Phil, Ron, someone . . . BTA just split?

[wvufan788893]

Hey guys,

Set up a new 75 gal about a month ago. Cycled, did the rock, added coral, picked up my Percula's, the whole nine.

Tank is/was doing great. All parameters are good but my nitrate is a little high at about 10; maybe a little less. No phosphate.

Anyway, picked up a BTA (rose) from an LFS in South Charleston. He was doing well and perched up high on the reef. I though okay, he wants the lights which are about 500 watts of all PC 10K and Actinic. Not much flow there but he liked it.

Well . . . he started moving a couple of days ago. He perched on the back side of the reef, still kinda high up. I looked about an hour ago and it split.

Now, is that normal behavior or do I have cause for concern. I'm a little worried that it's been moving as well.

I haven't feed it directly (other than what the Percula's have thrown at it). It still looks good.

I just thought it was relatively difficult to get them to split.

Just searching for an explanation.

 

[phljess]

It is not abnormal for a BTA to split when you first buy it, they usually split when they are stressed. Sometimes people try to get them to split by stressing them with feeding and then stop feeding to make them split. I would say it was the stress of the shipping process plus the change in lighting that caused it to split. It should be fine if you can keep it out of powerheads and overflows.

Good Luck

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

Im far from a a BTA expert but i have heard that it can be from stress or say the lfs fed it directly every day or just often. They say if you feed it often then just stop feeding them they can split. Thats just my 2 cents though take it for what its worth. I would for sure get an expert opinion from ron or somone though

 

[phljess]

Beat ya to it SCHS....

 

[firefish2020]

BTAs split for many reasons, I would say the sudden introduction in to new waters may have caused it but that's just a guess. Either way great news!

 

[wvufan788893]

I think it was the change in the water volume and lighting. Fuji had it in a small tank and I put it in the 75, thus, it looked four times the size a bought it at.

Perhaps that caused the split?

I dunno, just guessing. Still looks good though, but I don't want five or six BTA's so I hope this is the last split for a while.

 

[phljess]

BTW, Welcome! WVUFan. I dont think you have psoted on here before....

 

[wvufan788893]

I've only posted a few times due to my move from Beckley to Saint Albans and prepping for the Bar.

Thanks again for keeping my Percula's in case you forgot the username.

Regarding the BTA though, splitting is not necessarily a bad thing, right? I mean, he/she looks okay notwithstanding the split.

I don't like the moving around the tank in the last few days, but what can you do. It may be trying to get away from my Percula. She's excessively rough on her host but then again, I don't know how rough is too rough.

In any event, this thing has been everywhere the last couple of days. Suddenly, it perched right in front of the filter output and split.

I dunno. If it's not one thing it's another. Some freakish bacteria (I think) killed my two adult Discus last week. I had had those fish for about five years and nothing else in the tank showed any symptoms. Very weird.

Point is, I hope my BTA settles down.

 

[phljess]

You will just have to wait until it finds a spot it likes. There's nothing else you can do except try to keep it from being sucked up an intake until it gets situated. I wouldn't worry about the percs. I had a large female Maroon and she did not kill it but my overflows took it out.

 

[Reef4Fun]

lol, I've been wanting mine to split, but I am too afraid to stress it on purpose. I think I would like to have a tank set up just for bta's though, or maybe a tank with a big carpet. Would a carpet anemonie eat a clown fish? I want a pair of percs or tomatoe clowns.

 

[firefish2020]

Just let it roam around, in a few days it will find what it needs. The clown is not going to hurt it at all, and in time it will accept the fish as a host. After that the fish will take better care of the anemone than you ever could by yourself IMO.

Reef: The Percs native anemones are carpets I believe? But they get HUGE and will eat any other fish that sticks to them.

 

[Reef4Fun]

I am thinking of setting up the 45 hex tank up for a really pretty carpet and a mated pair of Percs. Would it be a good idea to do a water change on my 120 and use the water from that so I wouldn't need to have it cycle? Or would I still need to do so? The live rock I am using is some I have had in a tank for over 8 months. I think the only think I would need to get new would be some new sand bed. I would like to use something different, like the bigger pieces of shell and grit, instead of the pink sand. What do you think, with a carpet and all?

 

[coralreefer]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To CRVC</b></i></big></big>
It sounds like a stress split but as long as "they" are looking good I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes they move around before they split too. Do cover all you power head etc. until they settle in. Anemone puree isn't pretty.
Most btas split naturally some more frequently than others.
I doubt the clowns are the problem but there is a rule of thumb that the anemone should be twice the size of the clown (don't hold me to that I'm going from memory but it's close). If the clown is too big for it's host it can literally "love" it to death.

Nancy I'd just use the rock you have and new water. The bacteria you need is in the rock not the tank water so you shouldn't see a cycle.

 

[Reef4Fun]

ok, thanks