BTA - second attempt, looking for help/answers

[D3DPrintedThingz]

So over the weekend I introduce to the tank a RBTA. It lasted the day and I woke up to a shredded RBTA, little pink neon pieces all over the tank I luckily had a fresh bag of carbon going, in anticipation of new residents wanted to make sure the water was tip top shape. It was doing fine when introduced, attached to a rock facing the back of the tank.. and I moved the rock to face the front of the tank. That was my first mistake, I wanted to see the nem so I moved the rock it was attached to. Wish I could go back and just let it do it's thing.

It's a 75g, and I am running two 48" orphek OR3 bars, UV/Violet and Blue Plus. There is no "white" light in my set up, and I am wondering if this is partially the issue. I do have an 48" OR3 reef day + coming, so I will have 3 bars, violet, blue, and reef day +

The nice gentleman who sold me the RBTA has confirmed with me that I will be able to give it another shot as he does have multiple, just need to make the drive once the new light arrives to pick up #2 nem. Need some time to let the hurt go away.. lol.

1) Is this enough light to support RBTA? I have a condy anemone that is thriving on the sand bed, hasn't tried moving since putting it in the tank so it's getting ample light at the sand bed. I can't imagine what would have caused it to want to move, other than a lack of PAR.

2) What can I do to keep from repeating the same outcome? I have a Jebao gyre-shaped powerhead, and a big bulky powerhead. They don't sell covers for these heads directly, will have to DIY something for them. They seem difficult to put covers on, but that is obviously what did the little guy in.

How do people keep anemones successfully, and also have powerheads in their tank?

This was the first time I have experienced true heart break in the hobby. I mean literally I think my heart broke. The pieces of the anemone in the tank are constant reminders of my lack of knowledge and understanding of these inverts, and I really hope I can successfully keep RBTA in my tank in the future.

 

[gbru316]

I can't imagine what would have caused it to want to move, other than a lack of PAR.

Improper flow will do it, too.

You might consider making some powerhead cages out of zip-ties and egg crate light panels. At least until the nem chooses a spot.

 

[Jekyl]

Nems getting into powerheads isn't a common thing. Usually happens when the nem is unhappy. Lighting doesn't seems to be an issue here. What are your parameters? Tank age?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Unfortunately, you had to learn the hard lesson Fast and the person who sold you the anenome is partly to blame. Besides the carbon, you should also do a large % water change. You don't want all of that decaying anenome matter to foul your water more.

Any tank with anenomes from BTA to Carpets must be ready for the anenome. By that I mean all danger points like powerheads need to be anenome proofed.

I bought plastic mesh on Amazon to wrap my gyres with. Fishing line or zip ties work well to attach it.

1) anenomes move. You could put it in the perfect place and it'll still likely take a stroll around the tank. You must be prepared for that.

2) protect your pumps and powerheads, weep holes and the like. My nems can and do walk over the powerheads without injury.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Nems getting into powerheads isn't a common thing. Usually happens when the nem is unhappy. Lighting doesn't seems to be an issue here. What are your parameters? Tank age?

I'll take the other side of this.

New anenomes getting into unprotected powerheads is Way more prevalent than it should be. Just like having a tight fitting lid on your tank, it's not really an if, but a when. Any change from flow to lighting can cause one or more established nems to move. We care the caretakers, it's our job to keep them safe while they do what they Naturally do.

 

[Cell]

Nems getting into powerheads isn't a common thing. Usually happens when the nem is unhappy. Lighting doesn't seems to be an issue here. What are your parameters? Tank age?

Not entirely uncommon either. In this case, it was a new addition. When adding a new bta, it will often walk around for a bit until it settles in.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Tank is right at the 6 month mark. I know there are recommendations to wait a year, but I got impatient. Very bad in this hobby.

Can't put any blame on the person I purchased nem from, we had some back and forth on what to expect, how to introduce, etc. I thought the guards on my pumps were sufficient, but I learned that they are indeed not.

Nitrate at roughly 10 PPM, temp at 80, salinity at 1.0245

Flow is a jebao gyre, running full tilt on the wave setting, and a second powerhead (300ish gph) in the back corner aimed at the overflow box to increase the rate of exit.

I like the egg crate and zip tie idea - I have found about 724 uses for zip ties since starting this hobby, and have the contractor pack.

"Flow" is such a relative term, especially since there is no way to actually measure it. I think my tank has relatively high flow, as there are no dead spots and when I feed the tank mysis, the shrimp are tossed around 360 degrees all over the place.

 

[gbru316]

"Flow" is such a relative term, especially since there is no way to actually measure it. I think my tank has relatively high flow, as there are no dead spots and when I feed the tank mysis, the shrimp are tossed around 360 degrees all over the place.

Oh, for sure. I didn't mean empirically improper -- I meant unsatisfactory to that anemone in the particular spot you wanted it. Poor choice of words on my part.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

No problem, I just am trying to get to the bottom of this. I am definitely willing to add another Jebao pump if that is the consensus, really happy with the product

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Is there evidence in the powerhead that it actually got stuck in that and shredded? When you say shredded did it look like it got blended up or did it look like it was disintegrating/melting? I have never seen what it looks like when a nem gets sucked up into a powerhead but I would just be sure that this was the problem and not something else. All you found was little piece of tentacles there were no larger chunks? If the powerhead was the problem then the fix is much easier but if your nem melted overnight then the problem is a lot more complicated. Just my two cents.

