Help me save my BTA

[schadiest1]

first off, I know now not to buy an anemone cuz of our lack of knowlegdge on them.
anemone was very healty for 4+ months eating well and had a clarkii living in it. several weeks ago it receeded under a rock receiving no light (260 watts PC on 40 gallon tank) and has shrunk down considerably. Still eating well and clarkii still living with it. Tank specs are perfect, 0 amon./0 nitrites/5nitrates/420 ca./alk 10/0 phosphates. tank is well established, 1 year and a half now. 60 + lbs of LR, 40+ lbs of LS, HOB refugium.
is this starvation? should I feed everyday to bring him back?
I am thinking of trying selcon to add more to it's diet.
let me know what you think.

 

[thegrog]

What are you feeding it?
Soaking foods with Selcon or VitaChem is a good idea for added nutrients anyway.
Has your current in the tank changed in any way? Clean your pumps and powerheads out as something may be clogging one up partially.
How old are your bulbs? If they are over a year, then time to change them out.
Other than that, I don't know what is going on. May be just the anemone being strange. My RBTA has had little cycles of doing what you are describing, and it is doing fine.
Keep a close eye on it.

 

[schadiest1]

feeding krill right now. every other day (small portions).
tank current hasn't changed, PH's get cleaned every 2 weeks.
bulbs are under a year old, about 7 months now.

 

[symon]

I have been told the bulbs loose thier paticular spectrum with time, most say every 6 months to change them out, that's what i would do if nothing else has changed, it must be the bulbs?!
And here is a question, is there a way to test your bulbs?

 

[schadiest1]

how could it be the bulbs? the anemone receeded under rocks, out of the light. during my research, i read that anemones may hide under rocks to get out of the light cuz it's too much for them.
my first guess on the issue is starvation.

 

[sw-newbe]

I'm really new at this but my BTA loves Silversides and grabs Mysis whenever I feed the tank

 

[thegrog]

No real way to test the bulbs short of having a light spectrometer handy.....not something you can pick up at your local hardware store either. (major $$)
Over time, the bulbs loose their intensity. They still look bright, but their spectum output is diminished. Most MH bulbs last around a year, not 6 months.
You are right in that if it really was the bulbs, it would be reaching for light, not hiding from it. As for hiding from too much light, unless you changed something recently, I don't think this is the case.
I still think that there is nothing really wrong and that it is just going thorugh a phase.
Try varying the feeding. Get it some silversides or, what I use, Formula One. Shave the frozen cubes to 1/8" thick slices and feed one or two of those to him twice a week. Every other day feeding is almost too much given adequate lighting.
Watch him and report back any changes.

 

[schadiest1]

i'll try the formula 1. none of our LFS carry silversides, trust me, i've looked!
any more info will help, and I'll keep ya updated on the situation.
thanks so far for the inputs.

 

[schadiest1]

I finally found some silversides in my area. Also got some selcon.
Hope this is the right comination to help it perk back up.