Jestersix

BTA Question

Euphyllia

Euphyllia

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Will a GBTA and an RBTA sting each other/kill each other? And also, I was told by my LFS (not one of our sponsors) that GBTAs don't need to be feed because the clownfish will feed them and that they won't split as much as RBTAs. Since RBTAs and GBTAs are the same thing just with a different color zooxanthelle they should split as much and not sting each other, right?
 
In my opinion, and only in my opinion as I have no facts to back any of this up:

Yes they will sting each other. Maybe not, but I think they probably will. The only way that I can justify it in my head that they won't touch each other is if they are clones of each other. Most BTA's that I know of (red/green/brown/whatever) can get by just fine provided good water quality and enough lighting in correct spectrums. However, I'm sure they would probably benefit from occasional feedings of pods, or some other type of small food suitable for LPS, etc. Again, I stress I have no facts to back any of this up, it's just what I think. Clowns sometimes do and sometimes don't explicitly feed their hosts. However, I would think that their excrement might be usable but no clue.

Splitting-wise, I would think they would split the same amount. Some ppl's BTA's split quite often, some grow huge and never split. It's all up to chance unless you try to provoke it.

Again and again= it's all my opinion and not necessarily fact. Read more opinions online, search RC/wetwebmedia/bar for more info.
 
In my experience, they do not sting each other. They also seem to split at the same rate. My fish are not good anemone feeders.
GoldBTA3.jpg
 
Can somebody tell me how long to acclimate a rose anemone? I have one in the acclimating process right now and it has been acclimating for about 2 hours 45 minutes now. I normally acclimated my anemones for four hours. What is the average acclimating time? All About Fish told me 15-30 minutes which I knew right away was WAY off and I've read on websites 2-3 hours+.
 
I can't speak for others, but when I got my BTA, I temperature acclimated it, and then drip acclimated it until the specific gravity in the acclimation bucket was dead on with the specific gravity in the tank. And for what it is worth, I only spent about 30-45 minutes in total doing this. Of course avoid going from and to extremes. In fact, I know of a couple folk who do nothing more than temperature acclimate, and everything turns out fine. I am in no way saying I am an advocate of this exactly, however you should be aware that different people do it different ways. Every person and every website will tell you "the way" it is supposed to be done ... eventually you find everyone has their own methods. In the end, really, it could not hurt to spend more time acclimating your BTA's -just be sure you keep an eye on the temperature.
My two pennies.
 
I put the anemone in and it started to head towards the back of the tank. I fed it 2/3 of a silver side (chopped of the tail and head) and it chocked it down faster than I'd ever seen any anemone eat before! Does this mean I should feed it bigger amounts (whole silver side) more often (every 3-4 days)? My clowns acknowledged that the anemone is in there and the both swam around the top of the tentacles once but then they left and haven't bothered it since then and are still sleeping at night in the sand bed. How long do you guys think it will be until they go into one?
 
It really varies how long it takes clowns to host an anemone. Some take to it right away, some seem to never really like to host them. FWIW, I've basically scared clowns into anemones for them to take to it (don't recommend it, might be against BAR mission) and I've heard of ppl taping a pic of clowns hosting in an anemone against the outside glass (picture facing in) to help "clue in" TR clowns. No clue if that really works. IIRC, it's better to feed anemones smaller-sized foods like mysis size and smaller. Something about a net energy loss and whatnot, you'd have to ask Gresham for the details ;). But I'd definitely stay away from whole silversides and would opt for minced silversides if you had to keep feeding them that (would really prefer mysis and other, smaller foods). Basically what I would feed LPS.
 
I have some of the large brand of mysis shrimp on hand so I'll give that to my anemones next time I feed them. I've talked to the owners of Exotic Aquatics (the owners are marine biologists) and they said they feed their rose anemones krill and they seem to love it. Is krill as hard to digest as a silver side and should I just not feed the anemones silver side at all or just on occasion?
 
I'd also recommend not feeding the anemone during at least the first week or so. This will allow the anemone to allocate more of its' energy to acclimating rather than digesting a meal -especially silversides, as much energy is needed for the anemone to break it down as Mitch mentioned.
 
I do not feed silversides as others have said their anemones died after eating silversides. I do feed krill, or any fresh seafoods, Spectrum fish pellets, Golden Pearls, etc. I like to chop the food fine as it seems to be easier to digest.
 
phishphood said:
It really varies how long it takes clowns to host an anemone. Some take to it right away, some seem to never really like to host them. FWIW, I've basically scared clowns into anemones for them to take to it (don't recommend it, might be against BAR mission) and I've heard of ppl taping a pic of clowns hosting in an anemone against the outside glass (picture facing in) to help "clue in" TR clowns. No clue if that really works. IIRC, it's better to feed anemones smaller-sized foods like mysis size and smaller. Something about a net energy loss and whatnot, you'd have to ask Gresham for the details ;). But I'd definitely stay away from whole silversides and would opt for minced silversides if you had to keep feeding them that (would really prefer mysis and other, smaller foods). Basically what I would feed LPS.
Click to expand...

I don't think it will do anything, but I'll try putting up a picture of black ocellaris hosting in a BTA :bigsmile:
 
Euphyllia said:
phishphood said:
It really varies how long it takes clowns to host an anemone. Some take to it right away, some seem to never really like to host them. FWIW, I've basically scared clowns into anemones for them to take to it (don't recommend it, might be against BAR mission) and I've heard of ppl taping a pic of clowns hosting in an anemone against the outside glass (picture facing in) to help "clue in" TR clowns. No clue if that really works. IIRC, it's better to feed anemones smaller-sized foods like mysis size and smaller. Something about a net energy loss and whatnot, you'd have to ask Gresham for the details ;). But I'd definitely stay away from whole silversides and would opt for minced silversides if you had to keep feeding them that (would really prefer mysis and other, smaller foods). Basically what I would feed LPS.
Click to expand...

I don't think it will do anything, but I'll try putting up a picture of black ocellaris hosting in a BTA :bigsmile:
Click to expand...

You mean a BTA hosting a black ocellaris ;)
 
I'm just curious....
How long had your tank been set up before you added an anemone? What is the lighting?
How long did you wait after your water testing indicated a fully cycled tank?
I'm trying to decide if it's worth trying to give you any advice going forward. Thx-Jim
 
My tank has been set up for about 4 months now and I added the first anemone 13 days ago for my birthday. My tank is filled with live rock (and I mean A LOT of live rock) and the lighting is 2-55 watt PC fluorescent T5s. I had a few ammonia spikes in the first month of cycling, but then that settled down and I've had 0 ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphate since last month.
 
Sounds reasonable. I think a few (3+)months of stability should be enough to prep a tank for a BTA. Hopefully it'll like the lighting. Good luck and do keep us updated.
 
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