BTA splitting and flattening

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

hey guys! My maroon clown started showing interest in my BTA 1-2 weeks ago. A few days after I happened to do a water change and the BTA split.

The male clown is now hosting the smaller nem and my female spends most of her time in the larger.

I bought the BTA pretty small and it looks like the clown is so aggressive that she forces it to be as open as possible to where it has almost no tentacles. I haven’t been able to find any pics of BTAs that look like mine. I don’t have any pictures of the smaller split. It is just now moving itself and looking like it’s growing a bit. Is it possible that the split doesn’t have a mouth yet?


My nitrates were through the roof and have consistently been dropping. It honestly looked better when the nitrates were higher (I’m talking like 80+) than it does now that I’ve gotten them down to around 30 (I’m working on it) so I don’t think it’s water quality. Other than that, everything is perfect.


Any suggestions?? Is it just the clowns forcing it to open too much and look like this?


I have a huge condy that I wish they would’ve picked. It would’ve fit them both just fine

 

[James M]

Condys aren’t hosting nem but since they’re maroons it’s a possibility.
The nem doesn’t look good but I would just keep and eye on it and see if it gets better. I would also begin feedings for the split

 

[Orion1885]

I have tried a few golden stripe maroon pairs in the past and all the pairs I used to own used to rip off my BTA's tentacles. Something to look out for.

 

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

Condys aren’t hosting nem but since they’re maroons it’s a possibility.
The nem doesn’t look good but I would just keep and eye on it and see if it gets better. I would also begin feedings for the split

How do you recommend feeding? Just like normal? I have pulled back on feeding the original BTA because my clown is feeding it and it has been spitting a lot back out. So far if ive attempted to feed the split it doesn’t look like it takes it. I’ve just tried mysis shrimp once.


I didn’t know that about condys , good to know!

 

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

How do you recommend feeding? Just like normal? I have pulled back on feeding the original BTA because my clown is feeding it and it has been spitting a lot back out. So far if ive attempted to feed the split it doesn’t look like it takes it. I’ve just tried mysis shrimp once.


I didn’t know that about condys , good to know!

 

[Dancingmad]

They don't look great but I've seen worse! The mouth in the second picture looks pretty tight/closed still.

I wouldn't feed the BTAs - they'll get enough from broadcasts if their lighting is solid. BTW, what kind of lights are you running on your tank for these nems (and maybe corals)?

Also, see you only have 8 posts, so Welcome to R2R! People are helpful and awesome here. So awesome, not even the metric system can measure their sheer awesomenacity.

 

[Sabellafella]

hey guys! My maroon clown started showing interest in my BTA 1-2 weeks ago. A few days after I happened to do a water change and the BTA split.

The male clown is now hosting the smaller nem and my female spends most of her time in the larger.

I bought the BTA pretty small and it looks like the clown is so aggressive that she forces it to be as open as possible to where it has almost no tentacles. I haven’t been able to find any pics of BTAs that look like mine. I don’t have any pictures of the smaller split. It is just now moving itself and looking like it’s growing a bit. Is it possible that the split doesn’t have a mouth yet?


My nitrates were through the roof and have consistently been dropping. It honestly looked better when the nitrates were higher (I’m talking like 80+) than it does now that I’ve gotten them down to around 30 (I’m working on it) so I don’t think it’s water quality. Other than that, everything is perfect.


Any suggestions?? Is it just the clowns forcing it to open too much and look like this?


I have a huge condy that I wish they would’ve picked. It would’ve fit them both just fine

The 2 pictures, those were after the split? How long have you had the anemones for? I think they look fine, I'd give it some time and let them get used to the pounding from that maroon clown. The temperature swing from the water change most likely caused the split. It's the preferred method of basically getting all fish and nems to breed/propagate naturally. Other then that, welcome to the forum =)

 

[Hemmdog]

Welcome to reef2reef!

 

[laverda]

I also feel your anemone is not looking very well. Definatly bleached a little. They like a lot of light and nitrates as well. Nitrates are a food source for BTAs. I would stop lowering your nitrates. What are your other parameters? While I agree your water change probably caused the split, I would guess it is more likely from ALK being different. Either way you should try to match the parameters of you tank when doing water changes. Having slightly elevated levels is ok to replace what has been depleted, but it should not be any extreme differences.

