Please Help identify this Anemone, LFS told me it was BTA

craig_19xx · Jan 3, 2022

outhouse said:
It never hurts, it just mirrors cloudy days in nature. If im wrong and it gets acclimated on its own, there is zero negative impact on your tank.

just discovered ive been using the quote button wrong this whole time.. i been trying to quote replies.... noob alert haha

Clown2020 · Jan 3, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
If Gyre heads are pointed downwards, may be enough to create under-current. Try 15-20%. You can however aim water current at the anemone to get it out.
Also, is this a new/newer tank ? If so, the most important thing you’ll need to take care of before you brought your anemone home was perfecting the tank and water conditions. You should never place a Bubble Tip Anemone into a tank you just set up due to chemistry changes.
You need to take some time to get parameters just right and let the closed environment cycle for a few months. This ensures that conditions are stable and safe. Bubble Tip Anemones prefer warmer temperatures. Water should be on the alkali side as well. Monitor water conditions regularly to avoid any major changes. Ammonia and nitrate levels should be undetectable at all times using a good quakity test kit and Not API either.
Here are some water parameters to follow.

Water temperature: Between 77°F and 82°F (stay close to the middle of this range)

pH level: 8.1 to 8.4

Water hardness: 8 to 12 dKH

Specific gravity: 1.024 to 1.025

Nitrate < .5

When you first introduce the anemone to the tank, turn down any pumps. The flow should be minimal until the anemone gets settled in. Chances are, your new Bubble Tip Anemone will move around the tank until it finds a suitable spot to call home.
If it starts to move towards any coral, simply direct your water jets to the coral. This will discourage the anemone from anchoring near it. It will move to another area to attach.
Bubble Tip Anemone lighting is a very important aspect of their care. These creatures need a lot of light to thrive because they’re photosynthetic which means that they absorb light to produce food and growth, but not so bright that is seeks a shady location. The anemone has zooxanthellae in its body, which are symbiotic microorganisms that they feed on. Without proper lighting, the anemone will expel the zooxanthellae and turn white. This process is called bleaching and often leads to death.
A moderate amount of flow is recommended. Many aquarists agree that too much flow will cause the anemone to stretch out and look stringy. Keeping things moderate will help avoid this from happening. Avoid directing your flow directly at the anemone. These creatures enjoy subtle movement at all times but too much direct flow hitting the anemone will force it to move.
Lastly- Feeding.
Bubble Tip Anemones feeding is one of the easiest parts of their care. These animals get food from a lot of different sources. As mentioned earlier, they are photosynthetic and use light to create food. They will also eat food off of the fish they host. These anemones enjoy small morsels of shrimp and squid. They will also accept many frozen foods. To feed the anemone, attach the food to a stick or large tweezers. Then, touch the anemone with it. The creature will use its tentacles to grab onto the food and consume it. twice a week feedings is ample.

in my opinion this post is the best advice,

adding a nem at 6 months can be done provided you can give it stable conditions and being home for 2 months is great because you Will get to observe what’s happening plenty.

I got overly keen and added the nem in my profile pic at 2 months and possibly partly by dumb luck it’s doing great (well the 4x from splits in December) and at 5ish maybe 6 months added a green bta also doing great and has not split.

3 biggest factors that I have found effect nems are light alk and flow. Keep these stable and adjust slowly if required and you should do just fine.

craig_19xx · Jan 3, 2022

Clown2020 said:
in my opinion this post is the best advice,

adding a nem at 6 months can be done provided you can give it stable conditions and being home for 2 months is great because you Will get to observe what’s happening plenty.

I got overly keen and added the nem in my profile pic at 2 months and possibly partly by dumb luck it’s doing great (well the 4x from splits in December) and at 5ish maybe 6 months added a green bta also doing great and has not split.

3 biggest factors that I have found effect nems are light alk and flow. Keep these stable and adjust slowly if required and you should do just fine.

Thank you for joining the conversation.
I did also lower my flow down to 20% and honestly i think everything in my tank liked it! if theres one thing i do test more than anything else its my KH, because i have really wanted to make sure i get it stable with my dosing so im glad to hear im on the right track. hell we all deserve some dumb luck here and again with all the work we put in on these mini oceans! I was planning to wait a year before adding one but i couldnt help myself when i saw this one at the LFS lol.

craig_19xx · Jan 9, 2022

Just a quick update,

Things are looking good. seems happy to be where it is and although it is still kind of in a cave at least it is visible and looks to be regenerating its health. I am pretty confident i bought it bleached now, but i can see some colour coming in around the mouth area slowly, and it looks more colorful everyday. Maybe with some more regeneration it will get the strength to really come out in the light, fingers crossed!
I have the lights still at 18%blue and 3%white, gyreheads at 10% on the side the nems on and 20% on the other half (that half didnt like the 10% reduction)... everything is looking fantastic in my tank thanks to your guys advice!!!!
Also I feed frozen food 2-3 times daily to the fish and the flow brings some mysis/brine shrimp and rotifiers right to the anemone, and i started giving reef roids to the tank every 3 days. I started to notice the green colour showing up after feeding the reef roids.
Params are all the same as original post but i did bring my no3 and po4 down to respective levels (5ppm/0.018)

craig_19xx · Jan 9, 2022

Mibu said:
I agree with this.

