Exposing rbta to air

K

kyle

[My RBTA has been wandering quite a bit over the past week. Currently he's perched in the upper portion of my live rock stack.

I'm worried about the upcoming water change. If we do what has been our normal 25% water change, the RBTA will be exposed to air for at least a short while. I guess my alternative is to do the change in smaller stages but that really dilultes the impact of the change. The only other thought I had was to syphon the old water from the bottom of the tank while simultaneously refilling with new water from the top. I know there will still be some mixing but think that would work better than five 5% changes. Any advice would be appreciated!]
 
[I've had the same challenge and proceeded with confidence and mondo mucho bueno haste to get the change done! However, I've only done it with small-med rbtas as I think the problem would be tissue support rather than temporarily out of the water...but then sea creatures are usually so much more tougher than we give them credit for...
You will want to have your water change at the same temp and salinity as the tank water...

The other thing you can do is to gently nudge it offen the rock before doing the water change - since it has been migrating around another change of scenery may be just the thing it needs...]
 
[Kyle I have seen anenomes in low tidal zones, that were out of the water for periods a low tide. Though they certainly could be different species. I would think though that it is always best to not expose any invert to air for too long. And your idea of doing a water change while draining and filling at the same time is exactly the way I do mine. I pump the new water into the sump and siphon out of the tank. I watch the water level in the sump and sometimes have to squeeze the tubing on either hose to keep the water level adjusted.]
 
[I've had to do that in the past, change water with a BTA up high in the tank. I actually pump my water out, which takes less than 3 minutes. Then I pump the water back into the tank (into a submerged plastic cup to avoid blasting sand and livestock), and the water change is done in under 10 minutes.

The BTA will either move on its own, or stay there and wait it out. It should be fine.]
 
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