Never hurts to Double Check..... Nem ID

[Zack K]

I bought this fella today for $45 and I know he is a little sick at the moment, but with good water, feedings and a 1/2 descent light he should get better. But I just want to clarify that he is a BTA. He has really short tentacles which makes me a bit torn between BTA and not.

The flow is currently off as he was just added 10min ago. He will be fed later tonight a small portion.

 

[wkscott]

It does look like a BTA or maybe a Sebae Heteractis crispa. It's a little difficult to tell in this condition. Your intentions are good, and while perfect husbandry may bring back this anemone, it's difficult to revive nems with this much bleaching. It appears to have expelled most of its zooxanthellae. Nems are a little sensitive and you should always try to buy one in optimal health. Buying a skinny fish is one thing. Getting an ailing nem is quite another.

 

[Zack K]

It does look like a BTA or maybe a Sebae Heteractis crispa. It's a little difficult to tell in this condition. Your intentions are good, and while perfect husbandry may bring back this anemone, it's difficult to revive nems with this much bleaching. It appears to have expelled most of its zooxanthellae. Nems are a little sensitive and you should always try to buy one in optimal health. Buying a skinny fish is one thing. Getting an ailing nem is quite another.

I do agree 100%. It has a little greener of a tint in person but it is definitely not 100%. I appreciate the response. It could be a sebae but senses are usually more of a tan with purple are they not?

 

[wkscott]

I do agree 100%. It has a little greener of a tint in person but it is definitely not 100%. I appreciate the response. It could be a sebae but senses are usually more of a tan with purple are they not?

Yep, healthy ones are usually tannish with purple tips, but they do come in other shades.

 

[davocean]

Best way to ID a nem is foot/base, much better than just tentacles, and agree much harder in the condition it's in.
I personally have rescued a number of bleached nems, and while it's not optimal to begin with, if there is any color at all they can come back and not difficult if your params are stable.

A bleached nem lacking zooxanthellae has trouble processing light into usable energy, so it really needs to be spot fed to bring it back to proper health, and small foods like mysis are what most use, 2-3x per week, and not more than that as you can actually stress it into splitting, if in fact it is a BTA.

It's very common for a BTA to split in a new tank, or when it's looking like that, so that in itself could possibly answer your ID question, or you could try to get a pic of foot and base.

 

[Zack K]

He just closed up. He has been opening and closing all evening. Hope this helps. I appreciate the advice about splitting. I will keep an eye out. And a quick question, is mysis better than brine?

 

[davocean]

Mysis has better nutritional value than brine generally speaking.

That does not appear to be a sebae/crispa looking at base/column, it's most likely BTA though my experience on BTA's and ID are limited, but I know crispa when I see it

 

[davocean]

This is an ugly pic of one of my crispa's during a swap, but it shows the chicken skin looking dots that are telltale of crispa.

 

[Zack K]

Mysis has better nutritional value than brine generally speaking.

That does not appear to be a sebae/crispa looking at base/column, it's most likely BTA though my experience on BTA's and ID are limited, but I know crispa when I see it

Perfect. I will switch to mysis. Thank you.

 

[Ron Popeil]

you have a BTA.