BTA found inside the RSM filter!

[tyleratl]

I just got back from out of town. My neighbor had been adding water and food for me. I looked around and couldn't find one of my two rose Bubble Tip Anemones. I couldn't find him, but noticed something on the RSM water intake grate. Sure enough, 95% of the BTA was already inside the filter material chamber. I had to cut a small bit of tissue to get him untangled from the filter and remove him from the filter material chamber. He's back in the tank on the bottom. Anybody think he'll survive? It's amazing that he squeezed through the RSM grate!

 

[Arreola]

tyleratl - OUCH!!!!
Hope it survive, I've seen some BTA bruned with the heater and still survive.

Best of luck
Arreola.

 

[chriswho]

I saw a story about a guy who's BTA got into his filter intake, and he pulled it out and stuck it back in place. Within a couple of days the BTA had twisted it's body so that there was a piched area between the head and foot. The anemone finally detached from the foot and a new one grew on the foot. It was really weird. He had pics and everything... Come to think of it this may have been a LTA.

 

[Reefmack]

tyleratl - there have been a couple of RSM owners that have had BTAs get hung up in, or go through that overflow gate, and had the anemone survive. I don't recall any that didn't survive. I remember seeing a picture of one that looked like snot, hung up in that grate, and I think the person just shut off the pumps for a while and was able to extract the anemone. When I first saw those pictures I couldn't imagine that BTA surviving, but it did. In some cases these things are a lot hardier than most think they are.

 

[tyleratl]

I just think its amazing that it was able to squeeze through the grate. Anyway, he has affixed himself to a rock as of this morning. So far, so good!

 

[lcstorc]

It has always amazed me that one of the most delicate animals can be so tolerant of physical damage.
At a reef club meeting last week we were talking about BTAs and he was saying the easiest way to get them to split is to drop a rock on it.
Hopefully it will recover. Unfortunately it is not likely to learn a lesson and may do it again.

 

[chriswho]

Ya. I think somewhere on this site someone had a BTA get into a powerhead and ended up with several of them. This time I'm sure it was a BTA, because it was green. I remember seeing the pictures. He said it looked like he had grass growing in there.

 

[Reefmack]

tyleratl - how's the anemone doing?

 

[tyleratl]

Reefmack - He appears to be doing fine. His shape is a little strange since the filter grate episode, but he stays open most of the time and his color is pretty good. I think he'll recover completely after a while. These BTA's appear to be able to put up with quite a bit of abuse, such as stretching themselves into two daughter anemones. I have two of them, but only bought one!

 

[chriswho]

Splitting is usually a sign of stress or great water quality... Was the split recent, or maybe after a large water change?

 

[tyleratl]

Chris... The split was several months ago and was within a month or two of purchase. The BTA was very large when I bought it. I can't recall doing a large water change before the split or any tramatic experience. The lady at the LFS commented that it might split when I purchased it because of a crease or pre-split line that was beginning to show.