BTA Hiding

t_fins · 10/11/2017, 06:58 PM

So I added a BTA about a month ago. First two weeks he was great.he quickly attached to rock and about a week later hosted my clown. Since then he moved and hid under the rock. Mostly closed up but still attached and moving(slightly opening) I was moving the rocks and I exposed him. It moved again and is now hiding deeper in the rocks.

How is it living without strong light? It’s almost completely in a cave. How can I feed it? What do I do?

Nitrates are at 0. Have a small phosphate issue but I’ve lowered it to about .10 so far...

TIA

Small Heavens · 10/14/2017, 02:02 AM

I turned up the lights too fast on a LTA and it hurt it abit.
I saw that it pulled in/deflated/hid and turned down the light as much as I could and added cover over the tank (used some thin clear plastic foam wipes to place on glass, people without glass top often recomment plastic egg crates).

After it noticed that the light was very dim, it inflated hugely and stretched as much as it could for light and I restarted the light-strenght slowly.

It needs some time because of the complex chemical exchange that it does with its algae, or it can die for a number of different types of dis-balances so it is just controlling them.

A good trick is to keep it well fed while it adjusts, preventing it from running out of energy.

I got the most fresh sea food I could get and one of those plastic pasters (I keep small portions frozen, that I have added some drops of happy life to before freezing).

Then I take a TINY piece of meat and add a drop of minerals to it (just the left overs of a good trace mineral tonic from EcoSystems) and let it soak shortly. Then I mince the meat, mix in water from the tank with the paster and suck it into the paster.

I quickly turn off the main flow and gently blow the mix on the Nem.

I start at some tentacles that are placed to make it easy and then blow the food towards the mouth of the oral disk.

Since you cannot get to the Nem, the minced water mix will get directly onto its tentacles so you just make sure to "annoy" it enough so that it withdraws.

That way you make it pull particles of food so tightly into its centre that it triggers it's feeding and you can turn the flow back on (if the flow stops completely, a Nem will usually close up anyway, so this should make it possible for you to "force feed" it too a degree.

When it has recovered, you can cut feedings back to once every one or two weeks. While you need to feed it now, you should of course be careful not to overburden your biological filtration.

News generally like nitrates and phosphates in trace amounts.
Adding a daily cabin dosing cleans out those to zero so I add carbon every day and a small drop of fertiliser the night before regular water changes (made for use in aquariums of course!)..

Hope it helps slightly.

10/11/2017, 06:58 PM	#1
t_fins Registered Member Join Date: May 2015 Location: Valrico, FL Posts: 27	BTA Hiding So I added a BTA about a month ago. First two weeks he was great.he quickly attached to rock and about a week later hosted my clown. Since then he moved and hid under the rock. Mostly closed up but still attached and moving(slightly opening) I was moving the rocks and I exposed him. It moved again and is now hiding deeper in the rocks. How is it living without strong light? It’s almost completely in a cave. How can I feed it? What do I do? Nitrates are at 0. Have a small phosphate issue but I’ve lowered it to about .10 so far... TIA

10/14/2017, 02:02 AM	#2
Small Heavens In Memoriam Join Date: Sep 2017 Posts: 246	I turned up the lights too fast on a LTA and it hurt it abit. I saw that it pulled in/deflated/hid and turned down the light as much as I could and added cover over the tank (used some thin clear plastic foam wipes to place on glass, people without glass top often recomment plastic egg crates). After it noticed that the light was very dim, it inflated hugely and stretched as much as it could for light and I restarted the light-strenght slowly. It needs some time because of the complex chemical exchange that it does with its algae, or it can die for a number of different types of dis-balances so it is just controlling them. A good trick is to keep it well fed while it adjusts, preventing it from running out of energy. I got the most fresh sea food I could get and one of those plastic pasters (I keep small portions frozen, that I have added some drops of happy life to before freezing). Then I take a TINY piece of meat and add a drop of minerals to it (just the left overs of a good trace mineral tonic from EcoSystems) and let it soak shortly. Then I mince the meat, mix in water from the tank with the paster and suck it into the paster. I quickly turn off the main flow and gently blow the mix on the Nem. I start at some tentacles that are placed to make it easy and then blow the food towards the mouth of the oral disk. Since you cannot get to the Nem, the minced water mix will get directly onto its tentacles so you just make sure to "annoy" it enough so that it withdraws. That way you make it pull particles of food so tightly into its centre that it triggers it's feeding and you can turn the flow back on (if the flow stops completely, a Nem will usually close up anyway, so this should make it possible for you to "force feed" it too a degree. When it has recovered, you can cut feedings back to once every one or two weeks. While you need to feed it now, you should of course be careful not to overburden your biological filtration. News generally like nitrates and phosphates in trace amounts. Adding a daily cabin dosing cleans out those to zero so I add carbon every day and a small drop of fertiliser the night before regular water changes (made for use in aquariums of course!).. Hope it helps slightly.