Reef Discussion

[potatocouch]

I had this particular BTA (green with orange tip) and this is the first night it went in to the DT.

It has moved to a awkward positioning, so basically under a rockwork where it'll be a bit difficult to feed solid food i.e. chopped prawn. Have you had experience where your BTA is in awkward positioning? If it is sticky enough, then I probably can just use a tweezer and move the prawn and hope that the tentacles are sticky.

Btw I used the chopped prawn because I did my research and that's what it says to feed a BTA .. actually, in the US, i think they used lots of silversides but I don't know if we can get them here. What do you usually feed a small BTA with? approx. 50 cents size.

I was under the impression that BTA prefer high lighting, that's why I don't think it is the final anchor point. Am I under the wrong impression?

 

[Lesley]

Firstly. Stunning. 2nd. He will move higher as he gets happier. They tend to move at lights out so often wake up to the new positioning. He may stay down low for a while until he finds the right flow & light. It's often in the worse spot possible. Lol. A good strong healthy bta doesn't generally need feeding. He will gain all he needs from floating food & lights. So if struggling to reach him , leave him be. Feed him a treat every so often but certainly not a requirement for his survival.

 

[lukusis]

I feed mine irregularly. Sometimes twice a week, occasionally nothing for a week.

In my experience, they will eat pretty much anything. Mysis, b/shrimp, prawn etc.... mine eat pellets too lol

And as Lesley stated, great looking bta!

 

[potatocouch]

Thanks @lukusis and @Lesley ;)

Ok let me clarify that the picture was taken from world wide web but the BTA does look like that :p

I will keep posting my questions about this BTA in this thread, so please bear with me as I go.

Out of curiosity, I had an anemone a year ago, but I don't think it's a BTA, it's colored bright green and it's quite cheap ($20), it maybe a long tentacles one (maybe). That one is floating floating and floating and (i think) ended up in the wavemakers :(

This BTA doesn't float, but yes it crawls.As of 5:39 AM this morning, it has crawls and still alive :)

Is it correct to say that BTA doesn't float? I really hope the answer is yes, but kinda doubt that is the real answer :D

and BTA does sting LPS corals, right? meaning when it moves to closer proximity of Elegance, Hammers, Torch, I will need to move the corals away. Is this correct?

 

[Lesley]

Thanks @lukusis and @Lesley ;)

Ok let me clarify that the picture was taken from world wide web but the BTA does look like that :p

I will keep posting my questions about this BTA in this thread, so please bear with me as I go.

Out of curiosity, I had an anemone a year ago, but I don't think it's a BTA, it's colored bright green and it's quite cheap ($20), it maybe a long tentacles one (maybe). That one is floating floating and floating and (i think) ended up in the wavemakers :(

This BTA doesn't float, but yes it crawls.As of 5:39 AM this morning, it has crawls and still alive :)

Is it correct to say that BTA doesn't float? I really hope the answer is yes, but kinda doubt that is the real answer :D

and BTA does sting LPS corals, right? meaning when it moves to closer proximity of Elegance, Hammers, Torch, I will need to move the corals away. Is this correct?

A BTA can float if unhealthy, they generally walk, ive watched one of mine do this for days after the move of our tank.
He never let "go "of the rock ever, managed to hold on - sometimes by just the tiniest thread. '
But I know they can let go if they are weak or not well.
II was in total panic when this one was doing it thinking he was going to end up in power head. But he didn't. Not saying it wont happen but in normal healthy circumstances he shouldn't.

 

[potatocouch]

An extract from Advance Aquarist article about BTA "Also note that if you have any concerns that you might actually have lights that are too intense, all you need to do is place a BTA at the bottom of a tank in the rockwork and let it slowly adapt to your lights on its own schedule. They do move around when they want, so if they're getting too much light they'll hide from it and stay in relatively dim areas of a tank, or try to move themselves up if they aren't getting as much as they need.".

Do you reckon the above is accurate? If so, I may need to monitor these next few days as the BTA went under the rockwork when the light is on and went above the rockwork when the light is off.

@Lesley you maybe right; it may just acclimating to the tank, be that temperature, salinity, water param, lighting. So it may be too early to tell.

Light is Kessil A360WE, with max intensity of hmmm let me try to remember ... i think about 70% max. In general, I gather that BTA likes high lighting and high flow, so it doesn't look the intensity is the issue, but I could be wrong.

