BTA help please

[TX reefer]

Thanks for the help. My 85g tank is a little over a year old. Dual Hydra 52. My parameters are stable and I have a Duncan coral that seems he couldn't be happier. So I decided to try my first BTA from DD late Dec. After drip acclimation and placing in tank, his mouth was wide open almost inside out. I took a pic and after a while he seemed to recover and overnight moved to back of rock work in shade. My understanding, I could be wrong, is to leave him alone and if he wanted more light or needed more food he would move on his own. I broadcast feed mysis daily. I ordered another one Friday to be delivered Tuesday. I found my original face down dead over the weekend. Now I have another coming. DD said it's outside their guarantee. My concern now though is I have another coming and I don't want to kill it too. Did I starve the original one? I don't want to kill this one too. Thank you!

 

[Millimylilly]

Well you probably should have waited on having the second one sent out... your water quality will be poor with a dying anemone in your tank, so if it is truly dead then take it out. Can you post a picture of the anemone you have?

 

[TX reefer]

Pic is right after it went in the tank. Ya I asked DD if I should wait and cancel the order and they said it should be fine lol. So they sent it. I guess I could have cancelled it anyway. The timing is just bad cause I waited a month before I ordered the second one and first one died the next day. He would fully open and close back up but he was back behind liverock with no light and little food. I hated to mess with him and stress him out trying to get him to move. I took him out as soon as I found him dead Saturday morning. I'm new to anemones but I have had good luck with fish and soft coral. Idk, I hate when I goof up and something dies.

 

[reef lover]

That nem looked liked he was doomed before you got him. :(

 

[PDR]

Welcome to R2R!

How long did you drip acclimate the bta for?

Do you have any pictures of the dead anemone?

Generally speaking, yes they will move until happy and usually hide in a cave when stressed.

To be perfectly honest, many members have been having issues with coral and inverts from DD lately, so I wouldn't rule out health issues coming from DD.

 

[TX reefer]

Thank you sir! I floated for about 30 min then dripped probably for about 30 min. My SG is 1.026 and ph ranges 7.95-8.15. I think my water is close to theirs. Ya I don't know much about them but I thought he was almost inside out through his mouth when I put him in. I took a pic for that reason but DD said it's past their 2 week guarantee when he died. I was hoping since I had pic when I put him in they would help me out but I guess I should have sent it to them originally. I thought he was OK when he moved overnight. He would open and close but was behind rockwork. I don't have any when he was dead. He may have been dead for a day or so. He was closed up for a couple days then Sat morning he was face down on the sand. When I moved him he was trying to come apart. I think my water is good but I could be wrong. The duncan is thriving. He was starting to get pale towards the end. I hope I didn't starve him. I just don't want to kill the one coming tomorrow.

 

[dante411x]

You didn’t starve him. Anemones can get all their energy needs from light alone, the feeding is just extra. You really don’t want to overfeed them actually.

That guy sounds like he was on his way out from the beginning. Since you have lps and it’s living your water movement and enough light for a nem.

Since you’ve got a second one on the way.. see what happens. Take a ton of pictures. Document it’s progress.

 

[Chad Jones]

I agree with what others have said. I think the bta was dying before you got it. The only thing you did wrong was not contacting DD before the 2 week guarentee period. Dont beat yourself up over it. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on. Keep us informed about your new one.

 

[TX reefer]

Ok, thank yall so much. I will document the new one better and let them know if it looks like the first one. I did get a red bells sea urchin at the same time that is a lawn mowing beast so it wasn't all for nothing lol. Thank you.