Is my RBTA dying??????

[shifty51008]

Im not familuar enough with leds to know where to start so i would ask someone better, but that bta can be saved, they are hardy anemones.

 

[Kaman8]

judging by the size of its tentacles it appears to be extremely malnourished. When a BTA isnt getting enough light to make its own food or is not being supplemented with actual food , it will literally eat its own body starting with its tentacles as a last ditch effort to stay alive. Go to the store and buy some frozen raw shrimp or scallops like you would cook with to make dinner. Cut them up into tiny pieces about half the size of a pea. Try gently dropping a piece on the nems mouth and turn off all your flow. Give it a good 45 min- 1 hr to try and consume the food and it is prob extremely weak. If it does well with that piece wait a few hours and try giving him another. Do this every other day until the nem begins to regain strength and grow back it tentacles. Another important thing is getting the nem into some light. if its hiding under a rock all day and not exposing itself to any light it doesnt matter how much you feed it, it will eventually most likely perish as it wont be able to produce enough zooxanthellae. Next time it goes under a rock, try taking the whole rock its on and putting it in an area with moderate to high light and moderate flow and see if he likes it there. Good luck

I gave some shrimp today . I put it close to her mouth, she didn't use her tentacles to eat, she just open her mouth after I put the shrimp there and just fall in her mouth and then she close her mouth. She was done with eating in 10 min. Is feeding her 3 times a day too much?

 

[DasCamel]

40%-50% to start raise slowly every week.

40%-50% to start raise slowly every week.

At how many percent shall I start and how many percent increase every day? Can I still save the nem with this light?

 

[Kaman8]

So I need to keep 40-50% the whole week and the the next week increase by 5% and so on every week? At how many % shall I keep for long term?

 

[greg1786]

I gave some shrimp today . I put it close to her mouth, she didn't use her tentacles to eat, she just open her mouth after I put the shrimp there and just fall in her mouth and then she close her mouth. She was done with eating in 10 min. Is feeding her 3 times a day too much?

Thats great news. I would take it sloow the first couple of weeks. It takes a lot of energy for a nem to eat and digest its food and your nem is in very short supply of energy right now. 1-2 very small feedings every other day until you see a marked improvement should be enough for it. If you want to feed everyday just try one small feeding every 24 hrs so it has ample time to rest after its done digestion before its next feeding

 

[Kaman8]

Thats great news. I would take it sloow the first couple of weeks. It takes a lot of energy for a nem to eat and digest its food and your nem is in very short supply of energy right now. 1-2 very small feedings every other day until you see a marked improvement should be enough for it. If you want to feed everyday just try one small feeding every 24 hrs so it has ample time to rest after its done digestion before its next feeding

I don't think she is that weak. She was still walking over the whole tank today.

 

[greg1786]

I don't think she is that weak. She was still walking over the whole tank today.

Walking around and digesting foods are two very differentthings which require very different amounts of energy. Ive been through your situation with about 8 bubble tips in the passed I used to rescue them for my LFS trust me. If you overfeed it can kill the nem because she will lack the energy to digest and will reject food all together.

 

[Kaman8]

Walking around and digesting foods are two very differentthings which require very different amounts of energy. Ive been through your situation with about 8 bubble tips in the passed I used to rescue them for my LFS trust me. If you overfeed it can kill the nem because she will lack the energy to digest and will reject food all together.

OK thanks....i will feed her 1 time in 2 days

 

[Kaman8]

Just a quick update. After 2 small meals the nem is looking like this right now. Still bleach......need time to recover , but shape is getting better then before.

 

[greg1786]

Just a quick update. After 2 small meals the nem is looking like this right now. Still bleach......need time to recover , but shape is getting better then before.

Wow that is a huge improvement in an incredibly short period of time. That doesnt even look like the same nem it looks so good man!! Well done ! Keep up the good work and she will be bountiful and beautiful in no time!

