Here is my experience with the Onyx coloration with BTA so far.
Let just say that there will be NO MORE BTA in my tank anymore.
9-20-2008- I received 5 Rod's Onyx clowns and at the time, there were about 10 RBTA. The clowns took it within minutes and are all over the anemone.
As you can see, even though the clowns are still very very young, their colors are awesome! Nice jet black developing. No third stripe on any of the clowns.
11-21-2008- About two months later....The black has noticeably faded in all the clowns. You can see the third stripe starts to develop on one of the clowns.
On 12-19-2008- I decided to divide the tank in half with a baffle to separate the clowns from the anemones. I've notice the black starts to come back within a week. So after the busy holidays, I decided to sell all of the anemones. It was an extremely difficult decision for me.
01-08-09- After the RBTAs were out of the tank, I saw a S. Gigantea at a lfs and decided to roll the dice and brought it home. I introduced the new carpet during lights out so the clowns didn't see it but the next morning, they were all over it.
You can see the black is starting to come back. Now, it's getting darker and darker. The third stripe is almost completely developed in the clown that showed the first sign of the stripe. All other clowns are starting to show some white on the third stripe as well.