First BTA Arriving Friday - Looking for tips & advice.

VanCityReef · Oct 15, 2020

Hey reefers!

Our first BTA, a Flame Tip, will be arriving Friday! I have a Quarantine Tank ready and am hoping to get some advice from you guys for disease/parasite prevention as well as any general care tips for success!.

Also, this means that we're now on the hunt for baby clowns, Canadian breeders PM me!

Engrene4 · Oct 15, 2020

well i got a RBTA and it died the next day and this was 3 months ago and i learned from that is dont mess with new arrivals as i was so excited to have one but i was just handling it for too long and it stressed it out for even longer so i suggest just to get a anemone acclimation box once you first introduce it to quarantine or the display tank this way you dont have to turn down pumps so your anemone does not blow all over and possibly get a mouth full of sand and its just easier to see how it is doing and you can feed it easier

ajjw0828 · Oct 15, 2020

I would drip acclimate then look over the foot for any debris stuck to it/ visible pests. I've never really heard of nems transporting parasites/ unless like a vermitid snail or something is stuck to its foot, in which case you could just pull it off. Best to get it in the tank and happy. If you're not already I would add carbon in the tank via a reactor or passive bag. Also if flow is ripping in tank I would get covers for internal pumps. Good luck!

Cell · Oct 15, 2020

I'm not really big on quarantining bta's unless I suspect it has a bacterial infection and will need cipro. It's best to let them get established in their forever home unless your QT has the same lighting and flow as your DT, imo. Most QT tanks have insufficient lighting.

rapid · Oct 15, 2020

take it from us who have had there fair share of nem screw ups. make sure your tank is mature and stable

1. acclimate then drop into DT. I don't quarantine nems. i feel its already stressed and in a QT theres no were for it to feel safe. drop it into DT no QT.

2. Do this at night if you can or with lights off and water flow for at least a hour. If not then cover your wave makers.

3. place it on a rock or cave. It will find its own spot to chill untill it becomes less stressed.

4. DO NOT KEEP PESTERING IT LEAVE IT BE ONCE IN TANK!

just keep water clean and stable itll eventually open up and find a nice spot. If it goes and hids in a spot you dont like Well im sorry that sucks welcome to owning a BTA lol best thing to do is nothing once its in DT.

Phil D. · Oct 15, 2020

When placing the nem, you can encourage it to stay by placing BIG rocks on either side of it.

Bpfor3 · Oct 15, 2020

id put it straight in the DT. tank carefully about where you put it. I had one, now have 8. They are very difficult to remove from rock. If i had to do it over again, i would isolate it on an island of rock. If your parameters are good and the anemone is healthy, you'll be fine.
Good luck!!

TriggersAmuck · Oct 15, 2020

If you can find rock that has crevices/nooks/crannies, all the better, as the BTAs like to continually play hide and seek from day to day and seem to prefer a concealed spot they can retreat to (but still have access to light and flow when they expand).

The one time I would consider using a box in the DT is if you have a smallish 'nem and an overeager behemoth clown that might love it to death.

Can't over emphasize what others have already said... BTA's will position themselves in time as they see fit, so don't over think or worry about it. Unless your tank has a habit of killing many over time of course.

PicassoClown04 · Oct 15, 2020

Basically just a +1 to what’s said above:

Please please please, after you drop it in your DT, do NOT try to manually relocate it just because you don’t like it’s location after the first day. The nem will walk around and find a happy place, the average for my guys is about a week of wandering then they settle down. Removing its foot from the rocks could damage the nem and it will stress it greatly. Just let the nem walk itself around, if you don’t like where it is then you can change flow to make it move

Feeding bubble tips (IME) has led to them growing much faster, splitting more often, and having bigger/more bubbles.

