Bleached Bubble Tip anemone
- Thread starter Bjohn
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GratefulReef
Active Member
For the most part a light is their main supply of nutrients. A good strong light will help, as will target feedings. Is the nem sticky, is it wandering alot?
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Bjohn
Active Member
I haven't tested for stickiness. I will check after lights on tomorrow. Also, it did wander for the first half an hour, but it has stuck halfway into a crevice in the rock and seems to like it there
GratefulReef
Active Member
Usually if they are still sticky and holding in a spot for the most part they arent so far gone yet. I had issues with a couple nems in the past, a sebae and a condy. I now have a RBTA and it is happy as could be, and my clarkii clown loves hosting the bta. Do you have a hosting clown? Its not needed but I have heard having a clown host it helps it along. What size tank and what lights are you running with the bta? Also, how are your water params from your most recent test?
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Bjohn
Active Member
ok I have two false perc's, and its a 37 tank. I just have lights from petsmart (not the best) so I have NO clue about stats on the lights. However they are LED's, and everything in the tank is fine with them. I will get param's to you soon
GratefulReef
Active Member
I would bet your lights might not be enough, btas I believe rely mostly on photosynthesis for their "food" source. Not that they require heavy lighting but you want a good spectrum, if you can track down the brand and wattage that would help a bunch. Any progress on the nem so far?
GratefulReef
Active Member
Thats good, at least hes happy with the flow and such. Any luck tracking down a brand on the lights?
GratefulReef
Active Member
Top Fin® LED Bubble Wand - Lighting & Hoods - Fish - PetSmart ? Is that the light youre using? If so I would def look into upgrading that soon, if youre correct about 6 watts youre going to be way under I believe the rule of thumb for reef tanks is 2.5-3w/gal.
I think you might have problems with these lights. You may need to upgrade. Anemones will move to where they are happy. But they need the proper lighting or they will not survive. Why did yo buy a bleached coral?
GratefulReef
Active Member
Nice! Those should do you good, I'm not too knowledgeable on LEDs I really like t5s myself. Hopefully the nem will make it, keep us updated on your progress
mayday610
Active Member
The main thing you want to do to attempt to recover this BTA is to keep target feeding it. With a lack of zooxanthellae, just providing it with light is not going to cut it. You can have the perfect lighting, but without a proper amount of zooxanthellae to utilize it and provide nutrients for the BTA, its not much help. Your best bet is to keep it target fed, and with the hope that it still holds some zooxanthellae, you can sustain it long enough for the populations to grow within its tissue. Another thing you can try is to purchase another BTA, if you don't have another already, that is healthy and well colored. Theory here is that the healthy BTA will expel zooxanthellae into the water as it regulates itself and your bleached BTA will be able to recover some for itself. Just pointing out, i'm not saying that you do or do not need to change your lighting, just saying that doing so most likely isn't going to save your BTA. Also be weary, that zooxanthellae act like a sun screen as they absorb light for photosynthesis, and not having any, intense lighting can surely harm your BTA. If its happy, obviously leave it be, and don't try to force lighting over it. Just my opinion 
GratefulReef
Active Member
Target feedings will def help, but lets think about algae and how it grows. Without proper lighting, the algae wont grow and I'd be willing to bet my tank on it that those LEDs wont make that happen. I'll agree target feeding may help it survive a little longer, but IMO lighting is the main issue right now many people never feed their rbtas and have beautiful specimens. There is a sticky thread in this forum listing all types of nems and some info on them, check that out. RBTA require moderate to strong lighting, as do most nems that I know of.
mayday610
Active Member
While you have a valid point here, this isn't your typical BTA. Its lost its zooxanthellae. If it was healthy and had all its zoox, then sure you could get away without target feeding it. But we have to look at the issue on hand. And i'd also bet all my tanks that i could get algae to grow under a flashlight.
Target feeding every other day sounds good.
Trex
Valuable Member
A picture would be very helpful -- would be nice to know how bleached it is, and if it has started to consume itself for energy/food.
The lights need to be upgraded -- ASAP.
When you do get new lights, you are going to need to acclimate it to the lights -- I prefer 3 layers of window screening (( supported by egg crate )) with removing a layer every 5-7 days.
But, there are other important things to do in the meantime.
What are your current water parameters -- with number please "good" "the LFS says good", etc doesn't tell me anything. Include the salinity/SG, and how you measure that.
Going to need to feed it -- small pieces are better than large pieces -- if you get a waste ball, the pieces are too large. Remember, the larger the piece, the more energy it takes to digest it, your anemone doesn't have a tough to spare. Plus, not all large piece are fully digested and can be an issue.
I would use some PE Mysis for now, and later move on to some frozen/thawed krill. Personally, I would stay away from silversides, myself and other experienced anemone keepers have lost healthy anemones after using them.
The lights need to be upgraded -- ASAP.
When you do get new lights, you are going to need to acclimate it to the lights -- I prefer 3 layers of window screening (( supported by egg crate )) with removing a layer every 5-7 days.
But, there are other important things to do in the meantime.
What are your current water parameters -- with number please "good" "the LFS says good", etc doesn't tell me anything. Include the salinity/SG, and how you measure that.
Going to need to feed it -- small pieces are better than large pieces -- if you get a waste ball, the pieces are too large. Remember, the larger the piece, the more energy it takes to digest it, your anemone doesn't have a tough to spare. Plus, not all large piece are fully digested and can be an issue.
I would use some PE Mysis for now, and later move on to some frozen/thawed krill. Personally, I would stay away from silversides, myself and other experienced anemone keepers have lost healthy anemones after using them.
GratefulReef
Active Member
While you have a valid point here, this isn't your typical BTA. Its lost its zooxanthellae. If it was healthy and had all its zoox, then sure you could get away without target feeding it. But we have to look at the issue on hand. And i'd also bet all my tanks that i could get algae to grow under a flashlight.
Target feeding every other day sounds good.
Im not trying to argue with you about what can and cant grow algae, but that flashlight wont grow the proper kind of algae for the nem hands down and if it does, at all it would be much too slow. Algae doesnt grow from feedings, so feeding it will only temporarily solve the problem where lighting will be a more permanent solution. I never said feeding wont help, but please lets make sure Bjohn gets good sound advice and telling him not to worry about upgrading the light, when clearly 12w is nowhere near enough for his tank. 12w might cut it for a bta in a nano tank so thats something to consider, possible downsize of tank. If youre set though on having a bigger tank, a bigger light is a 100% must. People seriously have btas that are never target fed, not once ever and they are beautiful so please explain to me how that happens?
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