BTA Issues

[rtbell1771]

I bought a BTA from my LFS 2 weeks ago. As much as I tried, I never got it to attach to where I wanted. So reading different posts in R2R, they seem they have a mind of their own. It did 'let go' a couple of times and I found it stuck to a powerhead, of which I had already had the mesh socks over them so it didn't get chopped up. After about two days of this, it ended up settling in between rocks (in the shadows) in the back of my tank where I cant get a good look at it. When I shine a bright flashlight on it in the mornings, it seems to react to it and it hasn't lost the pretty green color on its tentacles. I just can't tell if its happy or slowly dying. I am not a patient person, but one thing this hobby has taught me is that nothing happens instantly and I'm trying to let it alone to see if it comes around. My water parameter are spot on. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Ltlevil1]

Leave it be. As you have discovered if it isn't happy where it is, it will move. You can cause more damage trying to move one than just letting it be. If you must have it moved, try aiming a powerhead at it before trying to manually pull it off the rocks. Nems are notorious for these antics and part of what makes them interesting.

 

[rtbell1771]

Thank you for the reply. I'll leave it where it is, just makes it difficult to see and assess for issues. Is there anything obvious that I can look for to tell if it is in immediate 'danger', if you will, of dying? I have a QT that I could move it to that is much "quieter" than my DT if absolutely necessary. I am surprised that it prefers being shadowed by the rock vs being in full light. I'm still learning...

 

[New&no clue]

When I first got my BTA it hid for almost a week. I couldn't find it anywhere. Then it finally came out on picked the back of a rock so I couldn't see it at all . As it was my first nem I was constantly worried. I would put a mirror in the tank so I could check on it. I tried to lure it with food to the other side of the rock... finally I just had to give in that it was fine and leave it alone. I was still disappointed that I couldn't see it. Then one day it split and the split moved to the front of the rock, so now I have two, one that I can see.

Things to look for are deflated tentacles for long periods of time. Both mine with shrink up and night, but once the lights start coming back on they inflate back up. Open mouths, foot dislodged.

 

[rtbell1771]

Yours looks awesome. Thanks, I am worried, but the more I hear from more experienced people, the better I feel about it. Mine right now is just a little guy and yeah it's retracted - almost a ball at night, but it seems to open up during the day, it just doesn't want to get in direct light, I guess that's ok, it hasn't moved.

 

[Ltlevil1]

It's not uncommon to see RBTA"s hanging from the bottom of overhangs and caves. Just remember a little meaty food a couple times a week really helps and to me is a requirement. Two or three small pieces or a few mysis are better than one bigger piece. Even as it grows adding smaller pieces is better than bigger. If ever after feeding you see brown jelly like material coming out of the mouth chances are you fed it a piece that it could fit in its mouth but was to big to digest. Also make sure your power heads are covered now especially. You probably know that but during the first couple of weeks is when they will generally do the most moving. Although I had a purple LTA that I used to call traveler. He would change locations from when I went to bed to when I woke up to when I would come home. Also keep that in mind when placing new frags and make sure they are secured. If you keep them fed, your water parameters fairly stable (temp/salinity), dont tear their foot pulling them off a rock and keep them out of the power heads you should be fine.

 

[PicassoClown04]

They will find a happy place just give them time. You can try turning your lights down slightly so he doesn’t feel burned by the light. Then slowly turn them back up. Kind of like acclimating frags to the light by slowly moving them up the aquascape or by moving the frag rack up. I did this and now my nems are very happy and visible from all angles. Here’s mine (the large one is in a peninsula, the smaller two are in a lagoon). The Black Widow took 3 months to settle while the RBTAs only took a week. Give it some time and it will get happy

 

[mike550]

Just give it time. My BTA seems to go on a walkabout every month or so. It’s frustrating but the BTA always ends up someplace interesting. Sometimes it picks our great spots where it can be seen.

Only thing I’ve been able to do is change the water flow (move a return nozzle) to see if it will move or feed it less if it’s not in a “preferred” spot. Otherwise it basically does what it wants.

 

[rtbell1771]

I really appreciate all the tips. @footgal those are some seriously pretty nems! I'll just stay patient and will send an update if I actually get to see my BTA move and really get happy.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I really appreciate all the tips. @footgal those are some seriously pretty nems! I'll just stay patient and will send an update if I actually get to see my BTA move and really get happy.

Thank you! The trick to the bubbling is feeding every day. I use small chunks of frozen food that’d get wasted because my fish are too small to eat the minced scallop pieces. The nems just love em, I’m getting massive splits as well as the incredible bubbling.