How long before moving BTA

[BigGimp77]

So I've had many BTA's in my previous tank with no issue, but I'm struggling quite a bit with this purple tip green BTA I got off diver den in my current tank. We had terrible luck with the anemone detaching it's foot the first night and floating through the tank. I eventually got it settled and its made its way into the rock work, but where no light can reach it.

It's really hard to tell how it's doing currently. When its inflated we can see it a little bit, but cant see the mouth or foot at all. When we cant see it it's impossible to tell if its just deflated or walking around a bit.

Question for you all, how long to I let the anemone go before I go for a rescue operation or removal in the worst case? I know acclimation can take a while, but today officially marks a week since we've had it and I don't know how much patience to give it before intervening.

 

[James M]

IMO give it more time. They generally take 1-2 weeks to adjust.

 

[Gonebad395]

Let it go it know what it needs and will move to where it’s comfortable. The more you mess with it the more it’s going to not do what you want it to do lol. Just give it time they are alive and for the most part not self destructive it will move according to its need just sometimes it’s needs aren’t your viewing pleasure needs . In all due time in all due time.

 

[BigGimp77]

That was my thought as well. I'm not too concerned where it ends up in the tank so long as it's healthy. What are your thoughts on feeding him a bit of mysis when I see him? I don't want to encourage him to stay where he is, but I also dont want him to go wilt away since he's getting no light.

 

[James M]

Do not feed it. It’s going to add more stress

 

[Gonebad395]

Yeah it’s not going to wilt away and the lack of light isn’t anything to worry about at this time. It has what it needs now in protective mode time and patience will allow for a healthy nem

 

[BigGimp77]

So it's been a almost two weeks since this post. The anemone is still in the same spot. Hes had a few decent days where hes pretty inflated and visible but not much direct light. A few days where I didnt see it at all and what I could only assume was deflated since I dont have a good view where his foot is.

Should I just keep letting him be? It's coming up on a month in the tank and hes been hidden away most of it.

 

[Seamore2001]

I bought some rock from a fellow reefer breaking down his tank, back in mid-February. When I got there he mentioned that there were four or five RBTAs on the rock! When I set up the rock in my tank, I had one RBTA in full light and the other three in various levels of light (I couldn't find the fifth one). They all have moved to new locations. The fifth (hidden one) was deep in a hole and ended up placed facing downwards and toward the back wall. Over the course of three weeks it slowly moved to a place it was happy, down towards the bottom of my rock work in front, in low light. Meanwhile, the mother RBTA, which is quite large, has taken up prime space where my Acros are, with the others spread around at mid-level.

The point of all this is that, at least for me, they've taken several weeks to find their favorite spots and settle in. I wouldn't worry too much about your BTA at this point. Good luck!