Rbta

Daftboy

New member
Well I got this about a week or so ago...I have been feeding it mysis... I was wondering how much I should feed it.... its seem to be in good health it has put its base around the back of the rock and stretches about 4-5 inches for its arms to be on top of the rock is that normal ? Here is a picture of the top.. i can get one of the base tom if you need it..
IMG_1530.jpg
 
After reading this I guess the foot being in the back and it stretching is normal.. its using my rock as a cave to hide in..

Here's my thoughts on the matter of wandering BTA's: (copy and pasted from a different thread)

On the topic of a BTA moving "all the time" as some say...I would argue strongly against this statement. In my experience, from reading, and discussions with other people with far more expertise than me, a BTA will remain in its spot if all of its living conditions are being met satisfactorily. There is no benefit to the anemone (risk of being stung/sliced by corals, risk of not finding another rock in the ocean, predatory animals, etc) to "just move around" IF all conditions are appropriate.

Water quality, light, food, Flow, and foot - the five conditions that must be satisfactorily met for all anemones.

Water quality: In the ocean, if local currents drastically change after storms, rivers dump crap into the ocean etc, the nem may want to move to conditions which better suit its liking. In our tanks, however, there are no other areas which have better water - but the anemone doesn't know that. This is my #1 pick for why anemones move without apparent reason. It may even be something in your water which you do not test for - or it may be BECAUSE you just did a water change and didn't match tank water close enough. The anemone is searching for something it just can not find inside a glass box, hence the so called "anemone's just sometimes walk around for no reason". We can't see the reason - so we assume there isn't one.

Light: Lighting in the ocean is quite strong. Far more than our little electrical lights we use. Even on a cloudy day the par is very high - ever had a sunburn on a cloudy day? When you introduce a BTA, you may have a spot picked out that you really want it to go, but it may decide it is too bright or too dim and promptly move. As it gets light-acclimated to your tank, it may move to a spot that is "just right" for its health in the long term. This acclimating and moving to a new home may also cause confusion to BTA's "moving a lot".

Food: Yikes! There is a lot of misconceptions about the "proper" diet for anemones. I did a write-up on RC a while back about the topic: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1835320 A basic summary of that thread is.....assuming a healthy nem, food is likely unnecessary. If you would like to feed, feed small (pencil eraser max) meaty, raw, SW-found foods. Unhealthy nems need more food to gain energy and should be fed more. Feeding leads to faster growth. Feeding can also in some cases overcome less-than-ideal lighting because the food is supplementing the light source. More in-depth information can be found at that link.

Flow: You need to determine the flow requirements of the species of nem you want, and make it match in order to decrease the likelihood of movement. BTA's will like moderate flow, but not too high or too low. Either of those may cause it to move around. Some can be very picky. I know someone who's Haddoni moved across the sandbed after her cleaned a powerhead and replaced it (he thought) in the exact same spot. Apparently it wasn't quite exact. Haddoni's like low flow - if their oral disk is being moved by the current, it's too much and will cause it to move.

Foot: This is my #2 reason why BTA's apparently move without known cause. The foot of most anemones also requires special concern. Some anemones like to bury in the sand, some at the sand/rock interface, and some directly onto rocks. BTA's like to have their foot in a deep crevice, hole, or cave. Basically, it's a safe zone for them to hide in if they need to retract. It's also a way for them to regulate the amount of sun it gets. These deep holes are key to keeping a BTA happy with it's current spot. They like their foot shaded, and head out in the sun.

Hope that's a good summary of what I think about BTA's.
 
I can't give you and answer but just wanted to say wow nice RBTA, does it really have that green tint near the base?
 
Looks good! And yeah the wrapping around the rock is pretty standard for them. I would take a look at the mouth and give a portion roughly double the size of the mouth when it's closed. So, if I had to guess, a portion about the size of that wrasse's head would be good, maybe more. :thumbsup:
 
I guess ill have to wait the antic lights are on already so its crawling away.. I'll have to look tomm. I guess
 
Well it looks really healthy in the picture, and eating is always a good sign, so I'd say you seem to be doing ok. And if you ever get tired of that beauty, just let me know, lol. Nice find!
 
That is a good looking nem. And it's behavior is pretty standard from what I've seen. Like the text you quoted, I feed about the size of a pencil eraser (or a little bigger) a couple times a week. Basing the food on the size of the mouth is probably a good way to measure. Pretty much, they won't eat it if they're not hungry.

Jeff
 
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