My BTA hates the light!

[Rhinecanthus]

Quick summary up to this point:

3rd generation tank-split RBTA from a 38g with 110w of PC where it was near the top, wide open.

Now it is under 150w MH (14K) where it has been everywhere from 6" below the surface to 18" and it isnt happy!

It keeps settling behind the rocks in the corners where it is hardly getting any light at all.

It is bubbled up and looks great...not "wilted" or shrunken.

It has yet to eat while in my care (2 weeks) but I havent seen it with her tentacles elongated AT ALL.

My clowns dont even notice its in the tank.

I am thinking this is still part of the acclimation phase (which I hear can take 6 months). If so, thats fine. I just will be patient.

But I want to make sure I am not causing any harm to the anemone by not feeding it...I tried some prawn but it doesnt grab.

Someone tell me this is normal and to just sit and wait!

Thanks!

[dantodd]

what happens when you try to feed it? Does the food stick at all or just fall off?

How did you acclimate him to the higher lighting in your tank?

[Craig Lambert]

I think most of what you posted is fairly normal stuff, but I doubt that 6 months is need for acclimation. It's pretty typical for them to move around until they find the combination of flow and light they like. The last part of your post concerns me, because a healthy anenome should accept food, and the tenticles should easily grasp it.

[Rhinecanthus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7246326#post7246326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dantodd
what happens when you try to feed it? Does the food stick at all or just fall off?

How did you acclimate him to the higher lighting in your tank?

The food does NOT stick...and when placed in a spot where it cannot fall off, the anemone actually withdraws until it is no longer touching it.

All prawn are thoroughly thawed before attempting to feed. 3x now with the same results.

Hmmm...this has me a bit worried now.

I drip acclimated it for about 2 hours then placed it in the tank at the very bottom, actually near the back where I knew the light was minimally intense.

I figured from 4 inches under 110w PC to 18" under shaded MH wouldnt be too much of a jump.

Also, could this have anything to do with the black spots on my clowns?

See this thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=831323



:confused: :(

[Rhinecanthus]

Also...could this be why the clowns are AVOIDING the anemone?

Could they KNOW its sick or KNOW something is wrong with it?

Perhaps the black marks on the clowns are from the anemone?

Are they purposely avoiding it?

The black marks on the clowns came AFTER the introduction of the BTA.

Any idea of where I should go from here? Just sit and wait?

[Rhinecanthus]

Bump for the morning people.

[ClownReef®]

Very interesting..makes me think E. quadricolor arent fans of highlight..i could use this for my experiment (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=830181). :D

[pasenah]

i feed mine lance fish, which i think you call silversides, have a look at this link, its very good.
http://www.freewebs.com/karenssaltwater/

cheers
ben

[dantodd]

I'd definately try some different foods.

Silverside and lancefish (sand eels) are both good options but since those are mostly sold in 8oz or larger packages you might want to try a sampler first.

Many grocery stores (Albertson's and Safeway here both carry it) sell a frozen "seafood medly" which includes fish, squid, mussels and other seafoods. Try a number of different things with your BTA, once you find something you can use that as a base food for him and then add a little bit of other things to give him a varied diet.

I doubt that the BTA is responsible for the the black spots I suspect it is more likely just natural darkening over time or the other cnidaria you have in your tank rather than the anemone.

[Beng]

Your anemone is fine, exact same thing happen to me.
When my anemone was at the LFS under VHO, it was really dark and expanding like there's no tomorrow. Bought it and put it under 175w of MH. It hated my 10k MH lighting. For a month, it stay deflated and all of its tentacles were in bulb shapes.

And worst, it also puke out all of it's zooxanthellae and it wouldn't eat anything. It went from dark red to whitish pink. I thought it was a goner for sure. Luckly, after 2 months, it's bouncing back. It's now eating and expanding a little with bubble tips and looks healthy. Hopefully in another 2 months, it will regain it's color and long tentacles.

If your anemone doesn't eat, don't force it, it will only stress your anemone. And if it hides from your light, leave it alone until it's use to your MH lighting. If you force it, it will more then likely puke out its zooxanthellae now that it's under MH lighting.

Beng