BTA tentacles

[KelBell3113]

Hello, I was wondering when/if my bta will get tentacles like other btas? Yes I know he's bleached. I was not aware that they're not supposed to be white when I bought him. I've chosen to keep him and try to revive him. It has good days and bad. Under close inspection it looks like he may be a green bta because he has a tiny bit of yellowish green color in a few spots. I've tried googling bta juveniles but couldn't find any images (not sure if he's a juvenile).

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

That is in rough shape. it's consuming it's tentacles. can you feed it?

 

[KelBell3113]

I feed it bits of brine shrimp every other day. It eats a little bit of it. I'm thinking of getting some selcon to soak the shrimp in. Would that help? He looks better now than it did when I first got him 3 weeks ago. He definitely has moments where I think this is it he's gonna die, especially when he falls off the rock face first but I flip him back over and he reattaches. It's usually the morning after he's been fed but by the afternoon he's fluffed back up. He no longer hides from my lighting like he did for the first 2 weeks. I'm hoping with time, good care and patience that he'll recover. I didn't want to return him to my LFS because they sold him to me and I'm sure in their care he would've already perished by now. I had 2 peppermint shrimp that were picking at him so I removed them from the tank. They bullied everything in my tank.

 

[steve&mari]

That is in rough shape. it's consuming it's tentacles. can you feed it?

Yep it's a hard battle back if it does make it. If you can't feed it then there's not much more I know of to help it now. They shouldn't have sold it very poor business and lack of responsibility for the animals or customers. Best of luck with it hopefully it works out for the best.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Agreed. keep trying to feed it and that's all you can do. selcon won't help. if it starts to fall apart, take it out asap. I have had them recover from the brink of death but I have controlled anemone systems as my disposal.

Yep it's a hard battle back if it does make it. If you can't feed it then there's not much more I know of to help it now. They shouldn't have sold it very poor business and lack of responsibility for the animals or customers. Best of luck with it hopefully it works out for the best.

 

[KelBell3113]

Thank you. I'm determined to do everything I can for it until it comes back or its beyond help. It does eat even if it's only a little at a time. I'll never buy anything else from my local Petco. I was not impressed when I figured out they aren't supposed to be white.

 

[KelBell3113]

If I got a clownfish to add to my tank and it decided to host my bta would it put too much stress on the bta? I've held off because I don't want to stress it out anymore than it already is.

 

[dbl]

If I got a clownfish to add to my tank and it decided to host my bta would it put too much stress on the bta? I've held off because I don't want to stress it out anymore than it already is.

I wouldn't recommend adding a clown at this time, just in case it wants to try and use the BTA as its host. It will quite possibly love it to death! Keep feeding and see if you can get it back to good health, then contemplate adding the clown(s).

 

[KelBell3113]

Ok that's what I figured. Thank you.

 

[KelBell3113]

Agreed. keep trying to feed it and that's all you can do. selcon won't help. if it starts to fall apart, take it out asap. I have had them recover from the brink of death but I have controlled anemone systems as my disposal.

Is he dying?!? He looked OK this morning but when I turned my lights on he shriveled up and has gotten worse looking as the day has gone on.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

The first picture makes me think that your BTA was bleached, and without proper treatment and considering it won't eat food, it may slowly be dying. There a bunch of threads on this forum about how to treat bleached anemones. How long ago was the first picture taken? The bleached BTA may still be adjusting to the tank. How did it look at Petco?

- C. Smith

 

[Macdaddynick1]

How big is your tank , what type of light do you have , and what type of rock is it on ? also what type of salt do you use of your water changes ? what are your parameters and the water temperature? how long have you had the tank set up for? do you have a sump? sorry for a million questions. also what are you parameters , mainly nitrates. All anemones look the same regardless of the size , i.e. small rainbow clone will look like a big rainbow anemone, just less tentacles .

 

[Mjl714]

Wow, I hope you're successful in rehabbing that nem.

 

[KelBell3113]

How big is your tank , what type of light do you have , and what type of rock is it on ? also what type of salt do you use of your water changes ? what are your parameters and the water temperature? how long have you had the tank set up for? do you have a sump? sorry for a million questions. also what are you parameters , mainly nitrates. All anemones look the same regardless of the size , i.e. small rainbow clone will look like a big rainbow anemone, just less tentacles .

Thank you for attempting to help. I just wanted to know what's going on with his tentacles. I've already asked on other threads about all the things you're asking. I have everything it needs to thrive if it survives. I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens.

 

[KelBell3113]

The first picture makes me think that your BTA was bleached, and without proper treatment and considering it won't eat food, it may slowly be dying. There a bunch of threads on this forum about how to treat bleached anemones. How long ago was the first picture taken? The bleached BTA may still be adjusting to the tank. How did it look at Petco?

- C. Smith

I stated in the original post that I'm aware he's bleached. I've checked out the other threads. I was just wondering about his tentacles. The picture was taken when I originally posted this. He looked like this at Petco as well. I didn't know that they're not supposed to look this way but chose to try and revive him instead of sending him back because I'm sure he would perish in their care.

 

[Lovemycj7]

Good luck way to help a poor anemone out. Keep feeding him.

 

[KelBell3113]

Good luck way to help a poor anemone out. Keep feeding him.

Thank you, I'm trying. I think unfortunately I may be losing the battle. This morning I noticed some small pieces of him on the sand underneath where he's perched. I'm having a hard time accepting that I may have to give up on him but I don't want to endanger the lives of my other critters. He's still has a hold on a rock but he falls off face down at least once per day and I rescue him. I put some brine shrimp in his "tentacles". I was hoping he'd eat but didn't. My tank still smells like saltwater, no decay. When will I know to call it quits?

 

[Frosty Latte]

I had one nem that then became 2 years ago. Then over the summer my tank was super hot for weeks on end due to the lighting I had at the time. My nems slowly shrank until they were the size of an eraser on a pencil. Try lowing your tank temp to 75-77 degrees if not already there. That may help if your tank is 80+ currently.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

I stated in the original post that I'm aware he's bleached. I've checked out the other threads. I was just wondering about his tentacles. The picture was taken when I originally posted this. He looked like this at Petco as well. I didn't know that they're not supposed to look this way but chose to try and revive him instead of sending him back because I'm sure he would perish in their care.

Sorry to make you repeat yourself. I'm not an expert on fragging, but maybe a QT would help. Keep feeding the poor guy, and I'm sure you're doing a better job taking care of it than the people at Petco would.

- C. Smith