New RBTA and water change?

[Freemason1970]

I have not had much success keeping bubble tip anemones alive, I assume because of me being an amateur at reefing. But, I was at the LFS yesterday and I couldn't pass up this beauty. This is probably the best looking and healthiest looking RBTA that I have bought so far. So far it has only moved a tiny bit from where I put it yesterday afternoon, so I think it is happy.

My question is, I am scheduled to do a water change today. Should I do the water change, or should I wait? I don't want to kill this RBTA.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[shifty51008]

You will be fine doing a water change, just make sure the parameters match fairley close

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Go ahead with the wc just make sure your sg and temp are the same as your tank so there isn't a swing on either. The bta could split after the wc which isn't the end of the world, you would end up with two instead of one. If it's going to split from the wc it will happen within two or three days. If it doesn't then it probably won't split from the wc.

How old is your tank? the picture in your avatar looks like a fairly new setup. The main thing that kills btas is swings in water like I stated above and not having sufficient lighting. There is a rule of thumb for a tank needing to be min of 6 months old but this is to make sure the new reefer is use to keeping water parameters stable.

Good luck with your new bta!

 

[Freemason1970]

Thank you for the replies.
Dkuhlmann, my avatar is from when I first set up my tank, which was about two years ago. I had to find out the hard way about patience with this hobby.
My parameters and temp are all matching the tank so I will continue on with the wc this afternoon.

Why would a wc cause the bta to split?

 

[DanDashO]

Why would a wc cause the bta to split?

This is an evolutionary advantage, if local reef conditions begin to deteriorate, the anemone will split so to give itself two shots at finding a new, suitable place to live, not just one. Often times an anemone can think that a large water change is the biginning of large changes to it's environment, and split incase it needs to leave.
Short answer anyway...

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Dan is correct. They will also split if you over feed them