Can BTA sting staghorn corals?

[cloob]

Can a BTA sting a staghorn coral?

[cmc0814]

yes

[DanInSD]

Hell, yes. They can even sting *you*. I've gotten nasty rashes from those things. Anemones + corals = bad.

[phurst]

My RBTA went on a long walk in my tank when I upgraded to 400s. It walked all over the tank, up against all kinds of SPS and even directly across a monti cap, and it hurt absolutely nothing. It has currently settled at the base of a green slimer, and has not bothered it either.

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12246027#post12246027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phurst
My RBTA went on a long walk in my tank when I upgraded to 400s. It walked all over the tank, up against all kinds of SPS and even directly across a monti cap, and it hurt absolutely nothing. It has currently settled at the base of a green slimer, and has not bothered it either.

it's a known fact that some nems loose their stings in aquariums. not sure why this is, but I would still consider them as a danger to sps. My BTA stung the heck out of several corals when it decided to take a hike around the tank, so it's gone (sold)

[phurst]

Hmmm, I'd never heard ^that^. Interesting.

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12246420#post12246420 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phurst
Hmmm, I'd never heard ^that^. Interesting.


I suspect (no evidence) that if they get target fed and have no predators they just don't need them, so, they don't spend energy reproducing the sting cells. But, it could be something totally different. It would be interesting to see if this is more predominant with tank raised especially with multiple generations.

Try a touching a wild caught carpet and it will stick to your hand like tape, just don’t try it on the back of your hand. Then try the same thing with a tank raised or one that has been in a tank for a while, big difference. The same with BTA’s, but, I don’t think they sting as much as a carpet to start with, that’s why I was using it as an example.

[phurst]

That's very cool. It still has a feeding response when I feed it, but I've handled it many times with no problems. I gave a buddy a clone when it split, I'll have to check with him to see if he has had the same results.

BTW, I wasn't disagreeing that they could sting corals, just posting my experience.

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12246833#post12246833 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phurst
BTW, I wasn't disagreeing that they could sting corals, just posting my experience.

I didn't look at your post that way. Actually, I was going to respond something like does a "Tang poop in the wild", then your post reminded me that some perfectly healthy nems just seem to loose their sting over time.