 

[Cell]

Check Ebay for Jebao nem guards, I found some SLW nem guards awhile back.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Tank is right at the 6 month mark. I know there are recommendations to wait a year, but I got impatient. Very bad in this hobby.

Can't put any blame on the person I purchased nem from, we had some back and forth on what to expect, how to introduce, etc. I thought the guards on my pumps were sufficient, but I learned that they are indeed not.

Nitrate at roughly 10 PPM, temp at 80, salinity at 1.0245

Flow is a jebao gyre, running full tilt on the wave setting, and a second powerhead (300ish gph) in the back corner aimed at the overflow box to increase the rate of exit.

I like the egg crate and zip tie idea - I have found about 724 uses for zip ties since starting this hobby, and have the contractor pack.

"Flow" is such a relative term, especially since there is no way to actually measure it. I think my tank has relatively high flow, as there are no dead spots and when I feed the tank mysis, the shrimp are tossed around 360 degrees all over the place.

An egg crate "cage" would have be be larger enough that the nem can't touch the powerhead through it. BTA's could walk right through a 1/2" x 1/2" egg crate if it wanted to.

A guard closer to the pump that actually keeps the tenticals and body Clear and Safe would be my recommendation.

This material works very well for a variety of pump designs.

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Check Ebay for Jebao nem guards, I found some SLW nem guards awhile back.

What model powerheads do you have? If you can't find any manufactured nem guards you can always check the 3D printing forum on the marketplace here. If you don't find any but find a design somewhere send me a PM and I might be able to print it for you.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

What model powerheads do you have? If you can't find any manufactured nem guards you can always check the 3D printing forum on the marketplace here. If you don't find any but find a design somewhere send me a PM and I might be able to print it for you.

It is Jebao SPC-90 cross flow pump, and the second pump looks similar to this:

Is there evidence in the powerhead that it actually got stuck in that and shredded? When you say shredded did it look like it got blended up or did it look like it was disintegrating/melting? I have never seen what it looks like when a nem gets sucked up into a powerhead but I would just be sure that this was the problem and not something else. All you found was little piece of tentacles there were no larger chunks? If the powerhead was the problem then the fix is much easier but if your nem melted overnight then the problem is a lot more complicated. Just my two cents.

About 99% sure it was shredded, there were white pieces of what I assume the foot in the mesh of the powerhead and the pieces were spread out far enough that they would have had to have been sent through the DT from the power heads movement. I also left a small piece of the foot on the sand bed, in hopes that it may reattach and start growing. Very low expectation, but with over 100g and a fresh bag of carbon, nothing else has really shown any signs of stress from the anemone being shredded.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

An egg crate "cage" would have be be larger enough that the nem can't touch the powerhead through it. BTA's could walk right through a 1/2" x 1/2" egg crate if it wanted to.

A guard closer to the pump that actually keeps the tenticals and body Clear and Safe would be my recommendation.

This material works very well for a variety of pump designs.

Thinking I'll purchase these and bend them around the pump and then zip tie them closed.

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Thinking I'll purchase these and bend them around the pump and then zip tie them closed.

Yeah looks like @Lost in the Sauce has a similar jebao pump, he is probably best for how to rig something up for it. Looks like he looked for a guard last year but didn't find anything and just made his own. Good luck! Hope your next attempt goes well!

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Just asking out of curiosity, I thought anemones did not like flow and move away to a more subtle area.
do they actually move towards a powerhead? (I got a new powerhead today, so also looking at covers) also where was placement of powerhead?

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

This place is wonderful, thank you all for the recommendations. Will report back when the guards are up and the new nem is thriving.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Just asking out of curiosity, I thought anemones did not like flow and move away to a more subtle area.
do they actually move towards a powerhead? (I got a new powerhead today, so also looking at covers) also where was placement of powerhead?

When I went to bed the jebao was at 30%, and it was sucked into the roughly 300 gph pump I have aimed at the overflow, on the opposite side of the tank. The nem was in front left corner, and the suspect powerhead is in the back right corner. The Jebao was directly above the nem on the right side of the tank, centered on that wall.

 

[ReefLife_Guy]

Just asking out of curiosity, I thought anemones did not like flow and move away to a more subtle area.
do they actually move towards a powerhead? (I got a new powerhead today, so also looking at covers) also where was placement of powerhead?

I think the recommendation is "moderate" flow which is subjective of course, but I think direct flow and no flow are the two that really annoy anemones (at least mine anyways). I think a good rule of thumb is gently swaying from indirect flow. I like to look at other videos of other people's tanks and see how their nems move with their powerhead settings and try to emulate that (like the video below, most of the videos of nems I see in others tanks have about this much flow or a little less even). As far as why they go into the powerheads, I'm not sure if that is them seeking more flow, less flow (since generally next to and behind the powerhead is the least amount of flow), they just release from the rock and get sucked up into the powerhead, or some are just suicidal.

Build Thread - Finding Sauce (a lot of tanks in a little time) RSR 250 Nem tank

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