 

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

The pictures are the same BTA, after the split. I have the current Marine 4101, it’s LED, set to ramp from daylight to moonlight throughout the day. It’s relatively new so I was wondering if they’re acclimating to that.

Im not sure If I should worry yet, the smaller BTA from the split is now hiding behind a rock but when I introduced the BTA pre-split it hid for a few days before it moved to the top and has been ok ever since.. well until the clown started abusing and stretching it out.

The main BTA is looking healthier since that picture was taken but now the little one is hiding.

Also forgot to mention, I have a torch coral (2 small heads) that the clowns were abusing and biting the tips off.

I moved to the other half of the tank and it hasn’t opened back up yet.

I’m assuming it’s some combination of water/light changes and clown abuse but I appreciate all of the advice from more experienced reefers.


Thanks for all of the welcomes! I’m definitely new to this and the forums have been a big help so far!!

 

[Jon Fishman]

How do you recommend feeding? Just like normal?

I've never directly fed my BTA, so I wouldn't feed it at all.

 

[D-Nak]

I also feel your anemone is not looking very well. Definatly bleached a little. They like a lot of light and nitrates as well. Nitrates are a food source for BTAs. I would stop lowering your nitrates. What are your other parameters? While I agree your water change probably caused the split, I would guess it is more likely from ALK being different. Either way you should try to match the parameters of you tank when doing water changes. Having slightly elevated levels is ok to replace what has been depleted, but it should not be any extreme differences.

Can you provide more information on your reasoning for saying that BTAs like high nitrates? I would say that they can tolerate high nitrates, but not "like" or prefer high nitrates. I personally would encourage keeping nitrates in check, as letting it get too high means other issues could arise. I guess "high" is a relative term, but the general consensus is to keep it low. Why do you think they use it as a food source?

 

[laverda]

Because some anemone breeders feed them stricly on nitrates. Anemones do great in a tank with nitrates as high as 120ppm. I agree that nitrates sould not be allowed to get too high in a reef aquarium with other corals. My nitrates average 20-25 and my sps corals have good color. 5 or 6 of my anemones are 12-14" across. I have another 6 smaller ones in the same tank.

 

[Dancingmad]

Anemones do great in a tank with nitrates as high as 120ppm.

Right on buddy!

I've taken my nitrates higher than 150 in my high nutrient tank (BTAs, softies and gorgonians) and everyone loves it. I've got a leather the size of a serving plate and a couple of gorgonians that are 1.5-2ft tall with branches everywhere.

Different goals for different folks

 

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

So the original anemone is finally starting to fill out and look better than it did in the pictures I initially posted.

The split has been hiding behind the rock for about a week and finally came out yesterday/today. This is what it looks like now.

Is this normal?? Any suggestions/products to increase their growth rate?

I’m growing coral and coralline algae so I’m assuming the light and parameters should be good enough for the BTA? Is that an accurate assumption?

My condy is huge and healthy but it was mature when I got it, not small like the original BTA.

 

[laverda]

It os definatly not normal. Normally they keep their foot hidden under a rock or in a hole and have there tips extended to the light and catch bits of food. I am guessing it is still moving about trying to find a place it will be happy. I believe it is looking for more light.

 

[Hemmdog]

It os definatly not normal. Normally they keep their foot hidden under a rock or in a hole and have there tips extended to the light and catch bits of food. I am guessing it is still moving about trying to find a place it will be happy. I believe it is looking for more light.

+1, current USA lights are not going to be enough for nems or coral unless you have a ton of them and t5 supplement.

 

[Jordan Pascuzzi]

How do you recommend feeding? Just like normal? I have pulled back on feeding the original BTA because my clown is feeding it and it has been spitting a lot back out. So far if ive attempted to feed the split it doesn’t look like it takes it. I’ve just tried mysis shrimp once.


I didn’t know that about condys , good to know!

Wanted to follow up with this post!! The bubble tip is alive but so small and still unhealthy. The clowns gave up on the BTA and did end up taking over the Condy! Pretty neat. The male clown has taken to the new hammer coral.

 

[Sabellafella]

Wanted to follow up with this post!! The bubble tip is alive but so small and still unhealthy. The clowns gave up on the BTA and did end up taking over the Condy! Pretty neat. The male clown has taken to the new hammer coral.

Nice! Turned out for the better!