rbta growth

Invigor · #1 12-15-2004, 02:39 AM

I've got this rbta, and i've had it for about 2 months now..and I don't think it's grown at all since i've got it..it's under 400w of pc light and it's about 12" below the light...192w of lights are 1mo old, 130w of light are about 6mo old..
and I put 2 40w flourescents on for good luck

for the past 2 weeks i've been feeding it chunks of raw shrimp i picked up from superstore...it takes them and inhales them within a few hours..then goes back to normal

its tentacles are long and stringy and it shrivels up to nothing about every 2nd day...is there anything else I can do to help this thing grow?

i'm guessing since it's flourescent lighting it's not getting enough light.. :|

...would soaking the shrimp in selcon help get it more food?

mrcopitr · #2 12-15-2004, 03:00 AM

Hi,

I have had my rbta for a few months now, it is under 330 w of pc lights. I'm feeding pieces of scallops and shrimps soaked in selcon about 2 to 3 times a week, and so far seems to be doing well. It has grown and as not gone into a shriveled mode for quite some time.

I hope this bit of info helps...

Marco

REEFBOY120 · #3 12-15-2004, 04:20 AM

I wouldn't feed raw shrimp from a grocery store ,they could be soaked in a preservitive , I would only use frozen shrimp or krill or even better feed your BTA some silversides ( check or ask at your LFS's frozen food )
The Selcon is also very good !!

OCDP · #4 12-15-2004, 03:38 PM

I got my BTA a couple weeks ago, and have been feeding it shrimp and mysis shrimp. I think it's safe to feed it the cocktail shrimp. Yes, it may contain preservatives... but if your taking the pieces of shrimp and soaking them in tank water for a while ... you should be okay. The only bad thing about preservatives is that they contain phosphates ... and we all know about phosphates. Just make sure your soaking the shrimp for at least 5 minutes.. let the food warm up to tank temp. (BTA's are picky about this) and let any of the phosphates come off the food.

Variety is key ... don't feed it the same thing each day. I am guilty for this, for now anyways... I would say a good variety could be something like.. frozen cocktail shrimp, squid, krill, silversides, etc, etc... I think when you keep a good variety of foods, it promotes the growth more, as opposed to feeding it the same thing, day in and day out.

HTH,
Scott

monza · #5 12-16-2004, 10:42 PM

I bought my BTA about 6-8 months ago. I feed it kind of irregularly, a assortment of food. It has not grown much. Looks ok just not much growth.

What does concern me about the post is the perservatives in grocery store shrimp? Is this fact? Would it not have to be listed on the contents of the package? I have used them as staple diet for feeding eels and other things for years.

Dave

Tarolisol · #6 12-16-2004, 10:53 PM

Im pretty sure if they are fresh shirmp then they dont contain preservatives that is why they are fresh and arent suppose to be kept for a long time unless frozen.

wrassehole · #7 12-17-2004, 01:25 AM

fresh shrimp has no preservetives unless canned

I just asked my chef. im a restaurant manager. Its all I have been feeding my LTA and my GCA, and they are frikkin huge becuase of it. I feed the anomones the big peies then opour the shrimp juise onto of mty polyps. they are twice the size. HTH

wrassehole · #8 12-17-2004, 01:48 AM

fresh shrimp has no preservetives unless canned

I just asked my chef. im a restaurant manager. Its all I have been feeding my LTA and my GCA, and they are frikkin huge becuase of it. I feed the anomones the big peies then opour the shrimp juise onto of mty polyps. they are twice the size. HTH

REEFBOY120 · #9 12-18-2004, 04:23 PM

Well , every one seems to be saying that grocery store shrimp have no preservatives, But i am just reading the package of shrimp from a grocery store and under ingredtents it says : shrimp,salt,sodium tripolyphosphate.
Figure it out yourself ,do want to be feeding any thing in your tank sodium tripolyphosphates ? Doesn't sound good to me.
Just my 2 cents