bta on the loose

[php1775]

i have a green bta that i got from a fellow reefer 3or4 months ago and it came attached to a rock where it stayed untill i put a good size piece of hydnophora about 10 inches away from it a week or so ago.it was content for a couple of days settling on the underside of a cave ,then started popping up between the rocks getting pretty close to some of my favorite corals.im getting a little nervous that it may come in contact with and possibly sting and damage some of my corals in its travels.i have softies ,lps and sps.what should i be worried most about,and should i discourage it from getting too comfortable in those areas with a light touch with a safe object untill it appears in a safe zone?any suggestions?

 

[jr_reefdweller]

Well, I find they kill sps the fastest. Unfortunately it will probably continue to move until it finds a place it likes and then will settle. Maybe you should just wait for it to stop moving and then make sure there are no corals that it could touch.

 

[biggyclops]

i have a green bta that i got from a fellow reefer 3or4 months ago and it came attached to a rock where it stayed untill i put a good size piece of hydnophora about 10 inches away from it a week or so ago.it was content for a couple of days settling on the underside of a cave ,then started popping up between the rocks getting pretty close to some of my favorite corals.im getting a little nervous that it may come in contact with and possibly sting and damage some of my corals in its travels.i have softies ,lps and sps.what should i be worried most about,and should i discourage it from getting too comfortable in those areas with a light touch with a safe object untill it appears in a safe zone?any suggestions?

IMO i would remove it.. not worth worrying about it stinging your other fav coral.. unless you really really like it.. then i would move your fav coral up high and see where the BTA stays.. once its there i would move all the other coral back down (use a frag rack out of egg crate).. but then again it could get up and move again..

 

[Matt L.]

The easiest thing to do is let them find a spot, and the place corals far away.

They can and will move, and they can and will kill anything they come in contact with.

Moreover, they will split, and the two halves usually move some distance from each other.

A good way to get them to move away from something is to direct a powerhead at them. They won't like the direct flow. Shading the area where you don't want them can also work.

Matt

 

[afboundguy]

Def keep an eye on it. To help keep them from splitting don't spot feed them and try to keep the tank stable and when you get new lights/replace bulbs make sure to acclimate them to the new lights. I've read that when they split it is sometimes a survival reason when they are stressed due to too much light or bad water conditions.

I've been lucky and my BTA is quite happy where it is. I also am smart and only have equally aggressive corals (hammer and frogspawn) and some GSP which I could care less if it gets stung, it just keeps me from having to rip it off lol...

 

[php1775]

thanks for all the help and info.he finally surfaced again in a very populated area, and it was on a rock that i could easily move to my smaller tank where he cant do any harm.gonna miss him in the big tank ,but dont want to worry about him roaming around while im at work,better safe than sorry.

 

[this is me]

BTA will kill absolutely anything in its path. Best way to contain it is to put it on a rock and kept the rock isolated from other rocks in the tank. BTA hate the sand and will let its foot touch the sand IME

 

[php1775]

i never knew that they hated the sand have to remember that in the future--thanks