New Anemone (BTA) What should it look like? Help? Advice?

[Iversonforever3]

Hello Reefers , I am new to the forums and relatively new to managing a saltwater tank. I have purchased, from family, a mature 8-10 month old star fire 50 gallon cube tank. I’ve done my research around the net for weeks before making the purchase and I had (2) clown fish (percula) prior to buying my new tank purchase.

Anyways down to the point I recently transferred the clown fish to my new cube tank. All has been good for past week or so and I have made my way to stock tank with an Green BTA ( bulb tip anemone). I purchased from Live Aquaria and did the proper drip method before putting into my tank. I know I know I did not quartine as I have heard LA does that prior to shipping (I shouldn’t believe everything I read!?)

So I I’m concerned today is day 2 and 1/2 with the new BTA and this morning I see it has retracted its tentacles and seems very timid and idk maybe sick ? It hasn’t ate anything since I got it , which I heard is normal due to Shock of shipping and transfer. Good news is that it moved from its prior spot yesterday and probably 3-4 times since first placing it onto a coral. The clown fish have barley rubbed against it ( not often or vigorously) as I know it’s rare for them to host immediately, so I’m not worried there.

But below I’ll show some pictures of how it looks this morning , and if some more experienced Reefers can shed some light and let me know If I am a newbie and overreacting to an Anemone for the first time and hopefully everything is ok .

Here are my tank basic spec readings *prior* to adding the BTA
Using a Prime HD for light (should be adequate?)

PH - 8.2
Alk - 9
Salinity - 1.028
Nitrate -15
Calcium -380

Temp 77.6 F

thanks for reading and any suggestions

I’ll post better pictures when I get home , these are from early this morning and currently at work till late.

 

[Iversonforever3]

Just got home and here are some updated pics , I upped the UV light and watts for more lighting. Any insight would help me

also just noticed that one of my Cardinal is magically gone ?!!?!? Is it possible that’s the BTA ate the fish ? And that’s why it’s acting like this or just normal shock from acclimating ??

thanks R2R

 

[W1ngz]

Salinity is a bit on the high side, calcium is a bit on the low side. I don't think either of these would cause your anemone to do that however it's not helping either. It definitely does not look happy. It should be out, with inflated tentacles reaching towards the light.

They are more dependant on light and flow. I would give it a few days to get accustomed to the light you have. Posting exactly what settings you've got on the light will help. I don't have one, so I'm not intimately familiar with them, but you should up not just the UV, but all of the blue spectrum. From the photos it looks like you have the reds and greens much too high compared to the blues. Also be conservative with the whites, and use them just for a little bit of visual appeal.

Anemone's need high light, and I'm not sure a single prime HD will have enough punch to keep it happy unless it climbs higher on the rock work, and it won't do that if it doesn't know there's good blue light up there.

It will sound like I'm preaching, but regardless of tank age, an anemone was not the best choice for someone just learning to manage a reef tank.

The cardinal (what kind?) may just be hiding in the rock work, but they don't hide long. If you don't see it for 24 hours, assume it's dead and been eaten by whatever cleanup crew you have.

 

[Iversonforever3]

Thank you so much for replying ! w1ngz

For starters I only upped the lights/UV for about 30-45min for pictures and more lighting (reds ,whites, etc) I know I’m dumb to up most lights but it was to try and locate the kauderns cardinal fish. I suppose my CUC could have disposed of the carcass overnight and maybe anemone stung and ate part of it , idk at night all the craziness happens. I have a good amount of CUC about 4-5 snails , 7 hermits , and a blood red fire shrimp.

I’m using the preset lighting for the AI prime from R2R that’s recommend called D. Saxby, I’ll include a snapshot of the settings below. From the actual website (prime HD) the specs are in parameters for lighting 24x24 is max and adequate.
But nonetheless yes I may be a novice when it comes to reefing but just like anyone in any new hobby, hard work , research and determination plus learning from problems or other people’s experiences is how you achieve to be better no matter the hobby. What I’m trying to say is I’m not just going to let something I’ve invested a lot of time and money go to waste or failure, I am here reading and trying to insight in my current situation and remedy it. I hope that months or years to come I’m still here asking Questions and getting help from Vets like you to help me in my journey ahead.

From what I’ve read I’m hoping that early this morning The BTA was releasing zooantheallge
Either way per your help I’m going to test the tank and adjust the salinity and up the calcium to help out the BTA and just leave it alone for a couple more days before I do a water change.

It’s legs are still well attached but I’m hoping it doesn’t have a disease or is sick. I’ll keep all you guys posted daily to see progress and if needed I’ll put into a quarantine tank and try to bring back to life !

I knew anemone was going to be a battle but I choose BTA for my clownies and knew they were more hardy than others

 

[OnyxPerc]

Thank you so much for replying ! w1ngz

For starters I only upped the lights/UV for about 30-45min for pictures and more lighting (reds ,whites, etc) I know I’m dumb to up most lights but it was to try and locate the kauderns cardinal fish. I suppose my CUC could have disposed of the carcass overnight and maybe anemone stung and ate part of it , idk at night all the craziness happens. I have a good amount of CUC about 4-5 snails , 7 hermits , and a blood red fire shrimp.