Let em do their own thing

. Protect powerheads, don’t touch em, and watch where they wander. They’re pretty self-sufficient

Jon Fishman · Oct 15, 2020

don’t direct feed

Pistol Peet · Oct 15, 2020

The best advice for a bubble tip anemone that I can give you is once you get acclimated put in your tank leave it be leave it be it will move around some it'll find a place that has happy it'll hook on and it will be fine after this is happened feed him once a week some mysis shrimp or something of the sort again though most important thing with these leave them be don't screw around with them a bunch

mcshams · Oct 15, 2020

Every post response I've read is spot on in my humble opinion. To strengthen the advice given...I would drip acclimate and put directly into main tank. Most QT tanks do NOT have the light that nems want or conditions and the QT just adds stress.

Secondly, they will possibly play hide and seek...and you should let them. It can be frustrating if they move somewhere you had hoped they would not have...but that's the nature of things sometimes.

Contrary to the advice of "direct feeding" given above, I give the new nem the smallest of food when they set their foot in a location I like so that they might stay there thinking that the food supply is good at that location. Unfortunately, this is not scientifically-based guidance as factors such as light, flow, etc also play a large role in determining what makes them happy.

VanCityReef · Oct 15, 2020

Can't THANK YOU ALL enough for the info in these messages.

I continue to be impressed at how friendly and informative people in this hobby/community are.

The BTA is going to be shipped to me, so based on all the advice I've received from you guys, my plan of action is as follows

1. Drain water from bag enough to just cover the nem and place securely in bucket
2. Drip acclimate from DT for 45 mins @ 1 drip/sec
3. Turn OFF lights and flow
4. Gently scoop out of acclimation bucket and place into the aquarium
5. Keep flow off for an hour or so or until it starts to get comfortable
6. Put foam guards on wavepumps (MP40 is easy, anyone have advice for nem-proofing ReefWave 45?)
7. Keep flow on low as nem walks around and finds a place of comfort
8. Monitor nem as flow ramps back up and adjust accordingly!
9. Find a pair of clowns

If you want to see what the tank looks like or keep up-to-date with our progress as we build out our mixed reef, follow us on IG @VanCityReef

Will try to film the unboxing etc. if I can!

vancityreef • Instagram photos and videos

1,519 Followers, 1,023 Following, 106 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from @vancityreef

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Pistondog · Oct 15, 2020

VanCityReef said:
Can't THANK YOU ALL enough for the info in these messages.

I continue to be impressed at how friendly and informative people in this hobby/community are.

The BTA is going to be shipped to me, so based on all the advice I've received from you guys, my plan of action is as follows

1. Drain water from bag enough to just cover the nem and place securely in bucket
2. Drip acclimate from DT for 45 mins @ 1 drip/sec
3. Turn OFF lights and flow
4. Gently scoop out of acclimation bucket and place into the aquarium
5. Keep flow off for an hour or so or until it starts to get comfortable
6. Put foam guards on wavepumps (MP40 is easy, anyone have advice for nem-proofing ReefWave 45?)
7. Keep flow on low as nem walks around and finds a place of comfort
8. Monitor nem as flow ramps back up and adjust accordingly!
9. Find a pair of clowns

If you want to see what the tank looks like or keep up-to-date with our progress as we build out our mixed reef, follow us on IG @VanCityReef

Will try to film the unboxing etc. if I can!

vancityreef • Instagram photos and videos

1,519 Followers, 1,023 Following, 106 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from @vancityreef

instagram.com

This is a good plan, except the nem will attach to the acclimation bucket, unless he is upside down.
I did 2 in the last week 1 was inadvertently upside down and didn't attach, the other did. Emptied most water then tilted until the nem was out of water. Within 5 minutes, with some finger encouragement he was free.
Resume at step 4, but put him where you want him to stay.

gizzo12 · Oct 15, 2020

Jon Fishman said:
don’t direct feed

Really? How come? I have been.

VanCityReef · Oct 16, 2020

Thanks again everyone for your help!

Pics and videos of the BTA exploring it's new home attached.

If this post gets 10 likes I'll post another set of pics and videos when it find its forever home!!!