I'm getting tired of this... what's the truth about BTAs???

[jacksonpt]

I've tried to keep a couple of anemones in the past... had great success with an Atlantic anemone (first one)... got too big and ate too many fish-back to the LFS. Next I tried a Ritteri... no luck, then a long tentacle, no luck. After much research, I thought I new what I was doing, so I bought a BTA. Surprise surprise, it doesn't seem to be doing well.

I've read everything I can find, I've talked to people who have had them, I've talked to everyone who works at both of my LFS... EVERYONE'S GOT A DIFFERENT OPINION!!! GRRRRR (ok, done venting... sorry.)

So what's the deal??? What's the truth about caring for BTAs? Please, enlighten me about lighting, current, feeding, etc.

Currently:
75g tank
80w 20k NO
40w actinic NO
approx 950gph via 4 powerheads
fed 3 times per week - once sea scalops, once shrimp, once high concentrate vitimin solution.
located high in tank, in moderate current

http://taylor.chatkill.com/misc/bta.jpg

He has looked like that for almost a week now. I thought he was just getting ready to expel wastes, but now I'm starting to wonder. About every 36 hours, he pulls himself in (looks like a balloon), but doesn't get real small like most anemones seem to do. Normally, he's about 5" or so in diameter, and when he pulls himself in (like he was getting ready to expel), he is still about the size of a golf ball... maybe slightly larger.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

[jacksonpt]

I forgot to mention... water parameters (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, ph, alk, sg, and temp) have been damn near perfect for a long time (at least the past 6 monts).

[MarkS]

Well your lighting, in reference to anemones, is almost non-existant. You barely have enough to keep LPS alive. Anemones require "bottled sunlight", i.e., high wattage PC's, VHO or MH with MH being the best and most recommended to the former two. I have more light over my ten gallon nano.

Upgrade your lighting and you will see a difference.

Mark

[chewie]

ditto!!! maybe throw in 2 more 40 watters and it might do ok!!!

[Mike W]

You should be feeding the anemone directly. Due to your lack of lighting I would say every other day feed a 1/4"-1/2" piece of fresh scallops or clam. Mix in some silversides.

[Angel*Fish]

I'm not an expert or anything close to it-- just some ideas...

Try omitting that vitamin stuff - maybe there is something in it that is irritating him
You might try feeding every day for a while - definitely include some fish like silversides -
Water change - I'd do one now and again in about 10 days
Don't do anything to cloud up the water (like disturbing detritus) for a while - except if he doesn't have a clown fish to keep his area clear of mucous, etc. , you might "dust" around him with turkey baster (gently - and don't accidentally "inhale " any of him with it!) -
When you feed him wiggle the food around like it is live and trying to get away (I think that's supposed to be good for his nervous system)
Ditto, too on the lighting -- if you can with your set up, put the actinic right over him every other day -- no scientific reason that I know of -- it just seems to make my BTA "happy"
Your water params - make sure alk & pH are up and STABLE --My LFS says sg of .019 is "perfect" -- That is lower than you would like for a BTA - But any change should be very gradual

Hope this helps -- I guess the cat is out of the bag that my BTA is pampered just a tad:rolleyes:

[aLittletank]

I know this hobby can get so frustraiting, different answers for the same question.

why are your anemones dying? they are not getting the light they need. plain and simple. if your water conditions are what you said and you are feeding 3 times week then up grade the light and you will see a big differene. I recomend MH lighting and using your current lighting for blue lighting.


HTH
Allen

[MarkS]

Originally posted by aLittletank
I know this hobby can get so frustraiting, different answers for the same question.

why are your anemones dying? they are not getting the light they need. plain and simple. if your water conditions are what you said and you are feeding 3 times week then up grade the light and you will see a big differene. I recomend MH lighting and using your current lighting for blue lighting.


HTH
Allen

Agreed! Upgrade the lighting or get the anemone out. Very simple.

