Thinking about a BTA for my tank need help/advice.

[markysgirl]

Hello R2R!
I have been on the fence about a BTA for my tank since the first time I saw a clownfish wallowing around in an anemone about 8 years ago.
I immediately wanted one and started doing some research only to find out that they can be rather difficult to keep.
I've read horror stories about dying anemones polluting tanks, killer anemones picking off coral and eating fish, and anemones crawling into overflows and powerheads injuring themselves.
I've also heard others talk about how much they love their anemones.
I've read articles about the care of anemones and it seems like something I could manage pretty easily.
I came to this part of the forum to see if there was an awesome anemone care guide I could look at while trying to decide but don't see one.
I would like to ask for links to care guides and general advice from those that have BTA's.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Feel free time include photos of your beautiful anemones if you have one.
My tank parameters:
75g DT
20g sump
HP skimmer
Refugium
80 pounds LifeRock
80 pounds special grade sand
Shadow overflow
2 MP 10's
Kessil AP 700 light
I do 10 gallon water changes once weekly more if needed.
Tank was done cycling 2/5.
Latest parameters (tested 2/16)
Salinity 1.025
pH 8.2
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 25
PO4 0
Alk 5.4
Mg 810
Ca 425

 

[Gernader]

I have a rose bubble tip anemone. I can give you some tips. Since your tank just finished cycling, you should not add an anemone until your tank is matured which takes around 6 to 8 months. Once your tank is matured, cover your power heads with some nylon stocking (pantyhose works too) then you can add an anemone to your tank. The anemone may move a lot during the first few weeks but once it finds a spot, it will stay there and be comfortable. If you want the anemone to grow much faster, then you can feed it a small piece of raw shrimp from a grocery store once or twice a week if you prefer. That’s all I can think at top of my head.

Here’s the pic of my anemone. It’s about 6 inches.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Beautiful tank. Embrace new obstacles I say! What’s life without the spice of adventure. Buy an anemone and start learning why people have the experience they do. I have kept anemones and I have recently sold them all. I would buy again if a color caught my eye. I like corals (anemone is not a coral) that stay put now but those colors are undeniable. I never had an anemone go to a Powerhead but I have had then detach and float threw the water column. These anemones just need a little extra attention but nothing crazy. Enjoy

 

[SteveEreef]

I’m sure your aware but just in case- your ALK and Mg are low . You may want to raise your Alk to at least 8 and Mg to at least 1275 over time.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Nice looking tank, like your rock scape. I see a lot of stories about the BTA. I have 7 on my 40g breeder that I will have to sell because they split and grow like crazy. But the reality is that my two clowns not host neither one. The love my red gonipora. This is a pic of my tank with and without the orange filter.

 

[markysgirl]

I’m sure your aware but just in case- your ALK and Mg are low . You may want to raise your Alk to at least 8 and Mg to at least 1275 over time.

I did notice that. I'm not entirely sure that I am doing the test correctly. I'm using the Salifert tests and I felt like there was too much air (.15ml) in the syringe? I tried to get more (not all) of the air out to ko avail so I went with what I had.
I also did the test before I did my water change so I'm going to test after the water change this time to see if water changes are raising the levels?
Otherwise I'm not exactly sure how to elevate those. Better salt? I'm using Instant Ocean reef salt.
Do I need to dose Mg and Alk?
Thanks for an intro to one of my million noob questions!!! ;Bucktooth

 

[markysgirl]

Nice looking tank, like your rock scape. I see a lot of stories about the BTA. I have 7 on my 40g breeder that I will have to sell because they split and grow like crazy. But the reality is that my two clowns not host neither one. The love my red gonipora. This is a pic of my tank with and without the orange filter.

Wow!!! Beautiful tank!!! I love all of the anemones!!!

