GBTA will not eat the shrimp I feed.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Let me start this off with it hasn't been the best for a hot minute, but it gained alot of its color back. I think it's starting to get better. Anyway, it will not eat this little cut up shrimp I feed. It appears to stick for a minute but then he doesn't close around it or open his mouth to eat it. My Ultra Rose bubbletip will eat it just fine, he loves the mess. Is it just a picky eater? What other foods to try? Oh I also think it wasn't looking good because it was starved.

Bucs20fan · Mar 23, 2023

Nems dont do picky. If it wont eat its either full or sick/ still recovering/ not doing well.

A nem will not just "not do well because it was starved" unless you have inadequate lighting for them. More people dont feed nems than do feed them. They require a lot of light and dont require to be fed. I almost never feed mine.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Bucs20fan said:
Nems dont do picky. If it wont eat its either full or sick/ still recovering/ not doing well.

A nem will not just "not do well because it was starved" unless you have inadequate lighting for them. More people dont feed nems than do feed them. They require a lot of light and dont require to be fed. I almost never feed mine

It's odd, the other nem is happy, but this one just isn't I guess. I doubt it's lighting. It seems to recently have gotten It's colour back and doing slightly better.

bvanfish · Mar 23, 2023

Is it chemical warfare with the other?

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

bvanfish said:
Is it chemical warfare with the other?

I doubt it. Zoas, torches, hammers, and anything else alive in the tank seems to be fine. I run Activated carbon. And the anemone does not improve with water change. It just stays the same.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

bvanfish said:
Is it chemical warfare with the other?

it also started declining before I even bought the Ultra RBTA

Stephen8169301 · Mar 23, 2023

Let’s see some pics

Spare time · Mar 23, 2023

Bucs20fan said:
Nems dont do picky. If it wont eat its either full or sick/ still recovering/ not doing well.

A nem will not just "not do well because it was starved" unless you have inadequate lighting for them. More people dont feed nems than do feed them. They require a lot of light and dont require to be fed. I almost never feed mine.

Light doesn't provide nitrogen or phosphate so technically that statement is wrong unless the tank has an adequate amount of available nitrogen and phosphate input

Spare time · Mar 23, 2023

What pieces of shrimp are you talking about? Why not just feed it fish food

areefer01 · Mar 23, 2023

Maybe leave it alone. Broadcast feed and see if it collects, and holds, and then folds any food into its mouth. Forcing it to eat isn't going to solve anything and may make matters worse.

Observe.

Stephen8169301 · Mar 23, 2023

areefer01 said:
Maybe leave it alone. Broadcast feed and see if it collects, and holds, and then folds any food into its mouth. Forcing it to eat isn't going to solve anything and may make matters worse.

Observe.

Agree +1

srobertb · Mar 23, 2023

Cyanohater said:
Let me start this off with it hasn't been the best for a hot minute, but it gained alot of its color back. I think it's starting to get better. Anyway, it will not eat this little cut up shrimp I feed. It appears to stick for a minute but then he doesn't close around it or open his mouth to eat it. My Ultra Rose bubbletip will eat it just fine, he loves the mess. Is it just a picky eater? What other foods to try? Oh I also think it wasn't looking good because it was starved.

Yeah…so I’m going to dissent here a bit.

I have two tanks. One, the anemones eat like pigs. The other, they don’t. No interest in food. It’s been 4 (5?) years and I’ve never lost one. They’re dinner plate sized BTA’s just living their best lives. There’s probably 20+ of them in there.

The only one that actually eats in the big tank is the mother, and she eats fish. A day after I put her in the tank she ate a yellow tang. She’s kind of a giant ***** if I’m honest. I can find her amongst her children because she’s the only one who takes food.

I don’t believe eating is a clear and present sign of something wrong.

Stop offering if it doesn’t want the food. Maintain stability. Let it be.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Spare time said:
What pieces of shrimp are you talking about? Why not just feed it fish food

Just raw gulf shrimp cut into small pieces. One nem loves it eats it like a hog.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Maybe I had some unexpected water swing and it's recovering. I can't see that being the case as nothing else in the tank was affected. I do dose zooplankton, coral amino, and sometimes spot feed reef roids. I make sure my nutrients are well maintained and sometimes it's a bit too much.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

I mean I can't rule out a water problem but again I don't see that being the case I've had a good schedule with the tank for the 1.5 years it's been up. I've had the GBTA probably since December 2032. and the UBTA since February 2023.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Again maybe it'll be okay, he seems to like reef roids some. It has also gained its color back, more from what it had been. And it's tentacles that we're extremely stubby have started to puff up.

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

okay guys update I tested nitrate and phosphate with a quick salifert test. We are looking at phosphates of around 0.5ish and Nitrates anywhere from 25-15 is this a factor or cause of the issue?

Cyanohater · Mar 23, 2023

Probably over feeding is my cause, I have a bag of purigen but I would rather not use it because I don't want my phosphates to bottom out. I'll try and lower them slowly by feeding less and maybe a bigger water change.

tbrown · Mar 23, 2023

Cyanohater said:
Let me start this off with it hasn't been the best for a hot minute, but it gained alot of its color back. I think it's starting to get better. Anyway, it will not eat this little cut up shrimp I feed. It appears to stick for a minute but then he doesn't close around it or open his mouth to eat it. My Ultra Rose bubbletip will eat it just fine, he loves the mess. Is it just a picky eater? What other foods to try? Oh I also think it wasn't looking good because it was starved.

I have fed mine a couple of times but it grabs it, swallows it, and then spits it back out. It basically refuses to eat but it's growing and happy. As mentioned above, they are photosynthetic and they get some nutrition from the light as well as the nutrients in the water.

It's tripled in size since Black Friday.

Cyanohater · Mar 24, 2023

tbrown3589 said:
I have fed mine a couple of times but it grabs it, swallows it, and then spits it back out. It basically refuses to eat but it's growing and happy. As mentioned above, they are photosynthetic and they get some nutrition from the light as well as the nutrients in the water.

It's tripled in size since Black Friday.

What light are you running?