Lurchin_Urchin
Community Member
Here's a story for you guys:
I've been reefing for around 15 years or so. I've had multiple established tanks. At the time this happened, I was running a 150 gallon, well established mixed reef tank, and some smaller hodgepodge tanks. A friend of mine had one of his RBTA's split and asked if I wanted one since he was running out of room, I said "Sure!" I've always had pretty good luck with Nems. And I had two other BTAs in the tank that were doing great. So I eventually get this little guy, probably 3 inches in diameter, introduce him to the tank, and from the get go... he's just not doing great. He did very quickly find his perfect spot on a newer little island I added in (was going to put some Zoas on it but I guess he can have it) but after that wasn't doing much. I tried hand feeding, I tried moving his rock around to different areas of light and flow... no luck.
After about 3 weeks of trying to get this Nem to turn around, I come home one day and its looking like its going to give up the ghost. Tentacles are completely contracted, mouth protruding, white stringy mucus around it... not good.
So here's the other part of the story: About 3 days prior to this, a cardinal in another tank of mine injured his fin and wasn't swimming well. My quarantine tank was in use to I had to rush to Petsmart (my LFS was closed) and got a very cheap 5 gallon tank with some janky little floss filter on it, brought it home, stuck a little 10W heater on it, poured in some live sand and a bottle of Fritz, and filled it with my saltwater. I just needed something that I could nurse the Cardinal back to health in. And after a day or two he perked up, put him back in his big tank, and just didn't have time to disassemble the makeshift hospital tank.
So back to the "goner" RBTA:
I had just worked a 24 hour call shift, I was exhausted, and had no idea what to do for the poor nem. Sometimes nems are just gonna be nems, and this one didn't seem like it was meant to be. I made the decision that I would just pick up his rock, with him in tow, and put it in the little 5 gallon tank I had just set up a couple days before... because it would be much easier to clean when he disintegrated. So I did just that. Picked up his little rock, sat him in the brand new hospital tank (which had no powerhead, a little LED strip display light, and the heater) and wished him the best. I went to bed and woke up the next morning, fully expecting to need to drain the hospital tank and sure enough... he is not dead. He was quite the opposite, and very much alive. Looking better than he ever had. I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
I kept the little nem in the new hospital tank for a few more weeks, hand feeding him every few days, eventually got him a nice light and a little powerhead... and he completely turned around, grew, and flourished. I ended up giving him (and his rock that he loved) to another friend as I didn't want to risk putting him in my DT and hurting him again. A few months later I heard he was still growing and looking great. It's been a few years and I have no idea what he's up to now, but I'd like to think he's still doing well.
I joked with the friend that if he ever sells the splits he has to list the care requirements as: Thrives with neglect and abandonment.
This is just one of those weird and funny stories I thought I'd share, that to this day, I still don't really understand what happened or how things worked out. Anybody have any similar stories?
I've been reefing for around 15 years or so. I've had multiple established tanks. At the time this happened, I was running a 150 gallon, well established mixed reef tank, and some smaller hodgepodge tanks. A friend of mine had one of his RBTA's split and asked if I wanted one since he was running out of room, I said "Sure!" I've always had pretty good luck with Nems. And I had two other BTAs in the tank that were doing great. So I eventually get this little guy, probably 3 inches in diameter, introduce him to the tank, and from the get go... he's just not doing great. He did very quickly find his perfect spot on a newer little island I added in (was going to put some Zoas on it but I guess he can have it) but after that wasn't doing much. I tried hand feeding, I tried moving his rock around to different areas of light and flow... no luck.
After about 3 weeks of trying to get this Nem to turn around, I come home one day and its looking like its going to give up the ghost. Tentacles are completely contracted, mouth protruding, white stringy mucus around it... not good.
So here's the other part of the story: About 3 days prior to this, a cardinal in another tank of mine injured his fin and wasn't swimming well. My quarantine tank was in use to I had to rush to Petsmart (my LFS was closed) and got a very cheap 5 gallon tank with some janky little floss filter on it, brought it home, stuck a little 10W heater on it, poured in some live sand and a bottle of Fritz, and filled it with my saltwater. I just needed something that I could nurse the Cardinal back to health in. And after a day or two he perked up, put him back in his big tank, and just didn't have time to disassemble the makeshift hospital tank.
So back to the "goner" RBTA:
I had just worked a 24 hour call shift, I was exhausted, and had no idea what to do for the poor nem. Sometimes nems are just gonna be nems, and this one didn't seem like it was meant to be. I made the decision that I would just pick up his rock, with him in tow, and put it in the little 5 gallon tank I had just set up a couple days before... because it would be much easier to clean when he disintegrated. So I did just that. Picked up his little rock, sat him in the brand new hospital tank (which had no powerhead, a little LED strip display light, and the heater) and wished him the best. I went to bed and woke up the next morning, fully expecting to need to drain the hospital tank and sure enough... he is not dead. He was quite the opposite, and very much alive. Looking better than he ever had. I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
I kept the little nem in the new hospital tank for a few more weeks, hand feeding him every few days, eventually got him a nice light and a little powerhead... and he completely turned around, grew, and flourished. I ended up giving him (and his rock that he loved) to another friend as I didn't want to risk putting him in my DT and hurting him again. A few months later I heard he was still growing and looking great. It's been a few years and I have no idea what he's up to now, but I'd like to think he's still doing well.
I joked with the friend that if he ever sells the splits he has to list the care requirements as: Thrives with neglect and abandonment.
This is just one of those weird and funny stories I thought I'd share, that to this day, I still don't really understand what happened or how things worked out. Anybody have any similar stories?
Glad yours made a turnaround and was safely handed off!
