advice on BTA!

[booscam]

I purchased a used biocube 14 and have had it up and running for about 4 months now. As of right now i have a few snails/ hermit crabs, a cleaner shrimp, a clownfish, a few beginner corals, and a BTA. I’ve had my bubble tip for about a month now and he was doing fine until about a week ago. I live in texas so it gets pretty hot here, so even w the AC on my tank was getting up to 83 degrees. It took me a few days but i was able to finally control the temperature. My BTA anemone started to look like he was about to die but once i was able to stabilized the temperature it seemed like he was starting to look healthier. I did some  maintenance on my tank and i ended up moving a rock he was on a a little bit & i adjusted my wave maker and it caused him to move again. For the past 2 days he’s been moving every night and looks like he is about to die. I know if they die in a tank it is very bad for the water and you must get the BTA out immediately. I really don’t want it to die, and i don’t know if i’ll be able to be around to get it out in time in case it releases any toxins that could kill my fish/ coral. Any advice on what to do about my bubble tip? For my tank, all my parameters have been normal and stable. My fish and coral are doing fine again, but my BTA is not looking too good. 

[Paddy42]

Hi reef fellow!

 

I am not an expert but though I would share my experience. I had my tank runing for only about 6 months with my BTA in there for about 3 months. I was in a stage where I though it would die but I just give him some LED lights and just kept checking parameters of water everyday.

I have notices when I moved my rocks around a bit it did closed up and looked like the whole will to life has gone out of him but after a few days without any disturbance he is again good and happy.

 

When I bought mine I have been told they might closed up a bit and stay closed for a while until they get used to new way of flow and untill everything settle down again after moving things around. The most important thing that might indicate they are not well is when they start loosing tentacles which I am not sure if it means literally when they falling off.

 

I know it's not much of a help but crossing fingers for your BTA and wish you all the luck!

[mcarroll]

I would consider removing him and returning him to the store if possible.   I don't think the anemone is dying either, just not happy in a tank that's too new/too small.   Take him back for sure, IMO.

 

They are not a good beginner selection in general, and they are a very bad choice for a small tank.

 

Either that or take your corals back.  The anemone will eventually fill up your whole tank - each "arm" will be up to 6" long, for example.

 

If you insist on keeping him, then check your phosphate levels....they're probably down to zero, which is a problem for anything photosynthetic.  That includes your anemone and other corals as well.  PO4 needs to be 0.03 ppm or higher.

 

I would replace him with something more size-appropriate or just give his space to the rest of your corals for future growing room.