confused RBTA
 

I bought a RBTA (rose bubble tip anemone) a little bit over a month ago and it seems confused. First off it took a few days for it to find a spot it liked (no big surprise there) but unfortunately the spot it liked was under a rock where no light got to it :neutral: Of course it wasn't doing well there, so last week I decided to flip the rock over so that it could get some light. Thankfully the RBTA has stayed put, but it still looks pretty bad.

I've tried to feed it but it doesn't seem to grab onto the mysis very well. It is somewhat bleached, but the odd thing is, is that it shrivels up during the day when the lights are on and then it extends more fully at night when the lights are off????? I don't get it????? Maybe I should try to feed it when the lights are out, and it is extended more, and see if that helps. Any ideas on what I can do to help it?

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...e/DSC_1388.jpg

Try something like reef roids or coral frenzy

My GBTA goes ga ga for krill, raw shrimp, squid, etc... Try little pieces at first, hand feed or use a turkey baster to gently push the piece of food into its tentacles. It should grab.

A wise women once said, if its too big she'll just spit it out. :redface:

Oops that sounded all wrong, I was trying to compliment Myka as I have had draw upon her wisdom a couple times.

reply
 

Sounds like light shock to me. BTA's are not immune from the stresses caused by capture, and sometimes will expel their zooanthalea as a defence mechanism. Yours looks to be missing a whole bunch of it, and when you put in in your tank it probably went "ouch" under your lighting. What were the lights like at the LFS compared to yours?

I would keep it under lower light if possible and absolutely feed it at night if that is when it seems more lively. Good luck.

Newly added nems often won't eat because they have been handled too much and have lost their sting/stickiness. You have to wait for that to come back. It usually takes mine about 3-5 days if I have handled it a bunch like when I moved, or when I have pried it off a rock. I don't think there is much you can do until it starts feeding. I think it's just stressed right now, and may or may not recover. What kind of lighting do you have? How close is it to the light?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Ya, you got the jist of it, but that not quite what I said. Too funny.

I have 14k-250 watt phoenix MH bulbs. The tank is 3 feet deep and the rock it is on is about 1/2 way to a little more then half way up the tank. I think it was under T5's in the store. However I have had the rbta for 4 weeks and I haven't touched it since we put it in.

Here is a pic. of it this morning with the lights out, weird how much more open it is.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...e/DSC_1390.jpg

Hi there, I had a similar problem with a RBTA a few years ago, it turned out that I was having temperature problems during the midday with the halides on as the water temp was going above the 28c I thought I was running the tank at. I am not saying this is your problem but it might be worth monitoring the temp just to check. Good luck.

Good idea but my tank stays between 78-80, so the temp doesn't change much.

How are your nitrates sitting now Laurie, I recall you could never seem to get them down.

Not sure, I haven't checked in awhile. They always seem to be on the high side. My gbta is doing great it's just my rbta that likes to extend when the lights go out and shrink when the lights go on. Unfortunately he has it backwards.

I'm going to try to feed it later when the lights are out and see if that helps.