RBTA question

[MrTreat]

hey, just wondering if the rose bubble I got is doing ok. I've seen really nice dark red ones but mine has been this neon pink for as long as I've had it. Will it ever darken up, or is this a different type? It eats silversides and seems to be happy in the tank.

[Myka]

That nem is not happy. It is bleached and it won't hang on forever. What kind of lighting do you have? BTAs are tolerant of lower light levels, but too much light will cause them to bleach. How often do you feed it? Are you sure it isn't spitting the silversides out an hour after you feed it? It looks quite small, and they won't usually accept silversides unless they are fairly large. I feed mine mysis shrimp, fish pellets, and homemade frozen food.

[MrTreat]

I bought it like this a few months ago ...I cut the silversides into thirds and feed it 1 part every week or more. I have 2 fluvalsea LED bars on top of my 90 gal

[MrTreat]

I only started target feeding the nem about a month ago... it's a bit bigger but it's footed back behind the rock and pushes out this far. The only time that it's let go of food was when my stupid cleaner shrimp ripped the chunk of silverside out of it's grasp. ...will it get healthier and color back up, or did I buy a doomed nem?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by MrTreat

I bought it like this a few months ago ...I cut the silversides into thirds and feed it 1 part every week or more. I have 2 fluvalsea LED bars on top of my 90 gal

I just looked at those light fixtures. I think the ones you have have 692 LEDs but only 64 watts which is 0.9 watts per LED. That means the light is not going to penetrate very deep and the light is really suitable for aesthetics rather than lighting corals (or anemones) unless it was on a really shallow tank. There is no way these light bars will penetrate enough intensity to the bottom of a 24" deep 90-gallon tank.

Having said that, how far down is the anemone? Can you move the rock closer to the light? As I said, BTAs don't need a lot of light, but if they aren't getting enough light to thrive then they need to be fed lots to make up for it. Since your anemone is in poor condition you should try to provide both - good light and good nutrition. You can up the feedings to 3x per week, and move it closer to the light if possible.

Originally Posted by MrTreat

will it get healthier and color back up, or did I buy a doomed nem?

It could recover with some help from you.