BTA Vs the Hermits

Sideburns

Non-member
I got a green BTA at the last meeting. It seems to be doing ok. It doesnt hide and looks nice and green. I fed it krill at first, but now have silversides, which seems to elicit a better feeding response. Its my first BTA, so I dont have any experience.
When I feed it, the BTA takes a long time to swallow the food. The hermits mob it and have been able to steal food right out of the BTA.
Does everyone see this? Does having a clown host in the BTA provide some sort of protection from maurading hermits? Should I get a clown right away, or should I give the BTA a month or so to settle down.
 
give the hermits something else to pick on and maybe try smaller piece for the BTA to swallow. it should fold over on itself to cover the food.
 
I had the same problem, i tried to feed the whole tank like Yaktop said before feeding BTA. If you feed around the same time then it will keep hermits and shrimps busy while you feed BTA. I keep the frozen food in the small turkey baster handy and when i feed the BTA and if i see any shrimps or crabs crawling over to BTA then i just put some food directly near them using turkey baster.
You can also scare them away using small sticks or turkey baster. Just make sure you won't stress out BTA while doing this. If you BTA is happy in your tank for a while then i don't see why you can't add any clowns to your tank. It's another issue if they will host them any time soon. Just carefull when you select clown as if they are aggressive (like maroon etc..) they will also stress out your BTA.
HTH
Shoeib
 
If the problem persists, and you need to do something about it, you can make a protective feeding dome for the anemone. It's really easy.
All you need do is take an clean & empty plastic 2L soda bottle and cut off the bottom. This then becomes the protective dome. Use a turkey baster to add food through the top of the soda bottle.
Works for target feeding sun polyps too.
 
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