rbta anemone question.

[akinda]

my rbta deflates once a day. he looks like hes almost goin to die but then amazes me and come back to life. my clownfsh hates it he bites at it and try to wiggle in its mouth. but every time it reinflates it seems like it gets bigger or more tentacles. so my question is is this normal if not any one know why. any info would help plz.

 

[viper_930]

When it deflates it is probably taking a dump. Ewww. Is there brown stuff coming out of its mouth?

 

[akinda]

not that i can see he hasnt eaten in about 5 days now but hes doin fine. its right about when i turn the lights on a little after.

 

[etd5862]

I have a RBTA and it, too, deflates at night. I have been tracking its cycle and it is definitely related to the light cycle. The anemone's disk is about 4" across plus during the day and will begin deflating shortly after the lights go out (to approx 1-1/2 inches--the same width as the foot). The anemone will re-inflate and be happy within 2 hours of the lights going on.
The anemone has only been in my tank 5 weeks (4 1/2 year old system) so its a little early to claim complete success. So far he has not budged from where I initially placed him near the sandbed in an alcove of LR. He eats well (spot feeding 2x per week and grabbing zooplankton floating by from the fish feeding). I have no clownfish as yet. His color remains good. The only change from when I got him is that his tentacles have lost their bulb shape and have become long and winding, which I understand is normal for BTA with no clownfish and also ones in lower light situations (I have PC, not MH)
How long have you had your BTA and what is its environment like? Hope this helps.

 

[akinda]

same about 5 weeks and his tips are long not bubble but i have 2 clownfish 1 hosts and the other one trys but the bigger aggresive chases him away. he hasnt eaten latly but he was and its usually when i turn on my lights he deflates. hes fine all night long. i have 260 watts of pc lighting and he hasnt moves much he went and moved to the glass and deflated one time but i moved him back cause he was goin to fall.

 

[etd5862]

I have a couple of thoughts for you. If your lights come on all at once, it is possible it's reacting to the sudden change in the lighting. If you have dual controls on your fixture, set one to come on 1-2 hours earlier than the other so that there won't be as abrupt a change. If you can't do that, get an old 20 watt fluorescent strip like what normally comes with the 55 and perch it somewhere on the top/back of your system and set it to come on for the dawn/dusk effect.
If it deflates only during the day for the full day, it may be reacting to the clown you have. If its really aggressive and your anemone is weakened from acclimation, maybe it can't handle the clown at this time and you could try removing the clown temporarily to see if it makes a difference.
If the anemone deflates initially but reinflates for the bulk of the day, I really wouldn't worry about it too much, but change your light timing if you thinks its an issue.
One last idea, if you got your anemone at a lfs in the Denver area when they were on sale over Memorial Day, you could go back and chat whith one of the employees as he has had a RBTA for over a year that has split 4 times. He keeps his under pc lights too and may have other ideas.
Good luck.

 

[akinda]

no i bought mine in chambersburg pa for 60 dollars. the first couple of days it didnt deflate but it also got bubbletips on it also. he was almost dead when i bought him he was under no flouresent. but thnx for the info. also my clown if a gsm and seems to be aggressive towards it only when it deflates