Mark

[Angel*Fish]

MarkS - the others are definitely right about the lighting- I bought a BTA very similar to yours and had to upgrade my lighting --

There is nevertheless more to keeping one of these guys than lighting - and I also might mention that as soon as I upgraded my lighting, the anemone, which had been at the very top of the tank, promptly moved down lower. It's the only move he's made since he originally settled, I'm assuming he felt that it was more light than he wanted. But he definitely needed the upgrade. There are those that claim to keep theirs on low lighting (like yours ) for years, by feeding heavily, but that IMO is a very bad idea --

The tentacles in your photo look irritated to me -- you said he'd been looking like that for a week.

After a water change, my BTA usually looks more -- I don't know --better . Think about it, they are mostly water.. my water quality is excellent -- but there are things that don't show up in the tests (like was there a tiny trace of soap on your hand when you put it in the tank) That leads me to the question : are you running a skimmer?

If you read about the successes of different people with anemones, they don't always attribute it to the same thing. Considering how many people have anemone failures it is not hard to get to the idea that maybe not everything is understood about them yet.

I posted a thread asking for BTA success stories, the answers are worth looking at (or it may be what caused your frustration...) I asked for people who had raised them for 2+ years to tell HOW. I found the answers to be very helpful.

Goodluck with your anemone:)

[Angel*Fish]

:eek1: Sorry, I didn't role the thread back far enough:rolleyes: That last post of mine should be addressed to Jacksonpt :(

[MarkS]

Originally posted by mantisagogo
:eek1: Sorry, I didn't role the thread back far enough:rolleyes: That last post of mine should be addressed to Jacksonpt :(

Thanks for the clarification! :rolleyes: I was wondering what I did.

[jbf16falcon]

I would have to agree with everyone else. From the picture not only does the anemone look irritated it does not exhibit the color it should. Your water flow sounds like it's plenty but your lighting IS also in my opinion the root of your problem if all water parameters are in line and (here's one not everyone will agree with) if you are removing enough organics from you water by skimming. I keep about 40 rose bubble tips in a 175gal tank.
My lighting has always ( 4 years) been 10 three foot VHO's split 5 on each side of the tank with a combination of 3 - 50/50's , 1 - atinic 03, and one AquaSun on each side. SG 1.025, and a water turnover rate of 1500 gallons an hour. My two Rose BTA's flourished with that setup. Water changes 10% a month.
2 years ago I added a sump and EuroReef F2 to the system and started skimming. With the skimmer running I started feeding a much higher protein diet to the anemones, MYSIS shrimp soaked in Selcon rolled up in a ball and placed in each one. The population exploded to 32 in the first year. I now cause them to split in multitude once every six months and sell down to about 40. That's about all my current system will comfortably support.
For my unscientific manner of causing the splitting just drop me an e-mail , I'll be happy to swap techniques with anyone interested. I've rambled on too long, sorry. Add the lights and smile, your anemone will.

[Nancy Swart]

Jacksonpt,

Have you tried increasing the amount you're feeding it? I got a BTA a month ago about 4" in diameter. I started feeding it pea-sized chunks of fresh scallops from the grocery store 3x/week. He is now taking about a third of a scallop every other day and expels no waste!

Nancy

[Bubafat]

Just for clarification, feeding an anemone to make up for lack of lighting in a tank is not always possible. Reason saying is that feeding is a much less efficent way for an anemone to gain ATP as it has to put in a lot of energy to get out any energy from food (especially large chunks of stuff, in which the anemone is competing with bacteria, which can digest it faster), so the net energy from feeding is actually very little.

Like everyone else said, bump up the lighting or pull the anemone out.

Buba

[saltgirl]

I agree with everyone here about the lighting and feeding. I feed mine thawed krill directly a few times a week, and it is now huge. Dr. Ron Shimek's booklet is worth the small investment. It also states to keep the specific gravity at 1.025 or so. I increased mine to this level and have had zero problems and the other things in the system did not seem affected by the change (do it gradually, of course). HTH

[Ironreef]

My ? is where did the anemone come from? captive or wild? I hear wild bubble tips don't ship well.

[Angel*Fish]

If what JBF16Falcon was saying is to feed heavily but be sure your skimmer is "wiping up" the excess pretty quickly - I would second that - That's what I do and mine has doubled in size in the lenth of time that I've had it (~3 mo) - and after a water change, I can almost see it smiling!