting it up for SPS and am waiting on my solaris to be delivered. It won't get here until Jan I am told. I currently have an old PC light fixture on it 4x65. the tank has 2 Koralia 4's and a mag 24 running the main. I have a small fuge in the sump that is on a reverse light cycle. I'll be adding a phosban this weekend, and a denitrator in a few days when it arrives.

My water params are salinity 1.024, 79-81 degrees, 0 nitrites and amm, and about 15 nitrates 8.2 ph. The other tank inhabitants are two baby ocellaris, a blue spot, and a powder blue along with the CUC and 150lbs live rock, 2in aragonite.

The questions are these:
Do nitrates bother BTA's?
He has crawled his way further and further into a crevice until just his tips are sticking out. I worry that he will get no light where he is.
How long should I let him wander and look for a new home before I get worried that he is unhappy about the general parameters and not just looking for a good spot?

thanks for your help!
 
Nitrates really dont affect them. The BTA will be fine. He is just getting acclimated to the new tank, and when he is ready to come out of hiding, he will.
 
Theyre alot hardier than people think. If you are worried he is getting no light then he will move himself.
 
Although BTA's might be able to tolerate higher levels of nitrate (this can also be said of some other host, and non-host species), it is not ideal. Also, in a tank 4 or 5 months old, you want to look at what's causing the nitrates and solutions (e.g. deep sand bed of oolitic aragonite, remote deep sand bed of oolitic aragonite). The other things that came to mind as I read your post, are the power heads intakes covered? Wandering BTA's have a knack for finding intakes. Also, are the pc bulbs relatively new (need to be replaced after approximately 10 months of use).

It is not unusual for a BTA to behave the way you describe yours is. It may have come from a dealer's tank or from transit where the light was dimmer than what it is getting right now. In turn, the anemone will hide away from the light and slowly acclimate itself to brighter light. They do this when you first introduce them and they also do this after they clone sometimes. Just make sure the aquarium intakes are secure, work on lowering those nitrates, maybe bump the specific gravity up to 1.025 (although 1.024 is not a problem), and wait for it to settle in.
 
thanks for your replies. It did come from a dealer's tank where the light was much lower, so I am hoping that is it. I think the light bulbs are probably old (I bought it used), but I reallly don't want to change them because I am getting a whole new lighting system at any time up to 1.5 months from now. I will if I have to, but do you think he will make it that long under old bulbs? They obviously still "work" but I don't know the light output.
The nitrates are still left over from the original cycle and are coming down, albeit slowly. I have had much success with a denitrator on my other tank and am going to add one next week to this tank (when it arrives). I had about the same level of nitrates in that tank until I got one and then they quickly went to undetectable.

PS He moved about another 1/2" overnight into the crevice, so he is hardly sticking out at all now. He has moved about a total of 1.5" in two days. How long will it take him to get settled in? (average)
 
...I think it depends...mine moved a couple of inches overnight after I got him, and has stayed put since...
 
When I had my HOB filter, mine would go right up under the outflow and jus stay there. And as said above, watch the intakes. I have had mine move up to a month before he found his spot. But, you will notice that once he is happy, his base will be in the rock and he will poke his entire head out of the rock for protection. If you run your hand over him or something hits him, he will suck into the rock to where nothing can get to him. To me this is normal. Just wait it out and he will be happy.
 
Can you put some type of plastic screen around the intake on Koralia pumps? I've seen plastic window screen, maybe you could put that over the intake and secure it with a rubber band. If you have new lights coming and you are going to be adding a denitrator, your BTA will likely be okay. You could do some small water changes until you have the denitrator up and running, to dilute the nitrate levels. If your anemone only moved an inch or so, sounds like it is settling in.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11296734#post11296734 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by juan bueno
my koralia just kill my rose anemone few weeks ago
this pumps are really strong, nothing was left of the anemone,
Click to expand...


I used the netting from a collaspable laundry hamper. I wrapped id around it then fastened it with a zip tie towards the back end of it. I have also used one of those embroidery eggs. You go to michaels craft store and they are a white egg shaped hard plastic and put it on. You will have to make a few slices in it to fit over the back of the pump but it worked well. I dont have any pictures of how it was done.
 
so now it's a kinda brown blob, maybe 1/2" tall, no tentacles showing at all. About 2 hours ago it was eating live brine. Thoughts?
 
You're over stressing here, I think. Since it was just eating, it has just closed up to digest its food. The fact that it has stopped moving (an inch in a few days is not really wandering) and is eating should put you at ease. These guys can move a foot overnight if they really don't like their spot, so I think you are doing alright. The one RBTA I had I really was unable to kill, and not for lack of trying. These guys are hardier than they look. Yours sounds fine to me
 
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