Reef Discussion

[rosechaser]

Hi I have had a BTA for about three weeks now and all has been good until this afternoon.

Uo until now I have been feeding a mix of prawn pieces and mysis shrimp about three times a week.

It has taken food well.

Clowns sleep in it and take food to it.

It has a nice foot and mouth greenish tentacles about 5 - 6 mm diametre with a pink/purple tip....sometimes more bubble than others.

Today I got home and 75% of the tentacles had withered to maybe 2mm diametre and a real purple colour

The whole BTA looks smaller and the clowns were "burrowing" into it's mouth

I gave it some mysis which it took well only to have clowns bury in and take it away....BTA shrank even more.

I have covered in the tank with a plastic colander....looking for suggestions on what is wrong

Did water change on the weekend parameters are all good...nitrate about 2.5 is the worst of all the readings...help

 

[MagicJ]

Hi Sven

Providing its mouth is closed and it feels 'sticky' I would not worry at this stage. Anemone's only have one opening which they use both as a mouth and an anus - they will often retract weekly/monthly as a precursor to expelling their waste. This should last less than a day - hopefully it will be fully extended tomorrow. Keep us informed.

Anemone's receive much of their energy from their symbiotic algae - my guess is that they would rarely catch a fish in the wild and there is no need to feed them excessively in the aquarium. I fed mine no more than once a week - sometimes it would be 2-3 months between feeds. I can't quite tell from your video where it's foot is located. Normally, they like to have their foot down in a crevice which allows them to retreat completely away from the clowns if that is what they want to do. Yours almost seems to be sitting on top of a rock?? If it is, it wont feel safe there and will eventually move.

Lastly, with a reef tank you really want to get to the stage of having zero nitrates - I would not add any more fish until that position is reached. Can I suggest 2-3 months to allow your live rock filter to catch up to the bio-load??

:)

 

['vspec']

Sound advice.

Deep sand bed happening?

 

[rosechaser]

Thanks for that Shane.....how do you know if it's mouth is "sticky" ...do you touch it?

I just had a look under the colander and it's looking better already...thing I'll leave it on overnight though....agree?

It is perched on top of a rock, when I bought it I asked for the rock...it moved into a crevice and I was trying to take the rock out of the tank as it grows this long stringy algae...so was moving it so the anemone would move of and into another crevice.

Can you touch them ....how can I encourage it to move ...it's got a firm grip on the rock

And yes...no more fish for a while....promise!!

New lights to concentrate on, and then there's the frag comp...so plenty to keep me busy!

 

[MagicJ]

how do you know if it's mouth is "sticky" ...do you touch it?

Not its mouth, its tentacles - yes touch it with your fingers.

Each nematocyst contains a small vesicle filled with toxins— actinoporins— an inner filament and an external sensory hair. When the hair is touched, it mechanically triggers the cell explosion, that fires a harpoon-like structure which attaches to organisms that trigger it, and injects a dose of poison in the flesh of the aggressor or prey. This gives the anenome its characteristic sticky feeling. The poison is actually a mix of toxins, including neurotoxins, which serve to paralyze and capture the prey, which is then moved by the tentacles to the mouth/anus for digestion inside the gastrovascular cavity.

Just be a little careful to start with - some people can have a reaction to the sting. I believe that the toxins can build up in your system and result in larger reactions over time - I knew a guy in a LFS who could no longer handle nems without using gloves as he broke out into a rash at the slightest touch.

Yes, I would leave it covered tonight.

You can remove them from a rock, but not easily - you need to start on an edge of the foot and slowly work your thumb underneath until it eventually releases. This might take up to an hour as your definitely don't want to damage/tear the foot. This is not easy, and I wouldn't recommend that you try it.

One way to encourage them to move is to direct a powerhead towards them - may not be possible with Vortechs!!. You could move the rock and place it in the area with the most flow in your tank - if it is too much flow it will release and float around the tank until it finds a better place.

Cheers

 

[rosechaser]

This is what I arrived home to...the tentacles on the left are what the whole BTA looked like this morning...the shrivelled bits on the right tonight

Then I fed the mysis and it withdrew into itself like this

Looking under the colander it seems to be expanding again...

 

[MagicJ]

Thanks for the pictures - it looks fine. But, I don't think it will ever be really happy stuck out on the rock like that ;)

 

[rosechaser]

Why would the clowns be so aggressive with the anemone they're hosting...they go to all the trouble to feed it and then treat it like that.

The female was really burrowing into the mouth and they're not at all aggressive to the other fish...they seem quite happy with the angels picking around close by.

 

[MagicJ]

dr_schell may have a good explanation for this reaction - the clock is ticking Chris ;)

 

[rosechaser]

Would love to hear what the good doctor has to say.

Anyway removed the colander this morning and it looks fantastic! All expanded again, nice bubbles and tight mouth! so all good

I have place flow from a powerhead on it to encourage it to move from top of the rock to a crevice so it can protect itself better

Slowly feeling more confidant with all this...glad I did the colander thing...it does pay off to read, read, read!

Thanks Shane for the help and encouragement.

 

[MagicJ]

Good news :D.

Now you just need to get it into a nice safe place.

 

[Dynamic]

Hi Sven

Anemone's only have one opening which they use both as a mouth and an anus

:offtopicSo they are politicians then?

Sorry - back to thread.

 

[rosechaser]

:hijackYes LOL...something for your radio show..."what marine life has in common with different professions" so you've done anemones, what about lawyers "similar to sharks only sharks are nicer"

back on thread....Shane, tentacles are sticky....not it's arse LOL...my mistake

 

[Dr. Schell]

Hi Sven, BTAs have only one opening which serves as both an entrance for food and an exit for waste. In addition, a BTA, when fully inflated with water, is appros 90% WATER. As such, the water within their tissue occasionaly requires replacement after a large meal, in which case the anemone will deflate to about 10% or less of its original size. However, the animals generally inflate within 24 hours. This is a natural cycle and in nature, is not often observed as BTA usually have their foot within a crivice into which they retreat during this process. As long as you water quality is good (Zero Ammonia and Nitrite, minimal nitrate) your BTA will be fine.
PS. sorry for late reply, currently away with work for the week.

 

[rosechaser]

No much appreciated thank you...I'm encouraging the BTA to move into a crevice (by powerhead) but won't move......and not wrong when you say 10% it looked tiny!!

Why would the clown have been burying it's head into it's mouth?

 

[rosechaser]

So all good until a couple of hours ago...clowns again hassling the s - - t out the nen and he's shrunk again (looks like the RHS of the earlier pic)...f'ed if I know...will leave colander off tonight and hope it moves!

 

[Dr. Schell]

Rhe clowns will try to remove the waste to try and help clean it so it re-inflates sooner

 

[rosechaser]

Glad about that they look like they're trying to kill it!!

 

['vspec']

I like these types of animals. You don't survive basicly unchanged through out the ages by not adapting to handle a few knocks. If everything is in order, 9/10 it will spring back.

If my animals roam for too long, I place them in a dark part of the sump for a few days. Grass is always greener on the other side, sometimes you just have to physically show them!

 

[rosechaser]

I just wish it would move off the rock...what time of day do they move or is it night time?