BTA chemical warfare?

Anthony Scholfield

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My rainbow bta and my mini maxi go at it every once in a while.
Yeah, BTAs will sting RFAs but can live in the same tank together without much problem. I dont think it has much to do with different species but something within the color morphs of BTAs. Whoever mentioned the xoothenelle may be on to something. It is very strange indeed.
 

FarmerTy

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Your setup didn't didn't turn well, I know you use to keep them together?
It was fine. I had 5 different types of BTAs in the system but I feel my system was unique that it had 3 different separate tanks sharing the same water, I ran carbon 24/7, ran 114 watt UV sterilizer 24-7, and treated all anemones with Cipro and any new additions with cipro.

To most, I’d say to avoid it. I even stopped mixing in the end just to avoid any issues.
 

eaquintero

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It was fine. I had 5 different types of BTAs in the system but I feel my system was unique that it had 3 different separate tanks sharing the same water, I ran carbon 24/7, ran 114 watt UV sterilizer 24-7, and treated all anemones with Cipro and any new additions with cipro.

To most, I’d say to avoid it. I even stopped mixing in the end just to avoid any issues.
You took pretty much every precaution. General consensus is that its not worth it, definitely not a risk worth taking. Thanks for the info!
 

FarmerTy

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You took pretty much every precaution. General consensus is that its not worth it, definitely not a risk worth taking. Thanks for the info!
Yeah, everything goes great and then one anemone starts looking funny. You treat it and then half a year later another looks funny. Got tired of having to eyeball nems so I scrapped the whole mixing thing and advise people to do the same from this point forward to save misery.
 

Saltyanimals

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Yeah, everything goes great and then one anemone starts looking funny. You treat it and then half a year later another looks funny. Got tired of having to eyeball nems so I scrapped the whole mixing thing and advise people to do the same from this point forward to save misery.

Or you can do what @FarmerTy does and follow the same recipe: Carbon, UV, CiPro, ... =)

Now I'm wondering if there's anything that one needs to proactively do before adding a fancy nem to a system that previously had other "junk nems" lol. Still laughing at that comment.
 

Taylor t

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Hmmm... I wonder if what was mentioned had some validation. It could be bacterial incompatibility. I wonder if all the nems introduced were treated with Cipro as a kind of “reset” if they would play nice with each other once acclimated. Has anyone tried this?
 

Saltyanimals

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Hmmm... I wonder if what was mentioned had some validation. It could be bacterial incompatibility. I wonder if all the nems introduced were treated with Cipro as a kind of “reset” if they would play nice with each other once acclimated. Has anyone tried this?

That's basically what I took away from the discussion here. While not recommended to mix, there has been success such as FarmerTy with the preventive effort he puts into his tank which may be beyond the average reefer and some tanks. I actually chatted with him on a different thread on UV and the guy really knows the UV science and assume applies those measures into this tank. So don't think a cheapo "200w" Amazon UV for $100 will check that box. =) I have a baby 57 watt AquaUV and that's bigger than my arm. He has some serious gear and TLC on his tank.
 

Taylor t

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I agree, I’ve used UV when I bred discus. For freshwater I saw it help a lot. For salt, I’m torn if it’s worth it, it kills good and bad. And yes I agree, the unit you use matters. Some better than others, and feed speed matters. With cheaper units, I think lower feed rate would help a lot.
 

Irondog702

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If anyone still reads this ive had a nem tank for about a year now it's a 40 gallon AIO, there is about 40 rock flowers, 6 or 8 mini Max's, and one large sebae that hosts my clown fish, everything has been great until about 3 weeks ago there has even been 2 rfa attached to the sebae for the last 6 months. Now most of the rfa just dont look very happy/healthy. I cant seperate them out because they are all mixed and stuck to the same rocks. I run carbon and am doing water changes but doesnt seem to be helping. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

ClownWrangler

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Yeah, everything goes great and then one anemone starts looking funny. You treat it and then half a year later another looks funny. Got tired of having to eyeball nems so I scrapped the whole mixing thing and advise people to do the same from this point forward to save misery.

I played this game for some time before I finally realized what was going on. I obsessed to the point where I can easily identify what "chemical warfare" looks like now. RBTAs are the worst. They should always have a tank to themselves. I first noticed it when I introduced a black widow. They would take turns deflating and going limp. They don't have to touch for it to happen. Nem's don't go limp when doing normal "water changes" If it looks completely deflated like limp spaghetti and also completely paralyzed, its chemical warfare. Carbon doesn't help either. I forgot what they are called, but they actually send stinging cells into the water column and they can remain for some time after you remove the nem, which is probably why some people think its a bacterial thing. Its not. I know this because they all recovered eventually without any treatment after separation. But on the flip side, I have a wild type and a white flecked orange one together in a 10 gallon doing fine. It's hit or miss. My suggestion is, if you are interested in collecting designer BTAs, have multiple, spare established tanks on hand at all times.
 

ClownWrangler

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Usually wild and captive bubble tips don’t do good together and result in chemical warfare but I don’t know much about fancy morphs killing each other

Ironically, after dealing with compatibility issues for some time, it was a wild purple one with green tips and a captive bred "designer" white flecked orange one that decided to get along fine together. I don't think there is a rule of thumb. Its pretty random. It was ether my RBTAs or "Seattle sunburst" that killed my black widow. I'm not sure which it was, but I think it was the S.S. As I had separated the RBTAs at that point. So yes, fancy morphs can kill each other.
 

James M

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Ironically, after dealing with compatibility issues for some time, it was a wild purple one with green tips and a captive bred "designer" white flecked orange one that decided to get along fine together. I don't think there is a rule of thumb. Its pretty random. It was ether my RBTAs or "Seattle sunburst" that killed my black widow. I'm not sure which it was, but I think it was the S.S. As I had separated the RBTAs at that point. So yes, fancy morphs can kill each other.
Wow. I’ve heard of black widows killing and not getting along with other bubble tips but not black widows being killed
 
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Tamberav

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I have a black widow cuddling with a acid rain without a care. They were separate but snuggled up one day and it’s been awhile like that. Both captives though.
 

ClownWrangler

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I have a black widow cuddling with a acid rain without a care. They were separate but snuggled up one day and it’s been awhile like that. Both captives though.

Good to know. I have been wanting to find something green to go with a black widow. How big is your water column?
 

Chicago-quicksilver

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I've had BTAs for many years, I've kept 20+ at times that were mostly a mix of rose and rainbow. Moved to a smaller tank and had 13 BTAs all doing well, added 2 very large roses to the tank and things were still going well. Was at the local LFS and the owner offered me 2 large roses for cheap and purchased them. Before I knew it all my BTAs are deflated and not doing well. I already lost a handful and no amount of carbon is helping. I never really bought into the chemical warfare and I figured since it was rose and rainbow I should be fine if it did exist. Did very large water changes and it still doesn't help. Trying to pick up a smaller tank to try and separate the BTAs but since I'm not sure which ones are causing the issue it's going to be difficult.
 
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