Normal BTA tentacle length?

LukeGI

New member
Is there a normal length?

I have 8 BTA's in my 180g. 6 are Rainbow's and two toxic greens that I just added.

After adding my latest two, I change the flow of the powerheads to a more random pattern in the tank, and not as much of a circular flow.
The new flow has a couple of the nem's in an area that doesn't get much flow at all till they extend themselves further...it isn't exactly stagnant, but not much movement.

One of the bta's moved fairly high up on the rocks (before the new flow), and since the new flow, his tentacles have extended even further than before (which was pretty good to begin with), his "base" is roughly 6-8" in diameter, however he has tentacles that are also as long as 8"+
Is that a sign that he is not getting enough light or food? Or is it entirely normal?

They all appear healthy, I am just looking to know if perhaps I need to increase the brightness on my led's more, or if they are simply happy :)
I will attempt to get some pictures tonight...in the meantime, here is a low resolution video from my aquarium monitoring camera...it doesn't show the large one that is out of frame...but does show the flow fairly decently.
https://youtu.be/qsTZyRI9G0o

Thank you!!!
 
They do look rather odd. For the size of their oral disc they seem to have a low tentacle count and are really long. I'd try to give them some more light and see what happens. Are you feeding them as well?

Here's a picture of one of mine back when I kept them. See the high tentacle count vs its size? This was on a 40 breeder with 6 t5.

Edit actually think its two side by side. Been many years since that was taken haha.
 

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I have not been direct feeding them. I will try increasing the intensity of the light fixture directly above them, as well as some target feeding every few days.
 
The anemone by the bam bam's I know to be a bta as I have seen it with the bubble tips when I first got it. The others I cannot prove one way or another, however I do believe they had slight bubbles when first introduced. Is there another anemone type that looks nearly identical to a bta?

The one by the bam bams looks almost identical to the larger ones today, even though they were bought from different people.

Any one else have any thoughts??
 
Here are some pictures I took last tonight and I will also post a video as soon as it finishes uploading to youtube. I attempted to get as clear of shots as I could for you all to help me :)
Sadly I was foolish enough to stir up some sand before the video, so my apologies for the cloudy water.

 
They're all bubble tips. (Nice looking ones too) They just need more flow and they won't look as off.
I'll post a pic of my rbta, one with high flow and one with no flow tomorrow afternoon after the lights come back on. One is full and flowing, and the other is a big bare oral disk with stringy tentacles. Varying with different flow intensity.

Here is the rbta in high flow (lives in front of my mp10)
 
They look like btas in the video. I saw the white lines from the mouth in the closeup. Do the tentacles have stripes?
 
I have increased the flow as best I could with my powerheads...tentacle length does seem to have shortened. I also fed them two nights ago a piece of shrimp each. Most ate it immediately, though one green did not as a live shrimp stole it lol
 
RBTA in QT = low flow and foot not "comfortable" in rock crevase.



RBTA in DT. high flow



I personally believe that BTA's bubble and protect the base/foot when not in a "safe" rock location.
 
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