Shriveled BTA

[brentA]

I have three Bubble Tipped Anemones, have had them for several months. At first all threee have been doing great but within the last month or so one of them has sort of shriveled and looks somewhat mangled... I have four pygmy angels, a naso tang, two damsels, a blenny, several hermits, sand sifter star, lots of snails, and three fighting conchs. I have never seen anything harass any of the BTAs. Does anyone have any idea why two of them would be thriving and the third look like a shriveled mess?

 

[eyebedam]

I'm just curious what 4 Pygmy angels do you have. I was always under the assumption not to mix angels. I'm not judging or nything just curious.

 

[fatdaddy]

How long has it been shriveled? Any pics? What have you been feeding them and how often?

 

[brentA]

I have four gold faced pygmys two male and two female... they chase each other everyday but generally only playfully- one had disappeared into my sump for a few days( i thought it had been eaten by the BTAs) & when I re-intorduced it he was picked on for a few hours quite heavily but by the next morning all was back to normal. I am of the opinion that anything is possible- the pygmys have been raised together so for now at least they enjoy one another.

The shriveled BTA has been shriveled for about two and a half months, it actually looks a little better these past few days than it has in a long while. I don't really feed them anything, with that said they do pick up shrimp pellets that are missed by my fish.
What are you thinking fatdaddy?

 

[fatdaddy]

I think you should feed them every 5-14 days. I have one BTA that has refused to eat and it has been slowly starving itself to death for over a year now. (I kind of wish it would just hurry up or decide to eat.)

What sort of lighting do you have? Not sure why 1 out of 3 would do this for so long.

--Kurt

 

[brentA]

I have an 48" Orbit 4x65 watt Dual Sunlight Dual Acintic w/ 4 Lunar Lights at night... It really isn't enough light to hurt them I would not think? Actually today my Naso Tang got eaten by the healthiest of the three! It sucked but was interesting to see.

What do you think I should feed them? Will the shrimp pellets suffice, because I have read in several locations that fresh kill can make them sick.

So how many BTAs do you have and what do you keep with them?

 

[fatdaddy]

How big was your Naso Tang? I couldn't imagine my naso tang getting eaten.

I have 2 rose BTA's with a mated pair of tomatoe clowns. (I also have the incredibly shrinking white BTA that refuses to eat. Short of injecting it, I'm not sure what to do with him.)

I also have a H. Magnifica which has been doing really well despite that it had to endure my newbie year.

 

[reefnut1]

Are you sure that your tang was still alive when the anemone got it? If it was alive did you see it go into the anemone?
I have had anemones for years and have never seen them catch a fish that is alive and well.

 

[fatdaddy]

Re: feeding - I feed sliversides, reconstituted freeze dried anchovies (asian food store), reconstituted freeze dried plankton, squid tentacles, and fresh shrimp (when I have it).

I rotate the feeding and i'm careful not to over feed as my tanks can't take it.