I’m using the preset lighting for the AI prime from R2R that’s recommend called D. Saxby, I’ll include a snapshot of the settings below. From the actual website (prime HD) the specs are in parameters for lighting 24x24 is max and adequate.
But nonetheless yes I may be a novice when it comes to reefing but just like anyone in any new hobby, hard work , research and determination plus learning from problems or other people’s experiences is how you achieve to be better no matter the hobby. What I’m trying to say is I’m not just going to let something I’ve invested a lot of time and money go to waste or failure, I am here reading and trying to insight in my current situation and remedy it. I hope that months or years to come I’m still here asking Questions and getting help from Vets like you to help me in my journey ahead.

From what I’ve read I’m hoping that early this morning The BTA was releasing zooantheallge
Either way per your help I’m going to test the tank and adjust the salinity and up the calcium to help out the BTA and just leave it alone for a couple more days before I do a water change.

It’s legs are still well attached but I’m hoping it doesn’t have a disease or is sick. I’ll keep all you guys posted daily to see progress and if needed I’ll put into a quarantine tank and try to bring back to life !

I knew anemone was going to be a battle but I choose BTA for my clownies and knew they were more hardy than others

HI pal. A couple of things here...

First, I think a single AI Prime HD is fine for a BTA. I had a rainbow BTA under a single Prime HD for 2 years, and it grew from about 4-5" when I got it to over 12" in diameter without ANY feedings. Your light settings look okay, but I would bump the UV and Violet to like 80%.

Now things to look for in an unhappy anemone. Sick/unhappy anemones may show any of these signs or all of them:
- disinflating and reinflating periodically
- open/gaping mouth
- spilling its guts/insides
- no appetite / they won't eat
- tentacles are not sticky (if you drop a small piece of food on the tentacles and it doesn't stick, that's an easy way to test this)
- Anemone won't plant its foot / it detaches and floats around

In your case, the anemone looks a bit unhappy but it really doesn't look terrible in my opinion. Although BTAs are the least likely anemones to eat your fish, it may have eaten your cardinal and now is working through digesting what it can. Many times when anemones eat a whole fish (or any piece of food that is too large for them) they will digest some of it and then expel the rest.

Either way, I have never had a dead fish decompose entirely overnight. So if the fish is missing I would search the surrounding floor area in case it jumped, as well as behind your rockwork and any crevice where it could have possibly gotten stuck.

Lastly, your Salinity is a bit on the high side and your calcium is kind of low. While I don't think the low calcium would affect the anemone much, the salinity is important to keep in check. Aim for 1.025, but bring it down slowly over the course of several days or a week.

Aside from bringing down the salinity, I think you should just observe for now and try to feed it in like 4-5 days to see if it will take food. I say wait 4-5 days because if the BTA ate the cardinal then it's already had a pretty substantial meal. You also want to let it acclimate to the salinity changes. If you witness some of the signs of trouble that I mentioned above, then QT and treatment with CIPRO might be your best chance.

 

[Iversonforever3]

Well guys just got home from work and it looks like I’m about to pull the BTA from the tank an put into QT and head out to buy some Cipro and hope for the best. Today is by far the worst day I’ve seen the new bta .. also it moved for last nights spot and has a more gaping mouth
wish me luck and thanks for everyone’s help

Also as an update , I have checked the sump , refugime and under all my corals and nada ! I can’t find my cardinal fish??? I’m going to check my filter sock and I looked around my tank no fish has jumped the tank I’m sure because no overspill and my dog is caged lock all night.

ughhh I’m so sad for my new BTA it scares me to get another

 

[D-Nak]

I don't think it looks that bad. BTAs sometimes take a few days to acclimate to a new tank. If you want to be safe, moving it to a QT tank is a good idea, but then it'll need to acclimate to that tank as well.

 

[Webslinger]

I would leave it alone they are sensitive to changes. They tend to split when stressed.

 

[Cell]

Is it getting much flow? I've got a nem that was doing terrible in a lower flow tank with several other bta's. I moved it to a tank with a lot more flow and its recovering nicely now.

 

[Iversonforever3]

Thanks for the replies , I gave it some time and last night it opened up and got bigger looked better so I’m just gonna give it a full week to acclimate then try to feed it a scallop and see if it eats, by 8 days time I’ll make a proper decision QT

 

[Webslinger]

I wouldn't feed it.

 

[jreefier]

I wouldn't feed it.

Agree. Just leave it. Anemones don't need regular feeding just good light.

 

[old salt reefer]

I wouldn't feed it.

And I would, but that's me. Not a lot, just a little. Gives a good idea of the health of the anemone. If it's eating it's a lot happier than if it's not eating.

And I wouldn't bother it in anyway- ie try and move it,etc. Just let it be.

 

[Iversonforever3]

I wouldn't feed it.

At all ? Just wait or it will get food from the tank an or clown fish ?

 

[jreefier]

At all ? Just wait or it will get food from the tank an or clown fish ?

I've not fed mine directly for over two and a half years. Overly large pieces can cause problems taking too long to digest. You could try a very small piece just to see if it takes it, but it doesn't physically need food at this point for quite some time.

 

[Cell]

It doesn't need any supplemental feeding at all, provided adequate lighting. I would not try to feed a nem with a gaping mouth either.

 

[Iversonforever3]

Upon your guys suggestions I might get a small power head and give more airflow , it moved again for the 4th time in 4 days so it’s legs still seem to work fine. I added/upped more blues and violets with the Prime HD hoping light will help.

I am debating on maybe getting garlic xteme and soaking a tiny bit if food and feeding to anemone possibly in 2-3 days time if I see it has not gotten any better.Sounds good ? Bad ?

*fingers crossed for the BTA
Thanks again everyone

 

[Webslinger]

At all ? Just wait or it will get food from the tank an or clown fish ?

just let him be.