BTA help possibly dying

Mattc123 · Apr 23, 2023

Hey all. I received a BTA thru overnight shipping on 04/21 and promptly acclimated it and put it in my 90 gallon tank. He went under a rock pretty quickly and was there all day yesterday. I moved the rock to check on it and possibly feed it shrimp a few hours ago and this is what I saw. Is it sick or dying and if it is, is there anything I can do to help it? Or is it just settling in?
My parameters are
Salinity- 1.024
Temp- 77.7
Nitrate- 3.58
pH- 8.2
Iron- 0
Magnesium- 1170
Calcium- 442
Iodine- .06
Phosphate- .06
Alk- 8.5
Potassium- 410
Light- fluval marine 3.0 with about 50% power except blues and white which are higher.

Nman · Apr 23, 2023

If I can ask how old is your tank
Is it only like this with lights off
How long has it been in your tank

Mattc123 · Apr 23, 2023

Nman said:
If I can ask how old is your tank
Is it only like this with lights off
How long has it been in your tank

The tank is a little over 3 months with fish in it now, it was tucked under a rock all day yesterday so I'm assuming it's like this all the time but I'll know more when the lights come on today, it's been in the tank about 36 hours now.

Mattc123 · Apr 23, 2023

Update- it's still shrunk but now that the lights are on it seems like it might be perking up a bit. We'll see when I wake up!

Nman · Apr 23, 2023

Mattc123 said:
Update- it's still shrunk but now that the lights are on it seems like it might be perking up a bit. We'll see when I wake up!

Yep let it settle in my nems have hidden under rocks for weeks it will come out it’s self . Best thing is let it do it’s own thing. Your tank is young for nems if your tank was full of mature rock I wouldn’t worry if not keep a good eye on your water quality Send a picture in white light after a few hours so we can see what condition the nem is in . And to let other members give you advice and thoughts

Rmckoy · Apr 23, 2023

I’m going to weigh on the side of the tank is too new for an anemone .
it’s possible but might prove to be difficult to keep it happy .

stable parameters are the most important

j.falk · Apr 23, 2023

Shouldn't be messing with it and definitely shouldn't feed it until after it settles in...the more you mess with them, the more you stress them out.

A three month old aquarium with no algae growing on the rocks yet? Definitely not a good environment for an anemone.

olonmv · Apr 23, 2023

Rmckoy said:
I’m going to weigh on the side of the tank is too new for an anemone .
it’s possible but might prove to be difficult to keep it happy .

stable parameters are the most important

Have to agree with this, your tank looks likes it’s barely getting into the diatom stage and still has to go through the uglies. Also, nems love light and from what I’ve read, fluval lights aren’t the best for nem keeping. Keep a close eye on parameters and swings. It probably be best for both you and the nem to either take it back or have a buddy with an established tank hold it until your tank stabilizes.