RBTA acting strange

[WatercolorsGuy]

The other half got a RBTA last week and the last two days it has been acting strange. It seems like it is fully inflated...except for the tentacles. It also looks like it has lost some of its color. All water params are good, it came from a tank that if I remember right was running halides and t5s, she is running PC and t5s supplemented with a little sunshine. Any ideas would be great.
View attachment 8127

 

[Craigar]

How many t5 and how long over what size tank

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

Sorry about the extra images...can't seem to edit out the extras.

The Maroon clown is very aggressive with the nem...I don't recall a clown in lyle's tank so that may be adding to it's stress?

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

She has 4 65w PCs (2 actinic, 1 dual daylight and 1 50/50) and 2 HO-T5s (2 31w actinic). Tank is a 56g 30w X 18d X 24h. Tank has been setup for almost 2 years
Nem is about 1/2 way up the tank all the way to one side next to the glass...near the sunlight side. It is indirect natural light..not direct sunshine into the tank.
All LPS, Zoas, and SPS look good and show growth. SPS grow very slow, but are growing.

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

Any ideas?

 

[CRW Reef]

Is this how they act when they split by chance? I really have no idea my friend. Hopefully Djkms or Haddoni will chime in as I know they know a lol bit about nems

 

[Craigar]

Is this how they act when they split by chance? I really have no idea my friend. Hopefully Djkms or Haddoni will chime in as I know they know a lol bit about nems

Mine never act any different when they split they usually split slowly I personally think it may be lighting in my experience nems like tons of light what are you feeding it?

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

Mine never act any different when they split they usually split slowly I personally think it may be lighting in my experience nems like tons of light what are you feeding it?

It has had a couple small pieces of silversides but not much.

I can throw a 250w 20k HQI MH on the tank...but what then will become of everything else that is used to the light currently used? Just move everything to the bottom?

Or I can change out some of the actinc PCs with dual daylight bulbs...?

At some point we will go with LEDs on this....recommended size?

 

[freedominco]

It has had a couple small pieces of silversides but not much.

I can throw a 250w 20k HQI MH on the tank...but what then will become of everything else that is used to the light currently used? Just move everything to the bottom?

Or I can change out some of the actinc PCs with dual daylight bulbs...?

At some point we will go with LEDs on this....recommended size?

what kinda lights was it under before you got it?

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

what kinda lights was it under before you got it?

If I remember correctly Lyle (lpsouth) had MH and t5s on his 90 gal. tank.

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

I replaced 2 of the PCs with the 250w 20k MH. We will see what happens with that. Everything is still happy except for the nem. Hopefully things will change for it. Any other ideas will be appreciated...and thanks for the suggestions so far, we appreciate it.

 

[Craigar]

Try feeding regular raw shrimp from the deli that's what I feed mine

 

[djkms]

Anemones are strange creatures. Sometimes they take on strange shapes and show strange behavior for no apparent reason. As long as they aren't spewing out its insides (usually dark brown or red "mucus") I wouldn't worry much about it. Not to say that its not getting optimum conditions, but when they start spewing you really know that you have a problem. I have seen them shrivel up and show like what your pictures show and look perfect the next day and continue to do well.

We have a lot of anemones in our care among several maintenance accounts. We do not feed any of our nems that I am aware of. I also do not feed any that I personally have. From what I have read (I will try to find the source if requested, its been a while since I read up on nems) their metabolisms are dependent on their care. In other words, if they are fed all the time, their metabolisms are then set to require feeding to survive. If they are not fed all the time then they will receive most/all their energy from their symbiotic zooxanthellae.

Its not bad to feed your nems and I am sure it can really help them grow and split, just know that your nem will get accustomed to and require feedings should you start to spot feed. I would contact the person you got the nem from and find out their care regimen and try to replicate it.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

That nem came out of my 90g reef. It was about half way up the tank under 2 - 250W HQI 10K halides and 4 - 54W Actinic T5HO lights. I did not feed my nems, they got everything they needed from the light and whatever they got from the water column. I hope that it makes a recovery and acclimates to your tank

 

[WatercolorsGuy]

That nem came out of my 90g reef. It was about half way up the tank under 2 - 250W HQI 10K halides and 4 - 54W Actinic T5HO lights. I did not feed my nems, they got everything they needed from the light and whatever they got from the water column. I hope that it makes a recovery and acclimates to your tank

Thanks Lyle, I thought that was what I remembered. I think it is, as has been suggested, light shock. So hopefully it will adjust given time. Luckily I had an extra 250w HQI sitting in the closet and this will help it acclimate. I don't think the maroon clown helps much as it is very aggressively playing in the nem...much rougher than a perc does.
Carole was so excited and happy when we got it and put it in her tank 'till it did this. She is very stressed about it and I want to do whatever I can to keep that excitement and happiness going for her again so I really appreciate ALL the feedback we have received.

 

[ShelbyJK500]

I used to get worried about my RBTA's because they would look weird and "sickly" one day and perfect the next. I would definitely consider that it's getting used to a clown hosting if it didn't have one before, especially if it's playing rough, might take a bit to get used to it?? I'm no expert, but lighting aside that's a decent change to it's "lifestyle".

 

[lorilynne]

I agree with Shelby...One other thought...what about flow? My nems really like high water flow.