Need advice on new BTA Please

[j4mypets]

We have a 180 gallon FOWLR and about 3 weeks ago we decided to get an anenome. We had just bought the 72" Nova extreme pro T'5's for lighting.

Sometimes the anemone's tenticles get skinny and green, then you go back and he is ok again ????? We also moved him furter down on a rock that lays on the sand, we were thinking he was getting too much light. ????

How often should you feed these guys? I know he grabs stuff out of the water column but what about regular feedings? The clowns are not hosting him, which makes me sad.

pics to come thanks

 

[j4mypets]

 

[PJtree23]

He looks great! As long as the nem is sticky and his mouth stays tightly shut he should be okay. Feeding 2 times a week is fine. You'll see that the amount you feed it will regulate the amount of growth.

 

[j4mypets]

Thanks PJ thats good news. I get nervous everytime all his tentacles get real thin and stringy. What are their favorite foods? We had a carpet a long time ago. His favorite foods were my fish and shrimp.:spin2:

 

[MelloW33]

The tentacles on my Rose anemones get thin and stringy all the time. It's nothing to worry about. I feed mine thawed out mysis shrimp. Many people get fresh shrimp from a local grocery and cut it into small pieces.

 

[j4mypets]

Thanks Mello this is good to hear because every time his tentacles get thin and stringy I say to my husband " he is dying" and I start panicking.

We also moved him down because i think being so close to the t5's was to much for him. We have been feeding him small pieces of shrimp also. And he grabs the mysis that is floating around from the food for fish.

We added calcium to the tank for him, is there anything else he needs?

 

[Silfer]

You'll find most BTA have long tentacles as opposed to bubbles.. Every nem I see that a retailer posts pics of seem to be bubbled, but when they get into our tanks they seem to lose the bubbles. It's no worries at all.

 

[Samcro]

all they really need is light for food. but some mysys is always a good thing for them. i never fed mine silversides or other large frozen foods cause of all the horror stories. make sure if you feed it table seafood that its fresh and not frozen.
they also inflate and deflate off and on, it normal. but if their mouth is gaping, thats bad. also they dont need calcium cause they have no bones. i never added anything to a tank specifically for a nem, but i seen people add trace elements and iodide. if you dose iodide i suggest a test kit for it.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Mysis seems to be a safe food choice. Be careful if you use fresh (ie raw) shrimp - it needs to be FRESH. Shrimp goes bad very quickly and there is a decent amount of anecdotal evidence of people killing their anemones with bad/rotten food. Just because they EAT like garbage disposals doesn't mean you can feed them garbage

 

[kduen]

all they really need is light for food. but some mysys is always a good thing for them. i never fed mine silversides or other large frozen foods cause of all the horror stories. make sure if you feed it table seafood that its fresh and not frozen.
they also inflate and deflate off and on, it normal. but if their mouth is gaping, thats bad. also they dont need calcium cause they have no bones. i never added anything to a tank specifically for a nem, but i seen people add trace elements and iodide. if you dose iodide i suggest a test kit for it.

As long as it is NOT pre cooked, not freezer burned and you yourself would eat it you should be Ok to give frozen seafood. I have fed mine raw thawed out frozen shrimp and baby scallops along with the mysis. Think of it this way if you would not eat what you pulled out of the freezer why would you risk giving it to your anemone.

 

[bradam]

If he was getting too much light he'd relocate himself I'd think. Atleast when I move mine more directly under metal hilides he'll move right back to edge of it hw bulb quite quickly.

I feed my bubbletips and h. cripsa frozen kill. I have a small glass that I take a dip of the tank water in, plop a couple frozen kill in it, microwave it for 25 seconds and feed them that way. I tear the heads off before feeding them to the anemones. Why exactly I dont know, someone told me to do that years ago and I just got into the habit. Figure I dont eat the heads on shrimp, why should the nem's =)

 

[rysher]

As long as it is NOT pre cooked, not freezer burned and you yourself would eat it you should be Ok to give frozen seafood. I have fed mine raw thawed out frozen shrimp and baby scallops along with the mysis. Think of it this way if you would not eat what you pulled out of the freezer why would you risk giving it to your anemone.

what if you soak the shrimp/clams/fish in selcon, will you eat it?
cause i wouldnt but i feed it to my bta.

 

[NakedClown]

i feed mine thawed out krill, normal just a big piece once a week, it takes it in and its gone, then just reopens and my clowns go back in

 

[pentrix2]

If he was getting too much light he'd relocate himself I'd think. Atleast when I move mine more directly under metal hilides he'll move right back to edge of it hw bulb quite quickly.

I feed my bubbletips and h. cripsa frozen kill. I have a small glass that I take a dip of the tank water in, plop a couple frozen kill in it, microwave it for 25 seconds and feed them that way. I tear the heads off before feeding them to the anemones. Why exactly I dont know, someone told me to do that years ago and I just got into the habit. Figure I dont eat the heads on shrimp, why should the nem's =)

I do the same, but I should stop giving them the head.

 

[j4mypets]

Thanks for all the great advice, we moved his rock down closer to the bottom and he has moved to the side of the rock, I am still not sure how well he is doing. His mouth is not gaping at all, but still gets all green stringy at times, and seems to recover more when the lights are out. However he has never looked like when we had first gotten him when his tentacles were so long i actually thought he was an LTA, I haven't seen his tentacles ( is that even the right word for them?) this long, just short and stubby.

 

[promit]

calcium is not needed for anemones...........u can add iodine not nessecary ....but if you add iodine then don't forget to use a test kit and maintain iodine levels.....between 0.06-0.10 ppm.....