Is BTA movement normal for a few days?

[TylerMoore]

I just got my BTA a couple days ago. My water paramaters are all good. nitrate is 0, amonia 0, salinity is a 1.024. My anemone has been constantly moving around the tank since i first got it a couple days ago. Is this normal for the first couple days to acclimate to the new tank?

I only have about 160 watts of regular flourescent lights on my 75 gallon tank right now, but i'm planning on getting T5's over the weekend. Could that be the issue?


Also... how often (if at all) do you start feeding these guys? how do you know when it is necessary to start feeding them?


Thanks

 

[angelo184]

I would say your issue is in fact your lighting. While BTA's dont need huge amounts of light, they still need more the regular florescent lighting provides. I have seen anemones in LFS tanks that are sadly under only fluorescent light and they normally move around and eventually end up at the top of the tank as close as they can get to the light source.

 

[TylerMoore]

do you think they'll be fine until my lights get here sometime next week?

 

[jpgwold]

In my experience BTAs tend to move around in the begining because they are finding the spot that they like the best. I am not disagreeing with angelo184, that could be the reason but I have had them move around for other reasons other then that.

 

[kkyyllee]

in your sig, it says ur tnak s only been set up two months, its usually best to wait 6+months before adding one, they normaly move around when first introduced but it could be that they cant find a spot with enough lighting to be happy yet

 

[norcal99]

Personally I find the 6 month rule is way over stated. My opinion, take it for what its worth, is that as long as you're able to keep your water parameters stable, an anemone should be fine. That being said, 2 months in my experience is still too soon as the tank will see small ammonia spikes here and there. Here, I think the issue is insufficient lighting requirements for your nem which you said will be switched over to T5 HO's. A 6 bulb 39W configuration would be a nice setup. Make sure you have adequate flow and look for any early signs of distress and switching lights (bleaching, gaping mouth, sagging tentacles, etc). Good luck.

 

[joker577]

Well...a guy on another site has kept RBTA's in a tank who have split more than 7 times, he now has 15. They are in a 2x65 power compact 40 gallon tank so it's possibly not the lighting.

 

[TylerMoore]

well, its not the right temperature of lighting either. What i have on there right now is a weird color. Its almost all yellow lighting coming out. My T5's should be here hopefully next week. I ordered an 8 bulb setup, so hopefully it should work out good. The anemone has been in the same spot since last night so maybe it was just the acclimation process.

 

[joker577]

Could be I mean anemones move around until they find a spot so odds are it was just that.