New GBTA

[AzaZeL]

Ok, I just got a GBTA on Wednesday I believe. I took my time and acclimated it for about 2 hours using the drip method. I had the lights off the entire time through the acclimation process. I dropped the anemone in the tank and it swirled around one time and then stuck on the first rock it came to. I kept the lights off all night and in the morning it had moved to the bottom of another rock in the middle of the tank. BTW, I have a 12g Aquapod with one large rock in the middle and two very small rocks on either side. It initially landed on one of the small rocks and then transplanted itself to the large rock. I kept the lights off for half of the next day with a towel over the tank to keep the light out. I took the towel off and let it sit for an hour or so and then fired up the light. I have the 70w MH over the tank. When I got the nem from my LFS, it was a very beautiful dark green color with bulbous tips. Now it is a pale green color and the tentacles are very "narrow" for lack of a better term. My water params are great with the exception of my phosphates. They are a tad high but nothing major. I have fed the anemone twice. The first was about 1/4 cube of mysis the second day of having it and then again two days later I fed it 1/2 cube. It ate fine both times. Is my anemone ok and will the color and the tips return? Oh, I upgraded the stock return pump to a MJ1200 so it has a pretty good amount of flow compared to the stock pump.

 

[garygb]

It is no doubt still acclimating. If your water parameters are good, don't worry too much about tentacle width or what shape it takes at this point. It might completely deflate a few times as it adjusts to its new surroundings. The most important thing is to keep the water quality high with water changes, protein skimming and not overfeeding. Also, in such a small tank, it would be wise to only keep the anemone and perhaps a clownfish, nothing else. A BTA could eventually grow to take up most of the display area of your tank. If the anemone wasn't already acclimated to strong light, it could be a shock to it to have a MH. If it appears to avoid the light, by getting under a rock or moving away from the light, then you will need to allow it time to acclimate to your lighting.

 

[AzaZeL]

Thanks for the insight Gary. The nem is in the bottom of the tank and came from the display tank that did not have nearly as much light. As far as fish, the only thing I have in the tank is a pair of clowns. I only want to add one other fish, which is a goby so I'm assuming that will be ok. Hopefully it will like its new environment with the increased lighting. How much should I be feeding it? It is a relatively small GTBA. About 5" across. As far as the size, it will be moving to a 34g in the next few months. Probably 6 months from now.

 

[garygb]

Yeah, a 34 gallon will be better in the long run, BTA's can eventually measure 15 inches across or so, but that will be years down the road most likely. As far as feeding, I would feed a small (say the size of a peanut) piece of silverside, shrimp (human consumption type/quality), squid, krill, scallop, etc. You can get the silversides at your lfs and the rest at the seafood dept. of your supermarket. I personally would feed 2 times per week with your set up. You're going to get alot of different opinions on the frequency of feeding. Some feed once every week or two and others feed every other day. In a small tank, I would not feed more than a couple of times per week for the sake of the water quality. I also suggest you do small weekly water changes. You want you water to have a specific gravity of 1.025-1.026, temp. in the 78-82 range, preferably undetectable nitrates/phosphates, and ph 8.2-8.4 (though BTA's aren't overly fussy about parameters).

 

[AzaZeL]

Well, I went home today and when I got there, the BTA was even smaller. It got back some of its color but it was much smaller. I think it is trying to get away from the light. I fed it today and the mouth puckered up for the first time and it made an effort to put the shrimp into its mouth. I fed it mysis again, which it ate, but I had to fight with my skunk cleaner to stay away. he is a greedy little SOB when it comes to eating. I will pick up some fresh seafood for it mid-week. If nothing changes in the next day or two, I will post a picture

 

[AzaZeL]

Looked much better today actually. I got a good view of the mouth which was tightly closed which is a good thing from what I understand. We'll see.