BTA questions

[weez1959]

So I finally decided to take the plunge and get an anemone after the major disaster that happened about a year and a 1/2 ago!
my clowns took to it almost right away! The female's big butt doesn't really fit but she likes it anyways!
Questions...
1) how big will this little guy get?
2) is this a natural color or was it dyed?
3) how often should I feed it?

Aren't they CUTE!!!!

[Ninong]

There are at least two different morphs of Entacmaea quadricolor. One of them gets considerably larger than the other. The larger strain can get as big as 16" (400mm) across the oral disc. You probably have the smaller one but I really don't know for sure. Certainly you remember the photos of zhenya's BTA tank, right? He started out with just one of them and within five or six years he had dozens of them that had devoured his entire tank.

As far as coloration is concerned, that is one of the color variations that is commonly found in the hobby trade. The other main color variation that we find for sale is the rose color. You're not likely to see the drab, tan or brownish looking ones offered for sale because they probably aren't collected due to lack of demand.

P.S. -- The ones that are greenish in color, such as yours, can be pale greenish-tan or bright bluish-greenish-grayish. And the rose colored ones can be pinkish or deep orange colored, or sometimes a dark orange-brown.

[Ninong]

You should feed it twice a week. Three times a week max! Once a week would not be enough for this species. Never feed two days in a row. It will eat almost anything. Gene feeds silversides but they will eat small pieces of supermarket shrimp. It's better if you don't remove the shrimp shell. You should discard the head (assuming you can even buy fresh shrimp up there) and then chop the shrimp into small bite-sized pieces, depending on the size of the anemone. Don't throw the shell away. Feed it shell and all and raw! Your anemone is very small.

[Ratpack]

Just curious to why givea BTA the shell with the shrimp?

[Ninong]

Just curious to why givea BTA the shell with the shrimp?

"The appropriate diets for individual anemones should be determined by systematic testing of various potential foods, such as diced fish or whole shrimp. While it is broadly possible to predict what the diet will be differences within subpopulations may lead to specialization for alternative prey. Fortunately, Entacmaea quadricolor appears to be a bit of a dietary generalist, thriving on fish and crustacean prey, thus many foods are acceptable to it. When feeding, the whole prey item should be fed. Predators get important and essential nutrition from all parts of their prey including the guts and internal organs." -- Be a Host to Your Anemone, by Dr. Ron Shimek

It's OK if you prefer to remove the shell but feeding with the shell would be more natural and raw is better than cooked. I would still remove the head. Unless you can find some very small raw shrimp at the local market, you will probably need to cut the shrimp into appropriately sized pieces -- unless your anemone is really large.

In their natural environment, there is no one there to peel the shrimp before they eat it.

P.S. -- In addition to the advice Ron provides in that article, he has been asked specifically about whether the shrimp should be peeled first and his answer was that it should be fed with the shell.

[Lance]

I would feed it raw seafood like shrimp and clams. They can get pretty big and if under good conditions will split apart to form 2 . You can controll there growth by limiting feeding to 1 time per week. But i would feed atleast twice a week now to increase size for your clowns. They grow fast.

[weez1959]

But i would feed atleast twice a week now to increase size for your clowns. They grow fast.

Yes I know what you mean, at night when it's lights out, they both snuggle up in it and the female takes up most of the space, poor little guy is always falling out of bed!

[zhenya]

Louise,

From my experience the green morphs tend to stay on the smallish scale and don't reproduce as often as my rose variants. As Ninong had indicated you should feed it about twice a week with some meaty fares.
Also, the green color morphs seem to produce true bubble tip tentacles, so good luck!

PS. If you have any other concerns, please PM me.

[weez1959]

Thanks all!
So far it's doing good, it hasn't once looked distressed and has stayed put since day 1 so hopefully this little guy will give me the confidence to keep an anemone like everyone else

[Starfish]

Well I have about six bubble tip amemonies, minis a gren and a red. The red bta is getting pretty large. Sometimes he is 5 inchs across, with long tenticals sorta like a giant dalia. We have had it for about six months. The other day I thought it was gone. I looked and looked and thereit had moved to another spot, same rock, tiny about the size of a golf ball, the bubbles were huge. Just like the picture. So after two days it was huge again with long legnthy tentecles why does it look this way and does it change so much? Always seemes healthy though. Any Speculation?