BTA anyone?

[mihkaail]

Hi,

Was thinking of getting a carpet for my 35cm cube and upgrading as he gets bigger; however, seems doubtful i'd be able to get a small 4-5" specimen. BTAs, on the other hand, come in that size, and host most clowns. Anyone had experience with these guys?

Ive only had experience with carpets and i think they ROCK!!! and frankly, the thought of other moving types of anemone (ie all non carpets) scares me :smile:

How do i reduce them wandering?

 

[incysor]

Carpets rock..but they're much harder to keep than BTAs, or RBTAs. They also tend to get much larger. Although I've seen some BTAs that were 2ft across, so it's relative. They do tend to grow slower than carpets as well.

I've got both in my tank now. and the normal green BTAs are less prone to wandering than the RBTAs in my experience anyway. They like high light and moderate flow. When you introduce it if you turn the lights and pumps off, and give it some time to attach where you want it, you'll increase the chances that it won't wander...But there really isn't any garantee. I've had three BTA's now and one RBTA. The RBTA is very sensitive. I just adjusted my lights so that they the VHOs were on one hour longer and the MH was on one hour longer in the middle of the cycle, and the RBTA immediately dropped from the high placement on the side of the overflow to a much lower placement on it. It's now starting to work it's way back up. My current green one wandered down from the high spot I put it on in the tank, figuring the RBTA liked it up top, so would the BTA...It's now at the bottom of the tank. When I changed the lighting cyle recently it didn't react at all.

So in these cases my strategy didn't work at all. :lol:

With my earlier two BTAs they both stayed exactly where I put them and never moved. Go figure.

I'd try to introduce the anemone first if possible, and let it wander and find a spot it likes if it's going to, then aquascape your corals around it. And try not to alter your flow/lighting significantly after it's picked 'it's' spot, or it's likely to move until it's happy again. Good luck with it. I think it's going to be a beautiful tank, however you end up stocking it.

B

 

[mihkaail]

Ive never had anything other than carpets and a magnifica before, therefore, i think everythingelse is hard to keep :smile:

Incysor, were your green BTAs ancored onto the underside of rocks or in caves? I would really love for one not to move

I will try your suggestion if i have to get a BTA. How about an LTA Macrodactyla Doreensis (sp?) Ive seen those available here too.

 

[incysor]

It depends greatly on the light and current where they'll decide to be. When I had PC lights the BTA stayed up top right out in the open for the most part. All of them prefer to have their foot anchored in a crack or crevice. Now that I have VHO/MH, the BTAs both moved to the bottom of the tank. The RBTA is still at the top, with short forays into the rocks for a day or two each time I increase my photoperiod a bit. Oddly enough the RBTA doesn't seem to like the rockwork as much as my overflow box. It just keeps it's foot attached to the overflow and moves down into the rockwork surrounding the box, then as it gets used to the increased light it moves back above the rock and stays on the overflow.

B