 

[SteveEreef]

I did notice that. I'm not entirely sure that I am doing the test correctly. I'm using the Salifert tests and I felt like there was too much air (.15ml) in the syringe? I tried to get more (not all) of the air out to ko avail so I went with what I had.
I also did the test before I did my water change so I'm going to test after the water change this time to see if water changes are raising the levels?
Otherwise I'm not exactly sure how to elevate those. Better salt? I'm using Instant Ocean reef salt.
Do I need to dose Mg and Alk?
Thanks for an intro to one of my million noob questions!!! ;Bucktooth

IO salt is fine. If you mixed the salt to 1.025 you ALK and Mg should be fine. I think it’s testing error also as you mentioned. Water changes should keep your parameters stable and you shouldn’t have to dose till you have more corals. Happy reefing!

 

[Daniel92481]

Cool rock scape! Looking good! Get some phosphates in there. Use quality test kits, such as Hanna, Red Sea, and Salifert to get more accurate, lower level values. Aim for a phosphate level < 0.25, but definitely detectable.

 

[Cell]

It's my opinion that the whole tank nuking thing is a bit overstated. Sure, if your nem walks into a powerhead and gets shredded and no action is taken for many hours or days, then you will probably have some casualties, but if you get on top of it right away ie water change and carbon, it's usually not tank threatening.

Bta are much easier to care for than corals imo.

 

[markysgirl]

Cool rock scape! Looking good! Get some phosphates in there. Use quality test kits, such as Hanna, Red Sea, and Salifert to get more accurate, lower level values. Aim for a phosphate level < 0.25, but definitely detectable.

I'm using Salifert kits.
I have been feeding ( probably overfeeding) the fish for a little over a week now so I'm hoping to get some phosphate in the tank eventually.
I have chaeto in the fuge, maybe it is working too well?
Thank you so much for the super helpful advice.

 

[Daniel92481]

I'm using Salifert kits.
I have been feeding ( probably overfeeding) the fish for a little over a week now so I'm hoping to get some phosphate in the tank eventually.
I have chaeto in the fuge, maybe it is working too well?
Thank you so much for the super helpful advice.

You’re welcome! +1 for testing error. As you continue to test, you will get more accurate with them, perhaps even considering yourself a mad scientist, or it’s probably just me lol. I use Salifert for nitrate and magnesium. I have also heard good things about Aquaforest magnesium kits through the BRS videos. Does your chaeto seem to be growing in your refugium? Is it tumbling? I have read about chaeto needing to tumble, just not sure, as I do not run a fuge in my system.

 

[markysgirl]

You’re welcome! +1 for testing error. As you continue to test, you will get more accurate with them, perhaps even considering yourself a mad scientist, or it’s probably just me lol. I use Salifert for nitrate and magnesium. I have also heard good things about Aquaforest magnesium kits through the BRS videos. Does your chaeto seem to be growing in your refugium? Is it tumbling? I have read about chaeto needing to tumble, just not sure, as I do not run a fuge in my system.

I am actually excited to get to the mad scientist level, It is one of the reasons I like this hobby so much! My chaeto is not tumbling, in fact, I stuck it under some rubble to keep it in place as it keeps getting all stuck in the wier for the sump and slowing the flow through the sump. I would imagine it is still absorbing nitrate and phosphate like it is supposed to even if it's not tumbling?
Maybe someone who knows more about this will weigh in?

 

[Glott3133]

I have a rose bubble tip anemone. I can give you some tips. Since your tank just finished cycling, you should not add an anemone until your tank is matured which takes around 6 to 8 months. Once your tank is matured, cover your power heads with some nylon stocking (pantyhose works too) then you can add an anemone to your tank. The anemone may move a lot during the first few weeks but once it finds a spot, it will stay there and be comfortable. If you want the anemone to grow much faster, then you can feed it a small piece of raw shrimp from a grocery store once or twice a week if you prefer. That’s all I can think at top of my head.

Here’s the pic of my anemone. It’s about 6 inches.

Gernader, you mentioned 6-8 months. I've also heard 4 months. How do you really know when your tank is ready?

 

[Cell]

It's less about the tank and more about the tank owner imo. The quicker you get into a good maintenance routine, the sooner you can keep a nem successfully.

