Another BTA issue

[Costareefer]

Ok so I got this bta a few weeks ago. It was sold to me as a rose anemone that had split. My green bta is now thriving so I wanted to get this rose too. The first few days i had it it looked healthy and each day the color went from grey to rainbow color. So I felt like it was getting better and settling in. It has been eating fresh small pieces of fish mostly grouper i get spearfishing. Day by day this week it has been in decline. I haven’t seen an anemone do this so it’s another new issue. I’ve researched it and the only thing I found is that it could be starving. That wouldn’t make sense though bc it’s eating with vigor. Here are the pics if anyone knows what is going on or has experienced this. I have not done any treatments electing to leave it alone but it seems to be wasting away. Also it went to the spot I placed it in and has not moved. I have been watching it at night and nothing is pestering it. Please give me feedback or thoughts. The first pic was in the store the second was a week after I had it then the decline. THank you

Btw all parameters are stable and only have a slight nitrate less than 5 ppm. I recently kalked some aiptasia and wonder if that had anything to do. Any way here are the pics lmk if anyone can help. Thanks

 

[Costareefer]

Btw the last pic it today. Mouth is still tight but the nem is not inflating and the tentacles look like nubs

 

[reef lover]

Stop feeding fish to start to hard to digest.
What are your params and what lighting.

 

[resortez]

Would help if you shared all numbers including temps, alk , ph, ammonia, lighting schedule, additives, tank mates, flow, age of the system, equipment run down, RO source, maintenance, etc. I second the no more fish chunks & curious of how you treated for aptasia. Any recent additions? Have you tested for copper? This are questions that might lead to the problem. Hopefully it helps. Good luck.

 

[happyhourhero]

I never feed my nems directly and usually see a correlation between new, sick nems and them being force fed. Also post parameters and lights/flow.

 

[Costareefer]

Would help if you shared all numbers including temps, alk , ph, ammonia, lighting schedule, additives, tank mates, flow, age of the system, equipment run down, RO source, maintenance, etc. I second the no more fish chunks & curious of how you treated for aptasia. Any recent additions? Have you tested for copper? This are questions that might lead to the problem. Hopefully it helps. Good luck.

You’re talking to a 25 year hobbyist.
Minimal less than 5 ppm nitrate which is the only thing I battle. Copper? No way no chance. I used kalk to inject aptasia. Chinese black box mixed in with ai primes 100g tank. I have corales growing like mad and another bta that’s improvibg from the condition i acquired it in. I’m in Latin America and things don’t come around available too much and when they do maybe have health issue.



Forget all that for a minute though. Has anyone seen a bubble tip react like this? That’s my ultimate question. I’ve never seen this in 25 years of being in the hobby. Google research for shrinking tentacles led me to one conclusion that’s out there which I don’t know is correct. That is that anemones with shrinking tentacles are starving. I have googled it searched the forums 20 ways and have seen nothing documented on a problem like this. The other theory I’ve read is that something may be picking at it. Has anyone seen a bta do this if so what was the issue?

 

[Costareefer]

Let me add the mouth is tight. It hasn’t moved. Very responsive. I didn’t have to force feed it gave it food it took it quick. The color better than when I got it. It’s a specific problem maybe someone else has had. I’m not going to feed for a while

 

[Costareefer]

Would help if you shared all numbers including temps, alk , ph, ammonia, lighting schedule, additives, tank mates, flow, age of the system, equipment run down, RO source, maintenance, etc. I second the no more fish chunks & curious of how you treated for aptasia. Any recent additions? Have you tested for copper? This are questions that might lead to the problem. Hopefully it helps. Good luck.

Ok I stopped feeding the anemone fish as that seemed to be the outlier and it is back to normal. No offense but I’ve been around in the hobby so long that by the time I post a problem everything from flow to water quality to light has already been considered. I mean if there was copper in my system I wouldn’t ask why an anemone isn’t doing well. This was a reaction from q nem I’ve never seen that was in my care. Maybe since it was grouper i speared perhaps there was a trace of something or possibly grouper just isn’t a good food source for a nem. Idk but after cessation of feeding the anemone is back so thanks to you guys that suggested I look into the feeding.


Nevertheless it’s come back and seems to still be improving. The fish i was feeding it evidently was not palatable for him so no more going forward.