Bta help

IForgotpants · Aug 1, 2019

So this anemone had been doing well up until 3 days ago it's been in the tank for about 2 weeks. It started moving Monday and finally stopped and laid down not sure why but its concerning me so thought I'd ask... ps it's been 6+ years since my last reef so maybe I'm paranoid.

LesPoissons · Aug 1, 2019

Looks like it's looking for the right place to be. They move all around the tank. Some settle for years in one spot, some are walkers. Give it some more time. If it doesnt seem to be settled/happy in a week, change your flow or lighting around. If its hanging in dark spots, dim the tank for a week to see if that helps and increase slowly..

Cell · Aug 2, 2019

Is that an LTA or BTA and does the bottom of its foot look torn? I see some white stuff down there but it's hard to tell.

IForgotpants · Aug 2, 2019

Its bta for sure it looked much better the first week. It may have a tear in the foot but not one large enough for me to notice when looking at it. Cant see the foot at all at this point. I did add a powerhead to try and give the tank a little more water flow.

Cell · Aug 2, 2019

Generally speaking, anemones wander. However, BTA's typically walk around, not lay on it's side and float around the tank which is kind of what the nem in the pic looks like it is doing. LTA's will definitely float around the tank when they aren't properly dug into sand which is why I was wondering if maybe it was an LTA. More pics would definitely help.

mollies123 · Aug 2, 2019

its pretty pale

Paleozoic_reefer · Aug 2, 2019

You might consider feeding it a bit it's looks pretty bleached out and make sure it has the right amount of lighting...

damselindistress · Aug 2, 2019

What was the color like when you bought it? To me it looks bleached which can be quite challenging to recover from but it can be done. What's your flow like, how old is the tank, what lights are you using?

IForgotpants · Aug 2, 2019

The tank is about 7 months old maybe little older. I have been worried I've been hitting it with too much light and not enough flow so I added another powerhead earlier. Turned the lights down to around half of what I normally run them at. As far as feeding it it has not been holding onto any of the food I've dropped into it. I feed the tank nano reef frenzy every 3 days and add a little microvert. It was white when I got it but seemed healthy my lfs takes pretty good care of there tanks. All I can think is I hurt it somehow when placing it or burned it with my lights which I didnt think were that powerful. It's a 15w led light made by gako but it is bright I'll give it that.

LesPoissons · Aug 3, 2019

Was it that color when you bought it? It looks like its lost all its algae.

laverda · Aug 3, 2019

Your anemone is extremely bleached. To be honest you should not buy anemones that look anywhere near that bad. If you can return it for a refund I would do so. The store should not have sold it to you looking like it did. I seriously doubt too much light is the problem. It is pretty hard to give a BTA too much light! If too much light was the problem, the anemone would just retract under the rocks. Lack of light at the LFS is probably what caused to to get so bleached. The fact it is free floating tells me it is very unhappy for some reason. Flow could be part of it, but I doubt it is the real issue. It is going to take a long time to recover if it does survive.

What are your tank parameters? I do not understand why people ask for help and do not give this information up front! Temp, ALK, Ca, mag, ammonia, Po4, nitrate and tank size and lighting are the min needed to try to help figure out the issue.

xjiang7 · Aug 3, 2019

Never buy BTA from a LFS putting them under insufficient lighting. This means both intensity and spectrum. My LFS put them under an under powered LED strip light and they just waste away. I have brought one thinking I can revive it but it just gets paler and eventually died (might just because I did not put in enough effort). It is extremely hard to bring it back once it is bleached out like this.

laverda · Aug 3, 2019

xjiang7 said:
Never buy BTA from a LFS putting them under insufficient lighting. This means both intensity and spectrum. My LFS put them under an under powered LED strip light and they just waste away. I have brought one thinking I can revive it but it just gets paler and eventually died (might just because I did not put in enough effort). It is extremely hard to bring it back once it is bleached out like this.

I agree 100%

IForgotpants · Aug 27, 2019

Well besides getting a little flamed on here for my lack of knowledge I really appreciate the advice guys. I'm now aware that it was unhealthy to begin with. It has made a great recovery in my tank and turns out it is a green bta not pink like I was told. It was badly bleached out and after several weeks of being in a good environment it has gotten a lot of its color back. I do not blame my lfs it was my fault for purchasing it in this state but its been 10 years since I was in the salt hobby and I'm a little behind in the knowledge department. Here is an updated photo. Ozzy the clown is a camera hog.