# BTA question



## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

My orange BTA has been hiding for 3 weeks now... Is this normal?

Amo=0
No3=0
no4=.3

PH =8.2
Sil=1.024
Temp=78.5

I can still see it, But its hiding, So its not dead, Not bleeched... I dont know.

It was feed 2 times a week, Either Octo or Shrimp.


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## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

how long was acclimation? when lights come on is it or parts of its body in the light or always in the shade? or does it come out in the light and when they go off for the night it retracts back into its cave?


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Its been in the tank for a month now.

No part of its body sees the lights


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## marblerye (Jul 25, 2010)

that's cause for concern.. since anemones require light to grow and survive due to the zooxanthellae they have. if it's constantly in darkness its colors will fade and bleach which basically means the zooxanthellae die off. 

when bta move it's often because they are not happy with flow, light, water conditions or a fish/invert bothering it. what they'd do is move around until they find a spot that it likes and then plants its foot. when lights come on its foot stays put but its body stretches out and tries to catch the light as much as possible. if bta's expand really large during lights-on it's because they are trying to maximize their surface area in order to catch the most amount of light. this could mean the lighting isn't that great and that they are trying to make due with what they can get. 

this is the common behaviour of a bta so you can see why what's going on with yours is bad. i've experienced anemones moving into caves for a day but always peep out the next day into the light because they crave the light when it's available. 

can i ask is it still bubbling up, expanding, or staying plump while its hiding or does it look deflated? you said you feed it twice a week; does it take the food and when/if it does will it grab it with its tentacles and bring it into its mouth? and does it routinely expand one day, retract and deflate the next? this would give you a good indication on whether or not it's eating and digesting the food at least. it's really strange for an anemone to stay in darkness for 3 weeks straight.. has the color of the anemone changed at all? because if the light is WAY too strong for it now than when it was in its previous tank at the LFS then it could be light shock but that wouldn't explain the hiding for such a long period.. afterall it would still take the light but due to the light intensity cause the color shift..

lol sorry for being all over the place.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

when it was out It was 7-10" big, Now its 1-2".
It took food like a champ, A few times my clowns almost went in the mouth.

From what i can see its still Orange and a little green.


Should i try forcing him out?


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## Kweli (Jun 2, 2010)

I would do some searches on nano-reef or reefcentral

I remember reading some people with this issue.....


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

My BTA was sulking terribly in December. He looked dead only he wasnt melting. I was just keeping up with water changes and watching for further deterioration. Then before I went away, I started going lighter on my 2 part since I wasn't sure if my friend/housesitter would want to do it every night and I didn't want it suddenly eliminated. He started getting better but I attributed it to the water changes. Then while I was away in January, my friend noticed that when he DID add the 2 part, the nem went back into hiding. For some reason he was irritated by Kent 2 part. I'm using BRS 2 part now and he's doing AWESOME!


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