Retarded BTA

[DiscusDan]

Hey, I've had a bubble tip anemone for a few weeks now. My clowns love it and host in it whenever they can. The problem is that as soon as the lights go out it wanders around the tank. This happens every night and every morning it ends up in about the same place.

It has plenty of light (250W MH and t5 actinics) and lots of different flow levels throughout the tank. This morning it's stuck in the overflow's grating:

I've tried and i can't get it out, it's torn pretty bad in the middle and it's got it's foot through the grating in two different places. It's really stuck and I assume it'll be dead soon.

This is what it did look like as recent as last night:

So right now I'm just really angry, I can't get it out of there and at this point, after nightly work pulling it from the grating I just want it gone. But can anyone tell me why it acted this way? I assume it's just stupid because it seems to look for light as soon as the light goes out and stops moving when the lights come on... I hate this BTA so much

 

[ycnibrc]

First of all anemone will move around a lot until they find a suitable place to stay. A lot of things can make they move around. Flow,light and water paremeter. How old is your tank?any phosphate,nitrate?? Sometime anemone can be tough to keep if your tank is new<less than a year old>. They need stable paremeter or they will move around.

good luck
Anthony

 

[55semireef]

I wouldn't call the anemone retarted. Your the one that didn't cover the intake.

 

[TOURKID]

you need to get it out. btas bounce back incredably. but it will most likely split if it does survive.

and yes, cover your intakes with needle point plastic sheets from your craft store

 

[DiscusDan]

I did have the intake covered, the anemone actually wrapped itself around the plastic covering and went into the intake on both sides of it - i should've had it secured better. I'm really pretty sure it put itself in there intentionally rather than floating around towards the intake since I saw it climbing towads it last night.

I got it out of the the intake but it had already torn itself pretty much in half. It's in two pieces now wedged into the rock work. I guess I'll wait and see what happens now...

 

[55semireef]

Good luck. Hopefully one of the pieces survives. That would be amazing.

 

[TOURKID]

if your perimeters are excellent and it was healthy before. you'll most likely have to nems after they heal. if the mouth was damaged, it'll take about a week for it to grow new ones

mine did a three way split naturally and they get pretty torn up!!

see all the guts (a 3 way split isent normal, neither are all these guts, its usually a cleaner split)

here they are a week later

might want to do a water change. in fact i highly recommend it. helps in healing

 

[55semireef]

Tourkid those BTAs look great but their shape looks like Condy anemones since their tentacles are so long.

 

[TOURKID]

semireef.. it drives me nuts too. they are literally 10 inches on some. talk about a stinging machine. half my tank is empty so they can flail about. thinking out switching from 250 watts to 175 watts... or getting a bigger tank. not sure what to do

 

[55semireef]

I think its pretty cool. Maybe you can get a bigger tank and introduce a new type of anemone. Like a sand dweller so you can have two types of tentacles to look at instead of one type that drives you crazy.

 

[TOURKID]

I sold one to a fellow reefer who has 400 watts over his tank, he put it super low in the tank and it has some bubbles!

I just need to reduce light, get a deeper tank....

Im trying really hard Im about 1/2 way to my 2600.00 dream tank. I keep asking santa but to no avail, I need more loot lol

 

[Reef4Fun]

I have a suggestion. If the anemone lives, how about getting a moon light, the kind you can stick to your tank, just one, and put it right on the glass in front of the nem, maybe that would keep it from wondering and getting itself into more trouble. My carpet nem moved on me, but it moved directly under the moon light and it stayed put. The reason I say put one right in front of yours on the side of the glass is so that it wont wonder up toward the top and get in an overflow there. Good luck, hope it survives.

 

[TOURKID]

I did that to get mine to stop moving at night, it worked. i forgot all about that!