[chrism66A]

I purchased a new BTA from my LFS 3 days ago it seemed ok at first and moved around alot it has moved to the back of the tank under a large rock where is hardly any light it has shrunk very much. It had an inch hole throught the centre of it 8 hours ago i could see the rock behind it. The BTA is now closed up face down in the sand looking very unhealthy (pic attached). The tank is 55 gallon with protein skimmer 1 power head currently has carbon in filter, water levels look ok. Any help would be gratefully received?

[Reefland]

Hi chrism66a, Welcome to Reefland!

Could you tell us a bit more about your aqaurium including how long it has been set up, the exact water parameters and other inhabitants of the reef? Also if you could detail the equipment that would be helpful.

[chrism66A]

Firstly thankyou for the speedy response. Tank is 35 gallon setup about 10 weeks ago using RO water. Equipment 170 watt aquamedic sea light, 1 powerhead, aquamedic P/S, 40 lbs of live rock. Tank slowly built up with inverts, coral etc. No fish yet! Water quality: salinity 1.027, pH 8.3, calcium 380, no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. Currently have activated carbon in powerhead pump. Thanks again

[Reefland]

The Salinity may be a little bit high, I target for 1.025 - 1.026, depending on your acclimation procedure and what the salinity was in the LFS holding tank, that could be a bit of the problem. What kind of lighting was it under at the store?

[chrism66A]

Exactlty the same tank it was a bundle deal, when the LFS got the BTA in they even placed in the same tank setup as i have in the store. Another source advise me to move the BTA with an ice cube it had a large hole in the centre of it 10-12 hours ago, i did the Ice cube thing (touching it on its foot) it looks like this now(O this is upside down just before i palced it on a different rock! Is this bad?

[Reefland]

It doesn't look good to me; if it were me I would probably go ahead and remove it from the tank.

Something about your tank that anemone didn't like, perhaps it is simply the age of your tank. You should consider not trying to add an Anemone into this tank until it has started to mature, around the 5-6 month mark.

[chrism66A]

Ok thanks for the help, what will have caused it to have this large hole in the centre?

[Reefland]

The Anemone was definitely stressed from something, perhaps a temperature difference, salinity difference or other.

FYI the icecube trick that you used is only a means to try and get the Anemone to detach itself at the base.