Need help with BTA

[Krispifsu]

About three weeks ago my BTA was emitting a white smokey cloud which I can only assume was him spawning. A few days later he moved from the position he had been in for 3 months and moved to the topf the rock work and then several days after that disappeared into the rocks. I could barely see him except for the very tips. Several days ago he reappeared looking awful. Shrunken, brown, short tentacles...I have been attempting to hand feed him but his tentacles are not sticky and the food floats away. I have been trying to hold the food to his mouth and give him time to eat but he isn't opening or even puckering his mouth anymore. He hasn't eaten that I've seen since he came back out of the rock work. Any ideas????

Background info on tank:

75 gallon with 30 gallon sump/fuge
reef octo nwb-150 skimmer
Reef breeder photon 48 lighting
Kalkwasser top-off at about 1 tsp per gallon
Fish: midas blenny, diamond goby, Kole tang, 2 osc clowns, mandarin, skunk shrimp and various snails/hermits
Mostly soft and LPS corals, a few small SPS frags. Everything else seems normal.


Tank was previously set up for several years as a FOWLR. Tank was moved and Upgraded lights and skimmer in January. BTA added in March. The clowns never associated with him - they much prefer the Duncan's :crazy1: I target fed him 2-3 times a week with mysis and chopped squid. He was always beautifully expanded and great coloring until the spawning.

Current test results
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites -0
Nitrates - 10
Phosphates - 0 but tested with API
Alkalinity - 9
Calcium - 440
Ph - 8.0

So now what do I do? I held food to him for 10 minutes this morning and he never even puckered his mouth. He's in a position right now where it is hard for me to monitor his mouth area.

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Krispifsu]

Another picture showing he is still firmly attached to rock - apologize for poor picture quality

 

[clorox]

The first thing you should do is stop feeding it. Don't feed it for several weeks until it is stable. Unless it is sick, it will grow its tentacles in time. What's the flow like?
When they are like that, you need to give them good lighting and moderate flow. You will most likely have to play a bit with the lighting so that it won't move again. If it's weak and has to move to be comfortable it will waste further energy.

Bta's are not like fish, they don't need to be fed regularly. They will absorb nutrients from food particles in the water column from when you feed your fish and from lighting.

I had a couple bta's that picked the wrong fight with the wrong nem and they were shriveled in much worse shape than yours. It took a month or so to heal and thrive again.

 

[raythepilot]

I've never seen a BTA spawn so I don't know about that.
You BTA is showing symptoms of bad water; however. I'd do at least a couple of back to back 10% water changes.
++ Clorox's recommendation on not feeding. Mysis is good but forget the squid it may contain bacteria that are harmful to anemone.

 

[Krispifsu]

The first thing you should do is stop feeding it. Don't feed it for several weeks until it is stable. Unless it is sick, it will grow its tentacles in time. What's the flow like?
When they are like that, you need to give them good lighting and moderate flow. You will most likely have to play a bit with the lighting so that it won't move again. If it's weak and has to move to be comfortable it will waste further energy.

Bta's are not like fish, they don't need to be fed regularly. They will absorb nutrients from food particles in the water column from when you feed your fish and from lighting.

I had a couple bta's that picked the wrong fight with the wrong nem and they were shriveled in much worse shape than yours. It took a month or so to heal and thrive again.

The flow is decent but not the best. My return pump is rated for 650 gph and I have three hydor korali powerheads all rated at 850 gph. I don't like the flow of the hydors though so I am planning to keep the two that are hidden behind my rock work and replace the one that is at the opposite end of the tank from the return pump with a new powerhead...possibly the Jabeo RW-15 wave maker powerhead.

I'll stop attempting to feed him directly. When I fed the tank yesterday his mouth puckered and he caught one piece of food but it floated away before he could get it to his mouth.

I am thinking I may hold off on the new powerhead for right now though because it would go on the end of the tank where he is and I would bet he'd move to adjust to the new flow pattern. What are your thoughts?

 

[Krispifsu]

The BTA caught a piece of mysis this morning when I fed the tank which I would imagine is a good sign...and when he curled up to eat I noticed that the one side of him seems ripped for lack of a better way to describe it.

Could something be eating it?