Bta seems to be dying. :(

[melev]

It looks like my BTA is declining, and I'm not sure what I can do about it. Here are the parameters as of 3 days ago:

29gal with 165w PC lighting. Anemone is 8 months old in my tank. Raised from 4" to 12" diameter, now it is closer to 9".
Sump & refugium. Turnover is about 10 times an hour.

sg 1.025
pH 8.0
NO3 10
Ammo .25 or less (as always)
dKH 11.5
Ca 430ppm
Temp 78F
PO4 .25ppm
Mg 1230ppm

I was feeding it a small piece of shrimp once a week and the anemone continued to grow. When I saw how most of the fish food dropped in the tank dropped into the BTA and he retracted to consume it, I stopped feeding it. This was probably 2 months ago, as I feed the fish daily.

A few days ago, I dropped a few pieces of krill on it which it ate, and it did look better. The pictures are from that evening.

About 2 days later, I fed it a cube of Formula One, which it ate. Today it looked horrible again, but at night it looked better.

Do you think I need to continue feeding solids once a week? I wanted it to not outgrow the tank, but kinda stay happy and fat.

The mouth seems to have a tear or a lesion.

Any opinions?

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_damage2.jpg

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_damage3.jpg

[kentrob11]

I think you could be looking at a potential split. If so this is normal and you should sit back and watch!

[OrionN]

I agree. It doesn't look bad at all. I may shunk down into a hole and come out as two (or three). Update us in a few days.

[melev]

Well, I've never seen a split, but this really doesn't feel like that is the case. It has lost volume in size, and the mouth is more inflated today. I've seen that in the past with dying anemones (carpet, for example).

It it hard to see the mouth though, as the water flow is blowing the tentacles over that section, but here is a picture from this hour.

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_feb16.jpg

Here are some pictures of it in the past. (http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/bta.html)

I'd rather do something now that find out later "you should have done..." something sooner.

[melev]

I took a few more pictures, but I guess I simply can not capture what I'm seeing.

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_damage4.jpg

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_damage5.jpg

I turned off one powerhead that has been blowing the exact same way for months and months, and look at the BTA now. Did I cure it? :D

http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/id/bta_feb16b.jpg