RBTA attraction to powerheads

stabruciandosi · #1 05/09/2006, 09:41 PM

OK so the RBTA i have will not stay out of my tanks powerheads, somehow it decides that climbing up the wall and into them is the best idea its ever had, so far it has been stuck 6 times in them and has climbed into every single one in the tank. Its been recovering for awhile from the first 5 times and was just beginning to eat again, but this morning i came out and it was stuck again! any ideas for dealing with this issue? it climbed out of the one from this morning and is hiding so i dunno how bad off it is but please if anyone has any ideas about how i can keep the RBTA out or how to take care of it now that its injured let me know..

Pico1 · #2 05/09/2006, 09:46 PM

It must like being near the extra flow of the output, try to get to more flow and get stuck by accident.

Pico1 · #3 05/09/2006, 09:47 PM

also put pre-filters on your power heads

Fragmented · #4 05/09/2006, 10:31 PM

Have you read this from wetwebmedia.com ?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/in...ipanemones.htm

dots · #5 05/09/2006, 11:54 PM

Anenome do not move, if there water quality, flow, and light are adequate.......

You may want to rethink "Why" the anenome is moving......

My personal experience was that my RBTA's would always move around......after a light upgrade and water quality changes, they stopped....

You may want to try a Sebae, I found mine never moved the day I put it in......now it is about 18" wide and very healthy. IMO better than the ever popular BTA.

Pico1 · #6 05/09/2006, 11:57 PM

I heard if you feed it well it will stay put

Sk8r · #7 05/10/2006, 12:31 AM

Basically an anemone is a perfect example of decision by committee, and when the committee stops holding on, it makes itself like a feather in the current, light as the water, and it goes wherever the current takes it. The fact that the current leads to a powerhead intake never dawns on it because it doesn't have a brain. It will do it every time because it is drifting on the same current.

otterpop510 · #8 05/10/2006, 02:14 AM

hehe.. like that analogy sk8r, never heard that one before..

i agree with the prior comments though, i have a GBTA and a RBTA, placed them down, moved a bit in the first few hours, then settled down in about the spot i wanted them and haven't moved since.. i tried to figure where would be a good nook with decent flow and lighting. other than that good water quality..

another idea i've heard is to place them on a rock which doesn't really touch the sides of the tank, that way they can't 'move' onto the walls. though if the anemome is stressed enough it will let go of the rock entirely and 'drift,' but heard it generally won't do that unless really unhappy with the conditions.

what is the setup and parameters of your tank? what else is in your tank?

stabruciandosi · #9 05/10/2006, 05:58 AM

ill check params after the library tomorrow. I think the problem may have been that when i had a problem with the quality of water i was using for top ups and water changes. During that period it moved at got caught 5 times. ive been trying to feed it ever since and only yesterday did it finally eat a near full silverside, it hadnt moved in a week or 2 and i thought it was finally coming back and things were looking up.. but then this happened so i dont know. ill post params in the morn. thanks for all the input

JahReefster · #10 05/10/2006, 09:40 AM

I feed my RBTA silversides and krill too, but I think you might want to consider feeding smaller pieces, no more than a 1/4 inch or so, to avoid the regurgitation and potential water quality problems following.

Fred

Fragmented · #11 05/10/2006, 11:16 AM

At the WMC Anthony Calfo spoke about RBTAs. One comment that stuck in my mind was about not feeding them large pieces of food and that silversides were not the best choice. The reason being that in the wild they would rarely have a large chunk drift all the way down to them. It would get eaten by someone else first. Chop food into small pieces in a blender or food processor to make it small enough to digest properly.

Elite · #12 05/10/2006, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fragmented
At the WMC Anthony Calfo spoke about RBTAs. One comment that stuck in my mind was about not feeding them large pieces of food and that silversides were not the best choice. The reason being that in the wild they would rarely have a large chunk drift all the way down to them. It would get eaten by someone else first. Chop food into small pieces in a blender or food processor to make it small enough to digest properly.

Uhmm , interesting.. I didn't know that

..

I fed my RBTA couple silverside at the same time and no problem at all. Maybe because my RBTA is big enough to handle it. It's about 12-16" ..

Fragmented · #13 05/10/2006, 05:23 PM

Contrary to the belief of some...size doesn't matter.

BoomerD · #14 05/11/2006, 01:03 AM

So fix your power heads so the anemone can't get hurt. Not at all difficult:

Hagen Quick Filters. Toss out the inner filter cartridge, and use the housing only. You can adapt them to fit a wide variety of pumps and powerheads with just a bit of ingenuity. The larger one should be available at any LFS or on-line retailer. The smaller ones are more diffucult to find. Tropical Haven in Modesto had them for a while. Not sure if they still do or not.

Sheldon337 · #15 05/11/2006, 05:31 PM

Stabruciandosi:

Is this a RBTA you bought from me?

In my experience, RBTAs only move after water changes, splits or other changes in water chemistry.

How old is your tank?

If it was only setup in February, the water quality is likely the issue.

(on a side note I just had a triple split a month ago and have three RBTAs for sale if anyone is interested)

HTH,

Lee

stabruciandosi · #16 05/12/2006, 05:19 AM

it is the rbta i bought from you but the tank has been since around october november. ive been studying too much to get on the params but ive got time later today so i will post that soon. I think that it just didnt like the tank when it got in and has been getting into powerheads ever since, but its still alive, tho not looking too good. hopefully it will eat soon. params soon. thanks for everything

stabruciandosi · #17 05/16/2006, 10:36 PM

OK so i finally got all the params together: 7 dKH, 440 Ca, .25 ammonia, 8.2 high range pH, Nitrate and nitrite at 0ppm. Ammonia looks like it could be a problem its been measuring at this level for some time, im wondering if anyone around the davis area has a better ammonia test i could borrow, or test against with mine. All the other levels look fine to me is there something im missing?

I did just do a water change and in other news another one of my fish died, but the corals are looking great, and as soon as the GHA leaves to expose the coralinne once again im going to post pictures. so lost at the moment i dont understand how i can have a fish die but my corals can look perfect. thanks for any more info this club is great. now back to studying for me.

Pico1 · #18 05/16/2006, 10:44 PM

just bring a water sample to this fridays meeting as its on water testing, you can test for ammonia on several test kits at that time.

stabruciandosi · #19 05/16/2006, 11:12 PM

unfortunatly i have a midterm that will keep me from making fridays meeting, if i can i will drive up myself and show up a little later than usual but we will see.