Theres no saying what par he was kept in. Your bta is avoiding light shock.

vetteguy53081 said:
If Gyre heads are pointed downwards, may be enough to create under-current. Try 15-20%. You can however aim water current at the anemone to get it out.
Also, is this a new/newer tank ? If so, the most important thing you’ll need to take care of before you brought your anemone home was perfecting the tank and water conditions. You should never place a Bubble Tip Anemone into a tank you just set up due to chemistry changes.
You need to take some time to get parameters just right and let the closed environment cycle for a few months. This ensures that conditions are stable and safe. Bubble Tip Anemones prefer warmer temperatures. Water should be on the alkali side as well. Monitor water conditions regularly to avoid any major changes. Ammonia and nitrate levels should be undetectable at all times using a good quakity test kit and Not API either.
Here are some water parameters to follow.

Water temperature: Between 77°F and 82°F (stay close to the middle of this range)

pH level: 8.1 to 8.4

Water hardness: 8 to 12 dKH

Specific gravity: 1.024 to 1.025

Nitrate < .5

When you first introduce the anemone to the tank, turn down any pumps. The flow should be minimal until the anemone gets settled in. Chances are, your new Bubble Tip Anemone will move around the tank until it finds a suitable spot to call home.
If it starts to move towards any coral, simply direct your water jets to the coral. This will discourage the anemone from anchoring near it. It will move to another area to attach.
Bubble Tip Anemone lighting is a very important aspect of their care. These creatures need a lot of light to thrive because they’re photosynthetic which means that they absorb light to produce food and growth, but not so bright that is seeks a shady location. The anemone has zooxanthellae in its body, which are symbiotic microorganisms that they feed on. Without proper lighting, the anemone will expel the zooxanthellae and turn white. This process is called bleaching and often leads to death.
A moderate amount of flow is recommended. Many aquarists agree that too much flow will cause the anemone to stretch out and look stringy. Keeping things moderate will help avoid this from happening. Avoid directing your flow directly at the anemone. These creatures enjoy subtle movement at all times but too much direct flow hitting the anemone will force it to move.
Lastly- Feeding.
Bubble Tip Anemones feeding is one of the easiest parts of their care. These animals get food from a lot of different sources. As mentioned earlier, they are photosynthetic and use light to create food. They will also eat food off of the fish they host. These anemones enjoy small morsels of shrimp and squid. They will also accept many frozen foods. To feed the anemone, attach the food to a stick or large tweezers. Then, touch the anemone with it. The creature will use its tentacles to grab onto the food and consume it. twice a week feedings is ample.

outhouse said:
It never hurts, it just mirrors cloudy days in nature. If im wrong and it gets acclimated on its own, there is zero negative impact on your tank.

Clown2020 said:
in my opinion this post is the best advice,

adding a nem at 6 months can be done provided you can give it stable conditions and being home for 2 months is great because you Will get to observe what’s happening plenty.

I got overly keen and added the nem in my profile pic at 2 months and possibly partly by dumb luck it’s doing great (well the 4x from splits in December) and at 5ish maybe 6 months added a green bta also doing great and has not split.

3 biggest factors that I have found effect nems are light alk and flow. Keep these stable and adjust slowly if required and you should do just fine.

I am still wondering if this is indeed a BTA tho !

Ryde · Jan 9, 2022

craig_19xx said:
I am still wondering if this is indeed a BTA tho !

Looks like one imo. They sometimes happen to lose their bubbles for no exact reason.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 9, 2022

craig_19xx said:
I am still wondering if this is indeed a BTA tho !

Btas are not always inflated. Here is mine 5 mins ago.

BroccoliFarmer · Jan 9, 2022

craig_19xx said:
Hello fellow reefheads.. First post here... i bought an anemone from my LFS 8 days ago and he is still hiding in this cave from the light. It is my first anemone and it has this crazy crazy vibrant pink color to it, like way more vibrant then the other BTAs. Healthy looking foot, dark brownish color, but the mouth is white. I got it like that at the store, hopefully its not bleached? Otherwise It looks happy and on the first night it attached itself to the rocks in a place it seems to be filling out nice during the day and having my hermies walk right into him, also it gets food from the nice flow that brings brine shrimp right to it when i feed a cube in the tank (twice daily for the fishies, picky buggers dont like pellets). Then he shrinks up at night, mouth closed.
This location is unideal on both means of me losing my hermies(not a huge issue)... and but you know, hes hiding in a freakin cave without much light and we cant see him!
So this leads me to a 2 part question, 1 is this even a BTA? The more i look online im thinkin my fish store was lyin, they sold me and charged it as a BTA. so what kind of anemone is this? Hopefully i can get a decent enough pic its kinda squishy in that cave. And part 2 is, at what point should i move the rock or flip it over to stop this cave situation? or should i just leave it in its lame cave out of sight? im off work for the next 2 months thankfully so i can watch it like a hawk.

Tank is 6 months old (I know a little early, forgive me)
Red Sea Reefer 425xl (98gal plus sump)
Runs skimmer 24/7, refugium, filter socks and carbon. UV light also
Red Sea 160s lights (60%blue, 30%white)
Temp: 79f (stable)
PH: 8.4
Nitrate: 7.2 (trying to keep around 5)
KH: 9.5 (fairly stable, dose 33ml/day)
Phosph: .08 (added tiny too much other day, should be a little lower)
Salinity: 34.5 (stable)
Calcium: 450 (stable)
Mg: 1300

Thanks Everyone!!

Photos turned out kind of orange because of the filter on the lens, and it actually looks more like a BTA in the photo than it does in person. but if it is BTA, then the mouth probably shouldnt be white, no?

also, to be able to see the anemone for the photo i have to go to the back of my tank and lean my head over really awkwardly, the big cave photo is where he is hiding in the back of which is what we look at from the front of the tank.

I think that is called 'a snail'.