got ethical husbandry?

How did my RBTA escape?!

iCon

iCon

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So I was looking at my tank (and still am as I type) and noticed an RBTA sitting in it.... Very curious... I never wanted one in here... Chalices, acros, etc....small tiny fish.

It didn't appear by magic... I ran out of room in my bta tank and put two holding pens with btas in them into my main display. Each is open top but the walls are well above the waterline....maybe 1/5-1/4" above the water. The pens have holes...maybe 3/8" in diameter max. The waterline never goes above the walls of my holding pens. How on earth did the bta escape?!

Is there something Im missing here? Can they walk out of water? Squeeze through tiny holes like an octopus? What?! The bta is about 4" when open with a foot of 1.5-2"...

Any ideas? Now I just have to hope it finds a happy spot and doesn't sting anything = or hope it moves to a spot for extraction...
 
They can squeeze through pretty small holes, IME.
I have yet to see one "walk" out of water, though others may chime in.
 
Just like a mouse.
Except one thing. Not limited by the size if it's skull.
He went right through the 3/8 hole.
 
Damn it... I thought that would have been small enough to keep them in there without any problems. Oh well - At least it's a nice RBTA.. Its picked a nice spot so far...Not touching any corals and fairly far away from the pumps/overflow.

I could always kalk it but for now I'll just keep my fingers crossed...
 
lol. It's just that it took so long to get my tank semi-stable after so many moves/tank changes/etc. that a bta wandering around and stinging everything is one of the last issues I want to deal with. We'll see how it goes.
 
99sf said:
I would love to trade you something for the escape-artist BTA... save it from the kalk! 0:)
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That's really the problem, though...I can't get it out = It decide to attach itself to one of my larger rocks. Hopefully it stays there or walks to the middle front glass for easy removal.

However, I may have another BTA laying around. If you're interested - PM me :)
 
Mr. Ugly said:
iCon said:
99sf said:
That's really the problem, though...I can't get it out = It decide to attach itself to one of my larger rocks.
Click to expand...
Just use a powerhead or turkey baster to pester the anemone where it's attached and it will let go.
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Thanks for the suggestion - I've done that in the past with some success - In most instances, it just made the BTA bunker down. I'll give it a shot later today but the foot is in a tunnel in the middle of my rock work so it's not too easy to access with a ph.
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