 

[Lesley]

@potatocouch bta's are amazingly good at looking after themselves. After they acclimate to new conditions they will seek their own best position. I had one hide in a cave for 3-4 weeks and then decided he would show himself. That article is spot on with how they behave. Even if I change my flow up or down now they will move ever so slightly. They are incredibly hardy. Trust me :) Sit back & enjoy !

 

[Franklin Dattein]

Amazing colours!

It will start moving soon and the risk of it ending in a wave maker is higher, than when it settles. I would be extra careful during this period.

 

[potatocouch]

Time for its feed ... looks like it has settle in 1 position ... although I wouldn't count on it ... too early too fast to tell ... it is sitting pretty on a flat surface on a live rock ...

We don't have silverside here, right? so I am thinking of feeding it small chop of prawn .. extremely tiny portion for a treat (considerably tiny considering its size), maybe 1 - 2 mm size of chopped prawn.

So am planning to use tweezers and touch the tiny prawn onto its tentacles (hope it's sticky) ...

is this the way to do it? is that what you feed BTA with?

 

[Franklin Dattein]

I don't know about "silverside", I feed a raw silver prawn, from coles.
1cm x 1cm pieces for a BTA that is about 15cm from side to side.

 

[potatocouch]

I don't know about "silverside", I feed a raw silver prawn, from coles.
1cm x 1cm pieces for a BTA that is about 15cm from side to side.

@Franklin Dattein you just slowly move the prawn to the tentacles yeah and not directly onto the mouth?

 

[Lesley]

I feed mine frozen mysis cubes straight from the freezer. I think of it as a kid getting an ice block treat . They eat it no problems. Geez I am mean !!!

 

[potatocouch]

I feed mine frozen mysis cubes straight from the freezer. I think of it as a kid getting an ice block treat . They eat it no problems. Geez I am mean !!!

Ahahahahaha you made my day ... lol that was hilarious

 

[Franklin Dattein]

@potatocouch it won't mind where you drop it. I normally drop on the base of the tentacles, so the prawn sticks quickly and gives no chance for large fish to steal it.

As you increase the size of the prawn slice, observe the BTA behaviour for the next 24 hs. If the slice was too big, it will spit it out and tentacles will look fancy or the anemone might stay closed for days.
If it likes it, tentacles will inflate and it will look healthy and happy. In small BTAs you can even notice growth after every meal.

 

[potatocouch]

Yesterday I drop in the food for the first time .. a small chopped raw prawn.

It ate it but today, I can see the "prawn" white meat still sticks out a bit ... should I pull it out? I'm a bit hesitant in doing this but at the same time, having a raw prawn sticking out between nem's mouth and water column may rot the prawn and may cause "upset stomatch" for the nem and pollute the water.

Not panicking just yet but any feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[Lesley]

I wouldn't pull it out. He will spit it our if he doesn't want it. That is to be honest why I feed frozen mysys or brine, if they spit it out the fish polish it off really quickly.
I also don't like giving them something that big either, as I said before they will get enough food from the lights and water column, extra feeding is generally only a TREAT or if you have a bleached or unhealthy nem and then you only feed small particulate food, not whole large pieces.
I wouldn't worry about it if he spits it out, the CUC will polish if off really fast.

 

[Agent M]

Just keep in mind that a lot of what you read online about BTA's are simply people's interpretations of what they are seeing the anemone's do, not what we know for sure.

Mine move around, I haven't had a BTA stay in the same spot for more than a few months. I believe a lot of this has to do with how happy they are with where they have their foot placed. Sometimes they do inflate their foot in order to relocate (IMO) - I don't know what triggers it. They don't always go to the best place for themselves and at times have to be moved so that they won't die.

I'm yet to have a BTA bleach from high lighting - a combo of strong light and high temps yes, but not high light. I find them quite tolerant of varying light and flow levels.

As for feeding, I prefer small, mushy food items such as brine and mysis shrimp or finely shaved prawn. I don't feed larger chunks of food as I believe it takes up a lot of the anemones energy to digest larger food items and I see them regurgitate larger food, whereas with smaller particles mine never have. I feed at random, probably once a fortnight.

 

[Boxermom]

The 3 in my tank have pretty well settled where they want to be, and haven't moved in months. I had 4, but one decided to go on a cruise, and fragged itself on the wavemaker. Those 2 then walked around and went on the carnival ride (through the over flow into the filter sock). We retrieved them out of there and stuck them in Rob's tank...now one is at the top, and the other is in the rocks. This wasn't the first time we've had those goofballs frag themselves on the wavemakers.

We don't feed them, mainly because Bonnie and Clyde (my perculas) steal the food out of them. So no chow for the anemones.