apathium
New Member
Hi everyone! I just created an account to try and get some insight into what is going on with my BTA. I've creeped these forums for a few months now, but I haven't been able to find an answer to my question, hence the thread!
Quick background: I have a 90 gallon saltwater tank that's been up and running for about 7-8 months now. Current occupants are 8 clownfish (strangely enough they never fight, even at night. I don't plan on adding any more though as I don't want to risk it), 2 hermit crabs, 1 snail, and 1 juvenile sail fin tang (approx. 2.5 inches). I plan on upgrading my tank to 150g within the next two months so that my tang has more room to swim around as he grows bigger.
About two weeks ago, I added a BTA to my tank for my clowns. He/she was doing really well once drip acclimated and was eating the scallops I fed him about 2-3 times per week (I may have been feeding him too frequently in retrospect). But then three days ago, my little nem managed to get stuck in my filter intake. The second I noticed this had happened when I got home (I was at work at the time ugh), I promptly shut off the filter, and then started googling what on earth to do! I didn't try to remove him myself from the intake (I read that was a no-no), so instead I got some scissors and tore apart the filter. About 20 minutes later, he had wiggled himself free, but suffered some pretty extensive damage.
I figured he was a goner, but he began to make a comeback. About 12 hours later, the nem began to split. Did ALL the reading I could on the subject, figured he would split overnight while I was asleep, so I let him do his thing. But then the next day, nothing. He was still trying to split. It is now day four since the injury, and he is STILL trying to split himself, and failing miserably.
[I'm making a flickr album to show what's been going on. I'll add the link after this post!]
So my questions are the following:
*I initially wrote this post about 8 hours ago before heading out, and since coming home he has taken a turn for the worse. Looks as though he’s disintegrating. He is currently in QT with a very mild filter (fitted for a 10 gallon tank), no lighting, and his favorite live rock. I began dosing Cipro because I didn’t know what else to do.
He is still able to attach his foot to the live rock and stay in position, but he looks so awful that I think I may need to accept that he’s not going to make it. Did a smell check though and he smells fine. Maybe I’m just overly anxious about this!
Any help is sincerely appreciated! Apologies for the super long post. Hopefully this will not be my only thread on this forum (and hopefully this will end on a positive note!)
Link to Flickr album documenting his progress / lack thereof: https://flic.kr/s/aHskXjNHvH
Quick background: I have a 90 gallon saltwater tank that's been up and running for about 7-8 months now. Current occupants are 8 clownfish (strangely enough they never fight, even at night. I don't plan on adding any more though as I don't want to risk it), 2 hermit crabs, 1 snail, and 1 juvenile sail fin tang (approx. 2.5 inches). I plan on upgrading my tank to 150g within the next two months so that my tang has more room to swim around as he grows bigger.
About two weeks ago, I added a BTA to my tank for my clowns. He/she was doing really well once drip acclimated and was eating the scallops I fed him about 2-3 times per week (I may have been feeding him too frequently in retrospect). But then three days ago, my little nem managed to get stuck in my filter intake. The second I noticed this had happened when I got home (I was at work at the time ugh), I promptly shut off the filter, and then started googling what on earth to do! I didn't try to remove him myself from the intake (I read that was a no-no), so instead I got some scissors and tore apart the filter. About 20 minutes later, he had wiggled himself free, but suffered some pretty extensive damage.
I figured he was a goner, but he began to make a comeback. About 12 hours later, the nem began to split. Did ALL the reading I could on the subject, figured he would split overnight while I was asleep, so I let him do his thing. But then the next day, nothing. He was still trying to split. It is now day four since the injury, and he is STILL trying to split himself, and failing miserably.
[I'm making a flickr album to show what's been going on. I'll add the link after this post!]
So my questions are the following:
- Is it possible for a BTA to attempt to split and fail?
- If so, will the BTA die as a result of not being able to split? (because of the damage)
- Is my BTA actually splitting or is he just dying?
- What are the typical warning signs that death is near for an anemone?
- If the BTA is splitting, but struggling immensely, is it a good idea for me to split him manually? If so, can anyone recommend a good how-to guide for this? *** I really don’t want to split him manually if at all possible, but I’m willing to try whatever I can to save this little guy.
*I initially wrote this post about 8 hours ago before heading out, and since coming home he has taken a turn for the worse. Looks as though he’s disintegrating. He is currently in QT with a very mild filter (fitted for a 10 gallon tank), no lighting, and his favorite live rock. I began dosing Cipro because I didn’t know what else to do.
He is still able to attach his foot to the live rock and stay in position, but he looks so awful that I think I may need to accept that he’s not going to make it. Did a smell check though and he smells fine. Maybe I’m just overly anxious about this!
Any help is sincerely appreciated! Apologies for the super long post. Hopefully this will not be my only thread on this forum (and hopefully this will end on a positive note!)
Link to Flickr album documenting his progress / lack thereof: https://flic.kr/s/aHskXjNHvH
