Is my BTA sick? please help

[susan2626]

Have had the nice BTA x 3 weeks - doing great or so I thought. The last two days, it looks like the second photo ("Unhealthy?")vs. the first photo ("healthy") when the lights are on. When night lights come on, it expands a bit and when all lights go off, it opens up to be huge! I feed it every few days and it seems to be moving up on the rock a bit. If its normal behavior, then great -if not any ideas? Thanks so mujch


here are links to the two photos:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL17/6238169/12138481/177640308.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL17/6238169/12138481/177640313.jpg

 

[susan2626]

me again: yes that is a huge aiptasia you see in the 2nd photo. I have been successfully nuking the pests elsewhere in the tank with boiling water / joe's juice but the one u see in the photo is too close to the anemone to risk the juice

 

[susan2626]

sorry - its me again (!) - should have said this earlier: my water is perfect - no nitrates, no nitrites, no ammonia, salinity 1.24-1.25, temperature 78-79 and everything else in tank is happy and fine.

 

[nickterp]

My guess is that the BTA is just adjusting its postures to the amount of light that it wants. Mine definitely swells up alot more when the lights go off and I believe this is because it doesn't need to be so swelled up when the lights are on. Or it may be some reaction to an attempt to catch small organisms at night? (Huge swelled sticky tentacles).

Mine looks like your second photo when the lights are on (your unhealthy photo), but it faces up.... on the other hand my lights are a little less strong than yours.

I think that unless it completely shrivels up and dissapears in the rock, or starts showing other problems, I would not worry.

One thing mine started doing every other day or so, that really had me worried at first, was shriveling up and deflating to release wastes. It would be like this for an hour or so while it released wastes, then it would come back looking happier than ever. I'm trying to get myself to relax more when it does things like that .

Good luck!

 

[susan2626]

sorry - its me again (!) - should have said this earlier: my water is perfect - no nitrates, no nitrites, no ammonia, salinity 1.24-1.25, temperature 78-79 and everything else in tank is happy and fine.

 

[AZreefkeeper]

you didn't mention your feeding schedule? and what are you feeding?

 

[susan2626]

i am feeding a piece of krill or mysis with selcon every 2-3 days - it usually grabs it. today it didn't take the krill.

 

[nickterp]

How many t5's do you have on the tank? As for it not taking the krill, you could try cutting it up into really small pieces. Mine was attempting the larger pieces at first, but then started spitting them back out. It seemed much happier and didn't spit out the food after I minced it into much smaller bits.

 

[susan2626]

have 4 t-5s... 2 daylight, 2 night. good suggestion on the piece size - will try. how often do you feed?

 

[nickterp]

That should be pretty good lighting. What kind of filtration are you using? If you aren't yet, keep up with water changes weekly or every other week, preferable RO water.

I don't have alot of experience with my BTA yet, but the most common suggested schedule is 2 to 3 times a week and pieces no larger than 1/4".

The pieces I last cut were probably a millimiter or two thick slices of a silverside. Put it in some saltwater in a cup, sucked it up with a squirting device, and gently squirted the mixture at the BTA. (Turned the powerheads off) He pulled the whole mixture in.

 

[AZreefkeeper]

If it falls off the rock and goes face down then its dying, the mouth is not exposed so my guess is its still getting acclimated to the tank. like nickterp says try cutting the silversides a litte smaller. I feed ours every 3-4 days.

 

[susan2626]

thanks everyone... I did a water change yesterday and actuallly as of about an hour ago, looks like its coming back to "normal". i really appreciate all your advice. These forums are SO helpful!

 

[Ciarán]

If it falls off the rock and goes face down then its dying

Such a sweeping generalisation is totally untrue. An anemone may decide to go for a "ride" in the current as it may not like its location, the nett result may cause it to land and end up face down on the substrate. This certainly does not mean its dead. Also, it may not be adhering well to a substratum and fall over, still that certainly does not mean its dead in any extent. If its dying, the mouth and tentacles, not too mention the stench, will tell you so..

Ciaran.