Very unhappy RBTA- Help

allendehl · 05/21/2019, 06:28 AM

Bought this RBTA a few months ago. It was doing wonderful until one day it started to feel unhappy, its mouth started to show and lose body mass. When flow is off it totally cannot hold itself up.
There is another small one in the same tank doing well. The tank went in fallow right after I brought her in.

Should I treat with cipro??

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WatDatThing · 05/21/2019, 07:10 AM

Are you feeding it? If yes, what, how much and how often? Are you running carbon? Is it touching the RFA? How long does the mouth stay open? Does it completely deflate? If yes, how often? The nem in the picture looks ok with the exception of the open mouth. Nems do that sometimes.

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allendehl · 05/21/2019, 07:37 AM

Thank you, yes I am feeding it pieces of krill once/twice a week during fallow. No carbon. Mouth is open all the time since it started a few weeks ago.

ThRoewer · 05/21/2019, 11:27 AM

I'm by no means an expert on BTAs (imo one of the most troublesome anemone to keep) but I would think that for it to be sick it must have been infected by something. I doubt that a perfectly healthy anemone gets sick out of the blue. And I kind of tested that to the limit with keeping a gigantea for months under subpar conditions.
Unless there is another sick anemone or coral in the tank the only viable path for this anemone to contract an infection would be the food. I generally try to avoid feeding too large pieces as they may start rotting from the inside before the anemone can digest them. So if you fed it big pieces of krill, that could be the source.
For an anemone, a general sign of being sick is frequent deflating and a constantly wide open mouth that looks like the the innards want to come out. The anemone not being able to right itself up is another symptom, usually of a quite progressed state of the infection.
If that matches your anemone, I would consider treating it.

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allendehl · 05/22/2019, 05:21 AM

Thank you. Yes, she went under treatment yesterday. Let's see how she responds.

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Uncle99 · 05/23/2019, 07:07 PM

In my experience, most BTA problems after the first couple if months of looking great are water problems, i.e., levels and more importantly stability problems. The other common item is an attack. The last us feeding. BTA does not require feeding, in fact, so many die because they are fed too much too fast, their digestive system is real real slow and they will spit what they can't process.

Treatment is fine, but make sure each parameter is on point and that the flux us minimal.

He really does not look that bad.

3xplorer19 · 11/22/2019, 06:35 AM

Hi guys I just wanted to add in. I have issues with my rainbow bta too. I have my rbta for 5 weeks now and 2 weeks ago it split into 2 and since then I haven’t really seen it eat much. My water pars has been good. Could it be that my first bta stung it or poisoned it and now all my bta hasn’t really been looking healthy. Also how do I add pic from my iPhone? I don’t have a url.

LargeAngels · 11/23/2019, 03:18 PM

When I had tanks of BTA’s I never fed them directly. They only fed on what they would catch while feeding the fish. They grew and split like weeds. Lighting was 400 watt halides with actinics.

05/21/2019, 06:28 AM	#1
allendehl Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 692	Very unhappy RBTA- Help Bought this RBTA a few months ago. It was doing wonderful until one day it started to feel unhappy, its mouth started to show and lose body mass. When flow is off it totally cannot hold itself up. There is another small one in the same tank doing well. The tank went in fallow right after I brought her in. Should I treat with cipro?? Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk __________________ [Newbie here so please take my opinions carefully] Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 350 (72G) \| Jebao DCT 4000 (1056 GPH Max) \| Reef Octopus 152-S \| 2 X Jebao PP8 (2100 GPH Max)

05/21/2019, 07:37 AM	#3
allendehl Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 692	Thank you, yes I am feeding it pieces of krill once/twice a week during fallow. No carbon. Mouth is open all the time since it started a few weeks ago. __________________ [Newbie here so please take my opinions carefully] Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 350 (72G) \| Jebao DCT 4000 (1056 GPH Max) \| Reef Octopus 152-S \| 2 X Jebao PP8 (2100 GPH Max)

05/21/2019, 11:27 AM	#4
ThRoewer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Fremont, CA Posts: 9,555	I'm by no means an expert on BTAs (imo one of the most troublesome anemone to keep) but I would think that for it to be sick it must have been infected by something. I doubt that a perfectly healthy anemone gets sick out of the blue. And I kind of tested that to the limit with keeping a gigantea for months under subpar conditions. Unless there is another sick anemone or coral in the tank the only viable path for this anemone to contract an infection would be the food. I generally try to avoid feeding too large pieces as they may start rotting from the inside before the anemone can digest them. So if you fed it big pieces of krill, that could be the source. For an anemone, a general sign of being sick is frequent deflating and a constantly wide open mouth that looks like the the innards want to come out. The anemone not being able to right itself up is another symptom, usually of a quite progressed state of the infection. If that matches your anemone, I would consider treating it. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk __________________ Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio 3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...

05/22/2019, 05:21 AM	#5
allendehl Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 692	Thank you. Yes, she went under treatment yesterday. Let's see how she responds. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk __________________ [Newbie here so please take my opinions carefully] Current Tank Info: Red Sea Reefer 350 (72G) \| Jebao DCT 4000 (1056 GPH Max) \| Reef Octopus 152-S \| 2 X Jebao PP8 (2100 GPH Max)

05/21/2019, 07:10 AM	#2
WatDatThing Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 830	Are you feeding it? If yes, what, how much and how often? Are you running carbon? Is it touching the RFA? How long does the mouth stay open? Does it completely deflate? If yes, how often? The nem in the picture looks ok with the exception of the open mouth. Nems do that sometimes. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

11/22/2019, 06:35 AM	#7
3xplorer19 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 13	Hi guys I just wanted to add in. I have issues with my rainbow bta too. I have my rbta for 5 weeks now and 2 weeks ago it split into 2 and since then I haven’t really seen it eat much. My water pars has been good. Could it be that my first bta stung it or poisoned it and now all my bta hasn’t really been looking healthy. Also how do I add pic from my iPhone? I don’t have a url.

11/23/2019, 03:18 PM	#8
LargeAngels Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,651	When I had tanks of BTA’s I never fed them directly. They only fed on what they would catch while feeding the fish. They grew and split like weeds. Lighting was 400 watt halides with actinics.