success stories of Cipro/antibiotic treatment with BTAs?

[Jamie1210]

I have heard, read, and personally used antibiotic treatment to successfully treat giganteas and mag's in the past, but I have not had luck with BTA's. I have not found many success stories with AB treatment on BTA's, but maybe they're just escaping my search. It seems that many ppl have attemtpted the treatment on BTA's, but no one ever follow ups.

Can anyone chime in with their experience?


Thanks!
Jamie

 

[Jamie1210]

8 hours later... no one? Really?

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[nemmy]

Honestly never had one infected. I think the chances are much lower with them as they are near bulletproof most of the time. I've cut them in half, seen them get hit with power heads, shipping bag break and come dry for part of the trip, etc. They just always were thrown in the tank and strived for me and most people.

 

[m0nkie]

hey Jamie! I actually successfully treated my BTA 2 weeks ago.

in my case, I had different colored BTAs touch, and somehow both started dying after.. their tentacles melted off little by little. They ended up being bald, with only the mouth. I waited and watched them "die" for about 2 weeks before I decided to treat. At that time, its mouth was fully open and I could see through it.. big hole through the middle.

20gal tank, 10gal of tank water, 250mg Cipro.

After 7 days, it started looking better. No more melting tentacles. Still some expel but that's ok.. I find that when BTA get sick, they would often expel down to only the plate.. and then slowly bounce back and regrow tentacles..

anyways, out of about 15 BTA in my tank, I have 3 that were sick, treated, and regrowing tentacles now.

they do lose color during Cipro treatment.

 

[m0nkie]

I think that due to the amount of warnings given here on RC, many reefers pro-actively treat carpet anemones. However, most don't treat BTA until it's pretty late.. gut expelling late.. and being so cheap, most are discarded on first sign of decay..

 

[m0nkie]

I've also had situations where BTAs just expel to death... I have not been able to figure out why. I believe lighting was too strong, can't confirm it.. anyways, lost 2-3 rare BTAs that way. They would expel twice a day, every day, for 2 months and die slowly..

For all those BTAs, I treated on first sign of expel. But they continued to expel in QT. I used several types of antibiotcs on them, each for 7 days.. tried different lighting, shades, feeding.. everything.. but all I could do was watch it die..

 

[m0nkie]

imo, dying BTA that are inverted out, melting tentacles, no tentacles, bleached, or even with big gap holes can all be saved.. But when they can't attach anymore, it's time to toss

 

[m0nkie]

oh, and I like to keep the BTA in the QT for another 2-3 days after treatment, to test it out..

I use tank water instead of brand new water to treat. pretty much TTM with Cipro tankwater. After 7 days, I transfer it to a cycled QT to monitor. I figured if the tank water is bad, it will die after treatment anyways..

 

[Jamie1210]

Yeah, BTAs are probably the hardiest of clown-hosting anemones. However, in the past 4 months or so, I've come across 3 very nice green ones. Unfortunately, they've all started gaping/showing their insides and spitting out brown pellets within a few days of getting them into my tank. I've treated them with cipro and/or septra exactly the way I treated my carpets, but the treatments did not seem to do anything to them, and they died in QT.

Wondering if these guys were more of the exception and not the rule

 

[Jamie1210]

Hi, monkie! Glad to see u on the nem forum of RC as well. Didn't see your response til I posted mine.

Ok, your response gives me hope that mine still might have a chance Really appreciate the insight.

Over the weekend, picked up a cheap green one and a crazy neon green one, and hoping that the gaping will go away. It is day 4 of treatment though, so, fingers crossed.

 

[m0nkie]

that's weird.. what source are you getting them? I've had store nems that just won't survive.. the ones I lost all came from 1 source.

so what were the symptoms and timeline? just expelling? fast death or getting smaller and smaller?

my 100gal is 18" deep. Kessil 360WE at about 10" above water level. I set it to ramp to 40% peak. At this level, most of my BTA are on the sand level. A few climbed halfway up. Those were the aqua cultured ones that split in my tank many times. The new BTAs are always in the shade or on the bottom. LEDs pack a powerfull punch directly under the bulbs. So maybe try placing them in shades at first?

also for designer BTA (lemon drop, inferno, sunburst), they morph and lose color very fast under bright lights. Under my ATI 8 bulb, all my BTA turned see through.. So I like to keep designer BTA in the shade and keep feeding them to grow.

 

[m0nkie]

maybe try BTA from someone's tank?

the few Coral Collection BTAs I lost cost around $500 each.. sad thing is I cannot pin point what i did wrong to kill them.. unlike carpet anemones, those are easy to tell why/when I messed up.. BTA is just strange

I was able to find exact same aquacultured ones and they are much hardier.. same colors!

just let me know when you are ready for designers! I'll pm you usernames

fyi he's selling a lemon drop right now on R # R. little expensive.. but aqua cultured and healthy

 

[m0nkie]

Over the weekend, picked up a cheap green one and a crazy neon green one, and hoping that the gaping will go away. It is day 4 of treatment though, so, fingers crossed.

neon green is usually a sign of bleaching, so may not be the healthiest to start.

what lights are you using for QT? I use a Kessil360 but at 15%-20%.. and I make sure the BTA is not directly under, but on the other side of tank.

I place the tank near big windows for natural lighting.

if the BTA gets healthier in QT, they would move toward the lights.
if the BTA keeps expelling, i think the lighting is still too strong

 

[HiImSean]

Yeah, BTAs are probably the hardiest of clown-hosting anemones. However, in the past 4 months or so, I've come across 3 very nice green ones. Unfortunately, they've all started gaping/showing their insides and spitting out brown pellets within a few days of getting them into my tank. I've treated them with cipro and/or septra exactly the way I treated my carpets, but the treatments did not seem to do anything to them, and they died in QT.

Wondering if these guys were more of the exception and not the rule

This was my experience also with a green BTA. I'm not sure if it was damaged at my LFS or after going into my tank but it started deteriorating about 4 days after being in my tank. It looked as if the mouth was gaping then a small hole formed next to the mouth. In QT it looked as though it was improving but the hole never seemed to get better with cipro. I did daily 100% WC to no avail. It was still sticky everyday until I came home one day and it was mush.

I've had a RBTA get chewed by a MP40es and not even require QT or meds. Go figure.

 

[Jamie1210]

neon green is usually a sign of bleaching, so may not be the healthiest to start.

what lights are you using for QT? I use a Kessil360 but at 15%-20%.. and I make sure the BTA is not directly under, but on the other side of tank.

I place the tank near big windows for natural lighting.

if the BTA gets healthier in QT, they would move toward the lights.
if the BTA keeps expelling, i think the lighting is still too strong

Oh, no, this bta wasn't neon bleached.. more like the brightest green I've ever seen on a bta! Unfortunately, it is sickly. I'm running my trusty old par 38 bulb over a 10 gallon tank. Light is shining directly over it

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[Jamie1210]

This was my experience also with a green BTA. I'm not sure if it was damaged at my LFS or after going into my tank but it started deteriorating about 4 days after being in my tank. It looked as if the mouth was gaping then a small hole formed next to the mouth. In QT it looked as though it was improving but the hole never seemed to get better with cipro. I did daily 100% WC to no avail. It was still sticky everyday until I came home one day and it was mush.

I've had a RBTA get chewed by a MP40es and not even require QT or meds. Go figure.

Yeah, it's interesting. ..I've never had a problem with roses or ugly brown btas (lol) but just been having so many issues with store bought green ones lately

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