Sick BTA?

bexleyfish

bexleyfish

Member
Here is a pic of my GBTA. I am just curious if the white color on the base where the tips come off is bad. It stays open almost all the time, water params are fine, i have a 65W 50/50 PC but i dont think its the lighting other wise it would move from the bottom of the rock
. Oh ya also, when i feed it the silver sides it grabs them right away and puts them in its mouth, then the next day i find them out on the floor like they havent been touched, maybe thats it? IDK please give input
 
tangwhispr

tangwhispr

Member
It looks really bleached to me...you need to either upgrade lighting or give it to someone with the proper hardware to support it.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
Originally Posted by TangWhispr
It looks really bleached to me...you need to either upgrade lighting or give it to someone with the proper hardware to support it.
does look bleached to me too. are you sure youre feeding it very small pieces?
 
bexleyfish

bexleyfish

Member
The LFS said the lighting is fine so I jus wonder if I shoud flip the rock to help it out. Plus my clown has grown very fond of it
 
jimmy 4

jimmy 4

Member
I wouldnt flip the rock. if it wants light it will move itself. Try feeding it smaller food. The lighting you have seems a little too low imo. I bought a bleached anemone and it took it about a month to come out from under the rock.
here are a few pics of its progression. I have a 30 long with 96watt 50/50 cf bulb.
soon after i bought it:

A while later:

it slowly unbleached then i sold it because i didnt think my lighting was good enough, and i already had a very large anemone in my tank that was stinging it.
What size tank do you have?
 
rod buehle

rod buehle

Member
Originally Posted by BexleyFish
Here is a pic of my GBTA. I am just curious if the white color on the base where the tips come off is bad. It stays open almost all the time, water params are fine, i have a 65W 50/50 PC but i dont think its the lighting other wise it would move from the bottom of the rock
. Oh ya also, when i feed it the silver sides it grabs them right away and puts them in its mouth, then the next day i find them out on the floor like they havent been touched, maybe thats it? IDK please give input

That anemone is starving. feed it small pieces of shrimp or mysis shrimp, scallop, etc, but be sure that the pieces are small. An anemone will use more energy than it will gain while trying to digest large pieces of food. There digestive system isnt the best some they need small pieces. A healthier anemone can handle larger pieces on occasion (if you want to show your friends how they eat), but they get the most nutrition from small pieces.
 
dawman

dawman

Active Member
Originally Posted by BexleyFish
BTW, its a 35g. But i Keep zoo and xenia coral fine, so idk

65 watt fixture in that size tank is not enough light and is one reason why it is bleaching . Second is what Rod was mentioning about feeding it .
You can not always trust a LFS as some don`t care/don`t know and just want your money .
 
bexleyfish

bexleyfish

Member
How different is the lighting need for a condy? Also I compleatly trust my LFS... they have steered me away from so many bad buys. I will try feeding it small food and if its still not working I will take it back (im sure they will refund me)
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Condys although are light dependant can go along time with none and still maintain their color. They can be found in deep water but the difference is when they need the light they can move to get it. I agree with the above, although BTA's require the least amount of light than most anenomes when they need it, it should be there and in a wattage capable of sustaining photosynthis for them. 65 watts in a 35 gal is too low even for a BTA I have one under 72 watts in a 29 bio cube and IMO I am right on the edge.
Just another suggestion if you are looking for a nice easy food for your bta to eat I sometimes give mine a half a cube of Formula 1. It loves it and if I didnt know any better it seems to prefer it to silver sides.
 
dawman

dawman

Active Member
Originally Posted by BexleyFish
How different is the lighting need for a condy?
Condy anemones require med-high lighting as do BTAs , which you do not have . You have low lighting and while your corals might be living but will not thrive .Hosting anemones can be harder to keep than most corals as they need pristine water , med to high light , proper flow , and need to be fed acceptable foods . You have what is considered low lighting.
 
tangwhispr

tangwhispr

Member
Originally Posted by BexleyFish
The LFS said the lighting is fine so I jus wonder if I shoud flip the rock to help it out. Plus my clown has grown very fond of it

Then what are you asking here for, obviously your LFS must be right. If you want it to die, keep it under that PC, if you want it to live, get T5's, VHO, or MH, and feed it. Listen to Rod, he is the expert in this field, not to mention damn good looking!
 
dawman

dawman

Active Member
Originally Posted by TangWhispr
Then what are you asking here for, obviously your LFS must be right. If you want it to die, keep it under that PC, if you want it to live, get T5's, VHO, or MH, and feed it. Listen to Rod, he is the expert in this field, not to mention damn good looking!

You don`t need T-5 or MH to keep a BTA healthy . BexleyFish barely has lighting more than standard lighting . Just needs the proper amount . T-5 won`t do any good if you don`t have enough . BTAs tend to shy away from MH as it can be too much for them . The whole "need T-5 & MH" is a very common misconception on this forum .
 
bexleyfish

bexleyfish

Member
Also, if I dont really want to upgrade my lights, could I buy one of those underwater directional lights to piont directly at the BTA? idk if they make those very strong
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
The wattage of bulbs you use is as important as the type.. 10K daylight with actinics is necessary IMO, in a wattage capable of reaching all of your inhabitants. Actinic lights serve more of a purpose than just making things look pretty. Actinic light promotes the growth of Zoaxanthellae algae, essential for the growth and well-being of all photosynthetic corals and invertebrates. The natural habitats of many common reef aquarium organisms have a bluer light spectrum hence the need for actinic bulbs. As far as what you can do to upgrade. The eaisest way is to get the correct bulbs for your tank in PC's. To determine the wattage you will need your tank size is important but the critical dimension is depth.
The ratios given range from 1.5 Watts/gallon to 6 Watts/gallon. However, since a light's intensity is dramatically decreased with distance, a tank that is deeper needs more light than a relatively shallow tank holding the same number of gallons of water. According to the Inverse Square Law, The intensity of light falling upon an object decreases in proportion to the square of the distance between the object and the light source. So doubling the distance between the lamps and the organisms will result in a need for four times as many lamps for the organisms to grow at the same rate. IMO Hope this helps.
 
tangwhispr

tangwhispr

Member
Originally Posted by Dawman
You don`t need T-5 or MH to keep a BTA healthy . BexleyFish barely has lighting more than standard lighting . Just needs the proper amount . T-5 won`t do any good if you don`t have enough . BTAs tend to shy away from MH as it can be too much for them . The whole "need T-5 & MH" is a very common misconception on this forum .
Please don't give out information that is not correct, you're only hurting the original poster. These need moderate to strong lighting. Right here on SWF.com it says "Meaty Foods and Strong Lighting" I have seen your other posts, you also seem to think frogspawn hosting clowns is ok. Please do yourself and everyone on these forums a favor and don't post until you do some research.
 
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