Novice owner of a RBTA

[guruduck]

Hi everyone, I am new to anemone. I finally got a RBTA in baby size, 1-1.5" across when fully extended. When I got it, it was placed in a container. Color was dark red, all tentacles retrieved, floating in the water. I took it home and found out the salinity level of my DT 1.023 and the water in the container 1.026 had a difference. I acclimated it for 3 hours by drip method.

I turned off all pumps and put the RBTA high up on a LR. It quickly attached to rock and extended a little bit. The LR was at the upper section 10" away from light. I turned on the pumps after 30 mins and it was fine, it extended further. I could see the bright spot on tip of every tentacle. Good sign. The pumps were directed to the water surface so that the RBTA was getting reflected water current from water surface.

However when the light was turned on, RBTA gradually retrieved all tentacles and moved to the bottom of that piece of rock. The light was 2x 54W T5 4' long. Around 10000k. ATI bulbs.

This morning, it remained at the bottom of that rock. It looks like a chewed bubble gum. See picture. I remembered reading some posts saying to place an anemone on sand bed and let it attach to rock. Now I move the entire LR to the bottom.

Was it shocked by the light? I thought 2x 54W T5 is too weak for RBTA to begin with. I was planning to turn on all 4x 54W. Previous owner fed it every week with mysis shrimp though.

Any ideas? Thanks for looking.

Guruduck

 

[royvoss]

give it some time, they will move around till its finds a spot it likes.

 

[Karp]

I got mine about 2 weeks ago. It did something similar to yours.

Now the guy is basking in the sun (light)

Give it some time, hes probbaly just getting use to your tank / light / cycle

:fish1:

 

[guruduck]

After 30 hours. it is now settling at the very bottom of a LR showing only some round tips. Still hiding. No tentacle come out yet.

 

[guruduck]

48 hours past

48 hours past

This morning it stays almost the same. Hiding itself.
Should I start feeding it with mysis? I am afraid my feeding action will further scare it and retract further.

How soon should I wait until feeding?
Any advise?

Thanks
Guruduck

 

[EricSIny]

Unfortunately, your not going to get alot of help on here from people as its highly recommended that bta's only get introduced to a well established tank thats has been running atleast 6+ months.

In the future it is wise to research your intended purchase prior to buying it so you can ensure you can provide the proper level of care for your new animal.

As for your questions, most of the answers can be found by simply reading the stickies located at the top of this forum.

 

[mborn]

It looks like a small clone. They tend to wander around quite a bit before they find a place they like and settle in. It’s also still acclimating to your lighting. I wouldn’t worry too much at this point. Go ahead and start feeding it some mysis. It won’t hurt and might cause it to expand a little more. When my RBTA splits clones, they tend to expand more and settle down when I start feeding.

 

[guruduck]

My tank has been running for a few years as FOWLR. Now decided to try reef.
Thank you for everyone who looked at here. More update later.

 

[guruduck]

Can anyone tell me is its mouth open? I haven't seen one before so I don't know. I turned off the pump and dropped a piece of mysis on one of the balls. But it did not response to food at the moment.

Sorry for the low quality of the pictures 'cos it is really very small.

Thanks
Guruduck

 

[moshi1ry]

Hmm there are some really good sources of information on BTAs just do some reading but you really should have waited longer to get him.

 

[guruduck]

My clone RBTA is doing fairly stable. It doesn't show tentacles at the moment, but only bubble tips. It opens up a little bit and stays put. Is it a baby clone should be? When will it start growing tentacles?

It is now 1 cm above sand bed. Still not receiving much light. Any links to clone behavior are appreciated.

Thank you
Guruduck

 

[mikelee35]

Its not the lighting, i kept a 10-12" RBTA in a 12G biocube with factory lights in it and it did just fine, your water parameters will cause it more problems than your lighting will, that and an anemone that small will be very sensitive to parameters different than what it was in before it got to your tank

 

[michaelr]

2 things. one that anemone's mouth does appear to be closed and two 1.023 sounds a little low for a reef tank. i keep mine at 1.025-6

 

[guruduck]

Thanks. I gradually increased the salinity to 1.024 in a course of 2 days and will continue to 1.025 in the coming 2 days.

I found my RBTA retracted and "balloon up". It happened Once yesterday and once today. After 1 hour, it just expanded and back to normal. I did not see any inhabitants were irritating it.

Other than that, it is doing fairly stable and grows a little.

Could someone tell me what is it doing?

thanks
Guruduck