 

[Kaman8]

Update for today. Bought new light for the nem today. The brand is "Eco Lamp KRV5" , it's 150 watt. It is around 3,5 watt led. I really think that is enough. The LFS use this light for his sps tank. Still need to set the settings . LFS told me to start with 30% . Also need to set for sunrise till evening. Will post a pic if the led tomorrow.

 

[Kaman8]

This is my new led. Now I hope my nem will get her color back soon

 

[Kaman8]

Wow that is a huge improvement in an incredibly short period of time. That doesnt even look like the same nem it looks so good man!! Well done ! Keep up the good work and she will be bountiful and beautiful in no time!

I have fed it a few more times in these days, it will accept food only when I put it by her mouth. Her tentacles are still not sticky and still don't take the food with tentacles. How long will it take the tentacles sticky again?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Just give her some time. She may move around a little more with the new light until she finds her a good comfortable spot.

On a side note: I used to feed my RBTA once a week, but it would get HUGE (larger than my head), then start splitting. I stopped feeding it, and it's been just fine. Clowns help them bet acclimated too, and will be fed by them once the anenome will host them...

 

[Kaman8]

Just give her some time. She may move around a little more with the new light until she finds her a good comfortable spot.

On a side note: I used to feed my RBTA once a week, but it would get HUGE (larger than my head), then start splitting. I stopped feeding it, and it's been just fine. Clowns help them bet acclimated too, and will be fed by them once the anenome will host them...

I will stop feeding it when it get the color back. My clowns don't even look at the nem.

 

[scbill88]

Without sticky tentacles the clowns may not recognize that it as an anemone.
They also may know something is not right with it and are staying away.

 

[Kaman8]

Without sticky tentacles the clowns may not recognize that it as an anemone.
They also may know something is not right with it and are staying away.

How can it have sticky tentacles again?

 

[greg1786]

I have fed it a few more times in these days, it will accept food only when I put it by her mouth. Her tentacles are still not sticky and still don't take the food with tentacles. How long will it take the tentacles sticky again?

It really all depends on how quickly it continues to recover. Its definitely moving in a positive direction. Now that you have an adequate light over the tank, your nem will draw most of its nutrition from the light. Feeding it will eventually become a luxury for it as it will gather enough energy from the light and whatever food it grabs out of the water column that it can thrive on its own. Given the shape it was in it could take a little while before her tentacles become sticky again. Although given the turnaround she made and based on that last pic you posted I would say sooner rather than later. In my experience, once the nem has regained enough life and replenished enough zoox. that her tentacles begin growing back at a decent rate they become sticky again. Theres no exact answer as to "when" it will become sticky again, but for reference, most of the nems I have saved began becoming sticky and self sufficient once their tentacles were about 3/4"-1" long or so. Do you have an updated picture of her current condition?

 

[Kaman8]

It really all depends on how quickly it continues to recover. Its definitely moving in a positive direction. Now that you have an adequate light over the tank, your nem will draw most of its nutrition from the light. Feeding it will eventually become a luxury for it as it will gather enough energy from the light and whatever food it grabs out of the water column that it can thrive on its own. Given the shape it was in it could take a little while before her tentacles become sticky again. Although given the turnaround she made and based on that last pic you posted I would say sooner rather than later. In my experience, once the nem has regained enough life and replenished enough zoox. that her tentacles begin growing back at a decent rate they become sticky again. Theres no exact answer as to "when" it will become sticky again, but for reference, most of the nems I have saved began becoming sticky and self sufficient once their tentacles were about 3/4"-1" long or so. Do you have an updated picture of her current condition?

I will post a picture later this day. A few days ago it has moved herself at the back of the tank and last night it has moved to the middle , but she is still staying at the bottom of the tank. Does it mean that the light is strong enough and that's why not climbing to the top? She is walking every night when I turn of the light, but she will never walk when the light is on. Is this normal? She never stay at 1 place for more then 2 days.

 

[Kaman8]

Here is an update pic of the recovery. Last week when i feed it it took 15 min to finish eating and today it was done in 2 min. It was always fully bleached before and it is getting little brown color back now. Will it get the red color back? Or it will only get the brown color back. The nem in the pic is just finish with eating.