Shy BTA?

[ZCCRX]

Hello RC pep's. I purchased a BTA one week ago and I have a few questions. First of all it has hidden itself in a shadowey cave in my live rock and just stays there. I only seems to open up part of the way, never extending it's tenticals more than a quarter of an inch. The anemone itself is about 2-3" in diameter. It is not bleached out. It is dark orange/brown with greenish brown tenticals. It has also never deflated since I have had it, and it doesn't appear diseased or damaged.

I drip acclimated this animal for one hour when I brought it home. My tank is well cycled, 7months old and my parameters are all perfect with the exception of the pH, which was 8.0. I have started treatment for this with Kent Marine's 2 part buffer yesterday and will continue until 8.3 is achieved.

The tank is a 58gal with 65lbs of LR and a few various soft corals which are all doing well. The lighting is 2X65W and 1X96W P/C's for a total of 226W, should be good for BTA, right?

The tank also has plenty of flow ~1,500gph total and is equipped with a Prizm Pro skimmer. Temp is usually ~8O degrees.

Is this normal behavior for a new BTA? Will it eventually come out more and open up? Should I just be patient with it?
Here's a few pic's of the tank without the nem.

 

[SaylorsReef]

It may be acclimating itself to its new environment yet. Can you get a pic? The 1/4" tenticles makes me wonder if it isn't starving.

 

[rssjsb]

Hiding in a dark sheltered place is absolutely normal for an anemone when it's put in a new tank. It's adjusting to conditions in your aquarium. This process can take a week or two, so just be patient. It will find the place it wants to be once it's used to things. Because our tanks are set up so that we can see the high-light spots, it will probably be out front. Be prepared to move corals if it decides to move in on top of one.

 

[ZCCRX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11911506#post11911506 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SaylorsReef
It may be acclimating itself to its new environment yet. Can you get a pic? The 1/4" tenticles makes me wonder if it isn't starving.

Well that was my first thought, so at about day four I tried feeding it a piece of raw fish and the nem just closed up even more.

 

[ZCCRX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11911854#post11911854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rssjsb
Hiding in a dark sheltered place is absolutely normal for an anemone when it's put in a new tank. It's adjusting to conditions in your aquarium. This process can take a week or two, so just be patient. It will find the place it wants to be once it's used to things. Because our tanks are set up so that we can see the high-light spots, it will probably be out front. Be prepared to move corals if it decides to move in on top of one.

This is what I am hoping for. How big of a problem do you think it is for the nem that the pH was a little low?

 

[rssjsb]

A ph of 8 is not ideal, but isn't that low. Stability is more important.

Anemones are sensitive critters and (like other marine life) do not appreciate unstable parameters. Be careful not to overreact and cause your ph to bounce around too much.

Were the tentacles more elongated when you bought it? If so, I wouldn't be alarmed. BTAs won't starve in a week. Trying to feed it while it's acclimating will be counterproductive anyway, IMHO. I know it's unnerving, but mine both took two weeks to find their happy spot.

If not, can you get a picture?

 

[ZCCRX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11917680#post11917680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rssjsb
A ph of 8 is not ideal, but isn't that low. Stability is more important.

Anemones are sensitive critters and (like other marine life) do not appreciate unstable parameters. Be careful not to overreact and cause your ph to bounce around too much.

Were the tentacles more elongated when you bought it? If so, I wouldn't be alarmed. BTAs won't starve in a week. Trying to feed it while it's acclimating will be counterproductive anyway, IMHO. I know it's unnerving, but mine both took two weeks to find their happy spot.

If not, can you get a picture?

It's tentacles were a little longer in the store but not much. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow, however when I last checked he had gone back pretty far into the rock work, I was bearly able to see him.

As far as the pH goes, the Kent Marine stuff I got says to dose daily, and I have for the last two days, do you think I should spread it out a little more than that, like maybe every two or three day instead?

 

[garygb]

You might find that the ph changes over the course of the day. If it is 8.0 when the lights come on first thing in the morning, my guess is it will be 8.3 or eve higher after the lights have been on for 8 hours or so. If the low is 8.0, that's not a real problem. If the high after the lights have been on for hours is 8.0, then I would say you need to consider what's driving the ph down and correct.