BTA spits its food back out??

[NoobSalt]

Hey all, has anyone ever seen a BTA take food, and then about 4 hours later, spit it back out, whole? Earlier today, I fed my green BTA about 1/4" of silver side, and it took it and ate it, and all of a sudden about 4 hours later, it spit it back out, the same 1/4" piece just like it was when I gave it to him.

I have not fed my BTA silver sides in a while, it was doing quite fine with the clown feeding it bits of mysis and brine, but i figured it would be anice treat and to see how it does, and to my pleasure, it took the piece of fish. SO I am a bit shocked to see it spit it back out! has anyone ever seen this before and have an explanation??

On a side note, I just got a new Acan frag, it was too good a deal to pass up, 10$ for this frag with 3 heads. I have caught my electric blue hermit going right for it. Do they happen to like feasting on Acans?

I attached some photos so perhaps I could also get an ID of exactly what kind of acan it is if anyone happens to know.






Thanks friends!!

[Original Fin]

I've had two GBTA's and they would both do that on occasion too. I'm not sure why though.

As for the crab, sometimes they are just after algae and detritus that may be stuck to the coral. Especially when it's got that new coral smell to it.
Keep an eye on it, but the crab may just be doing it's job. Some corals are temporarily irritated by it, but most of mine have gotten used to hermits crawling all over them.


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[NoobSalt]

Thanks Fin. For now, the crab just went right for the piece of silverside the BTA spit out so its ok for the moment. I will def keep an eye on it, I just worry while Im at work tomorrow, the acan becomes a nice lunch for the hermit....

[Kmoriarty]

When I thought about getting a BTA, I was doing lots of research on feeding before I ultimately decided to put it off for a while. In that research I came across a few threads suggesting that silversides are not the best BTA food. They indicated that silversides often don't provide the nutrients and elements that BTAs need to thrive. Could be a common occurrence but those same threads seemed to universally state that saltwater invertebrates were a better choice...raw shrimp, scallops, clam, etc. Try something like that and see what happens. I definitely want to follow this thread as I'd like to get a BTA at some point for my clowns. Best of luck!

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

The only times I've witnessed my GBTA regurgitate is when I feed it too much, the food is too large or when I feed it too often. I feed a variety of foods from krill, shrimp, silversides, and squid. I always thaw, rinse with RO/DI and soak the food in fat/vitamins. I also try to cut the food into small pieces (the size if the nems closed mouth). In my case, that's about the 1/4 inch range. so far, it seems to have been working out well. My nem has grown from the size of softball, to about the size of a dinner plate (maybe a little smaller). On another note, try not to depend on the clowns to feed the nem. I've seen mine drop food on the nem, only to go and steal it right back. It's definitely a good idea to feed it regularly. I feed mine about three times a week and haven't seen it regurgitate in some time.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Just reread that you fed a 1/4 inch piece. It may be normal like Fin suggested but I wonder if it's possible it rejected the food because it's not what it's been normally eating (both in size and type). Just a thought...

[NoobSalt]

Hmm...Foco you could be on to something. If you remember a while back, my nem was not doing so good b/c the clown was just too aggressive, (as it was with the other clown and has since been taken back to the LFS. It damn near killed my nem and my other clown and my finger haha) anyhow, since then, maybe like 2-3 months ago, I let it be on its own, didnt directly feed it or move it or anything, it moved on its own under a rock for like 3-4 days, then up to the side of that rock. It started getting its bubble tips back and looking really good, so i just let it do its own thing. Yesterday I noticed it was looking really good in tips, color, size, so I thought I would treat it to a silver side, and it took it right in, then later on spit it out.

Maybe it was too big to break down, or maybe, it just didnt like it,who knows....I'm going to not feed it one for another few days, and try a smaller piece. I will let you all know how it turns out!

[zhenya]

When I thought about getting a BTA, I was doing lots of research on feeding before I ultimately decided to put it off for a while. In that research I came across a few threads suggesting that silversides are not the best BTA food. They indicated that silversides often don't provide the nutrients and elements that BTAs need to thrive. Could be a common occurrence but those same threads seemed to universally state that saltwater invertebrates were a better choice...raw shrimp, scallops, clam, etc. Try something like that and see what happens. I definitely want to follow this thread as I'd like to get a BTA at some point for my clowns. Best of luck!

Here's tank full of BTA anemones that were fed nothing but silversides.



Not sure why would someone say that it is a less acceptable food than shrimp or squid, I had pretty good success with it. Main thing is you need to experiment with different variety of food items to determine what works for your particular anemone. You can't bunch them up all in one and say that raw shrimp will work better than any other food, even if it is the same species of anemone. Fact is that they could be from a different area and food item available in one spot could be totally different from the spot 50 feet away. Don't forget, anemones are stationary animals and get what they can that is around them within reach.

Nub, I wouldn't worry too much about your anemone spitting piece of food and simply try some other food that you can get your hands on at your local fish store.

[NoobSalt]

Just wanted to give an update. I fed the BTA a much smaller piece of silverside and did not see it spit it back out, so perhaps it was just too big a piece of fish. Thanks for the input everyone!