RBTA refusing food and has weird mouth

[nathan1986]

ive had this very small RBTA in my gf's biocube for about 5-6 days now. its finally stopped moving around the tank but now I cant get the darn thing to eat. ive tried, mini Mysis, normal Mysis, krill and small piece of silverside. it ate none of it and I gently held the food close to its mouth with a small pipette hoping it would take the food. now on to discussing its mouth, it looks weird to me. its not open or anything like that. to me it looks like a very tiny white nipple (sorry no other way to describe it) any advice on what actions I should do? I know these things can go quite awhile without food itd just be re assuring to me that I know it ate something. thanks for all and any help, nathan

 

[nathan1986]

 

[nathan1986]

This is all new to me but its almost like its mouth is still developing? I believe this RBTA was a cut from another RBTA (not sure exactly what that would be called) but there is a spot where there are no "bubble tips" and it looks like a scar from a cut going from the outter most part of the anemone to its mouth area.

 

[Cole.97]

What are your water parameters? To me it looks like your anemone is starting to do the thing where it spills its guts out. Don't worry, they can easily recover from where yours is (my BTA has never done this but my carpet nem looks the same way whenever any of my parameters are off). It could still be getting acclimated to your tank and the lighting, so I wouldn't worry too much. IMO it isn't good to feed an acclimating anemone anyway.

 

[nathan1986]

okay ill stop trying to feed. ive read it can take awhile to acclimate to the tank conditions. water is tested every Monday and I change 2 gallons every week. filter media is purigen and chemi pure elite. no skimmer no refugium no bio balls

 

[D-Nak]

BTAs, and with other nems, don't need to be fed--ever. You'll do more harm than good trying to feed it while it's still acclimating to your tank.

In looking at the photos, it could be a recent split. Where did you get the nem? Did it appear healthy when you bought it? If it is a recent split, I would wait at least a month before trying to feed it. This will give the nem time to heal, especially the mouth. The only reason you may want to feed it is if it becomes bleached, but the color currently looks good, so I wouldn't worry about it for now.

 

[nathan1986]

yes its e recent split. when i bought it the nem was very healthy looking. i got it from a local fish store in my area called elite corals. he has the cleanest tanks around my area and he said he got the nems from a good home so i trust him. i will leave the nem alone and let him do whatever it wants and ill keep a close eye on it. thanks guys! i feel better now

 

[nathan1986]

RIP bubble tip

 

[Xtremeclownfish]

Sorry to hear about your anemone! Just an FYI, as long as I've been in the hobby, 10 years...I have never fed my anemones and I have several in one tank.

 

[Mael]

my rainbow bta gets fed probably once a week but is never anything big, usually krill/mysis/plankton that I am also feeding the fish and I give him some....seems to love it, gobbles it down and opens back up nice a huge.

to be noted, I did not try to feed it while acclimating, basically for the first month or two just let it get settled, and never silversides or anything that has less quality control in the process.

 

[nathan1986]

I dunno how it died. I just think it was too small. I drip acclimated it for 3 hours, temp acclimated for about 35 min. But he never found a spot he liked, he always ended up on the sand or floating around the tank like a umbrella in the wind. Luckly I was able to get him out before he decomposed. I noticed he was wedged between 2 rocks (where I placed him 2 days prior) but his foot was half holding on and his face was flat against the rock. As soon as I touched him he let go of the rock and just started falling apart in my hand. Feel bad for the poor guy. I have a feeling it will be a long long time before I try one again, that lil thing cause more stress and frustration than any other thing ive added to my tank.

 

[Vorog]

I know this is an older post, but just happened to stumble upon it. If you are going to get another BTA, and give it a shot. This site I found has pretty much everything you need to know about them before buying, caring for them ect. Pretty much what I followed with mine. I also didn't feed mine for a while, til it found its happy spot. And even after that my clowns took care of feeding it for me. Hope this helps you if you plan on another one. Either way its a great read!

http://www.karensroseanemones.net/