 

[User1]

So since you are getting a lot of good advice on keeping them let me give you a bit of the down side of keeping them. They can become a pest similar to GSP and Xenia. Yes, they can. They do this by splitting. Think of the three dogs night song one is a lonely number. One RBTA or GBTA is lonely, then you have two. Two is a even number so you now have three. Three is sort of like the middle child so you have a fourth. Fourth is sone of these deals that we don't really understand and before you know it Molly, Sally, and Bob joins in on the fun and you now have 7! True story, this happened to me. I peaked at 14 before i started to give some away and now holding steading at 6. There are a few hobbyists that have it worse than I do.

Why this can be a problem? Well, sometimes they move. When they move then have a chance to hit a power head and if we, the hobbyists, didn't protect it it can damage the BTA. This happened to be on a small HOB skimmer. The intake to the pump actually had a cover that I didn't think would pull it in. But alas Molly went on a round about and pulled in a few arms. I disconnected her and she was fine in no time. Had it been a larger power head then it could be worse and I have BTA soup in my tank.

Also when they roam they can sting other corals. Once they find a place they typically do not move which could damage a coral you didn't want. So there is that. Then there is spawning. I've woken up twice now to a very cloudly milky white tank. BTA's can, and do, spawn in our home tanks. One or two get going then three, it can stress the fish and corals. This has happened two me twice and one time my astrea snails joined in and I lost a few fish in the process. So spawning.

If you are still with me after this they are really neat, pretty, and a lot of fun to have. I'm not trying to discourage you by any means. Just wanted to provide another side of owning one. This won't happen over night mind you but as you manage your tank this could happen and it isn't a bad thing. Just how the things work.

Best of luck!

 

[User1]

Gernader, you mentioned 6-8 months. I've also heard 4 months. How do you really know when your tank is ready?

It will vary for each hobbyist. I upgraded recently from a 40 breeder to a 210 gallon. I started my cycle fishless cycle. Used Dr. Tims one and Only and his ammonia doesed to 4 ppm. It was able to process it to 0 after about 14 days. I reset to 4 ppm it was able to process it to 0 in 24 hours at day 28. I let the tank set another month and checked again. 4 ppm ammonia was able to be 0 in less than 24 hours.

So now I migrated my 40 into my 210 but here is the "it varies part". I used 150 lbs of dry Pukani rock. Even though I had a established 40 with very old rock I will be brutally honest with you - the Pukani rock is only now in my matured at 18 months. It has so many nooks, crannies, etc - that it just took a lot of time. While my numbers and merging of tanks went very well, and was fully cycled, I still lost a few corals in the process.

I started a few test corals sps and lps and some worked, some didn't. Those that did are fine but I lost a few even as recent as last month. The common theme here is to go slow, use test frags, one at a time to see how it goes.

I really wish I could give you 1 month, 2, etc. but if you go slow and what no the maturity will come. A lot depends with what you start with. Personally speaking I will never use dry rock again as my base. It is really great, affordable, and some nice options to aquascape but wow, it can take a while to mature. But...

As a hobbyist even we need time to mature and work through our processes and patience cycle

 

[Glott3133]

I absolutely agree with you that going slow and patience is definitely something that is required in this hobby. I tend to want to move quickly, because a week can seem like a month when you are ready for the next phase or purchase. I'm a little more than 4 months in and my tank has finally calmed down from all of ups and downs that everyone experiences. I still want to continue going at a snails pace, as I want to see my corals grow, split, encrust, etc. Problem is, I still want that anemone.

 

[Daniel92481]

I am actually excited to get to the mad scientist level, It is one of the reasons I like this hobby so much! My chaeto is not tumbling, in fact, I stuck it under some rubble to keep it in place as it keeps getting all stuck in the wier for the sump and slowing the flow through the sump. I would imagine it is still absorbing nitrate and phosphate like it is supposed to even if it's not tumbling?
Maybe someone who knows more about this will weigh in?

The only way to know if it is helping reduce your levels is to test. Test until you can predict the results! That is what I recommend.

 

[markysgirl]

Wow!
You guys are so great. This is exactly what I needed.
Some pros, some cons, some super solid advice. I love all of it!
I think I do want to go ahead and try an anemone but only after the tank has matured so I'll wait until this Fall and look for one that catches my eye.
Until then, I'm keeping my once weekly testing and 15% water change schedule.
I am finding that just the act of performing proper maintenance is helping me learn sooooo much!