BTA HElP 911 Asap

[Martyg6]

For the past four days my rose bta will look great than at the begginning of the next light cycle. it will look all shrivled up with its mouth open. First time it happened i did a water change and it was back to normal. 2 days later the same thing is occuring. Is this normal or is there something seriously wrong. Some white mucus like stuff is coming out of her. Thanks for all your input. Please help

[Martyg6]

Here is pic, any suggestions
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/105310Bya.jpg

[dhnguyen]

1. What are your water parameters?
2. How long have you had the anemone?
3. Did you feed it anything recently?
4. Was there any purging?
5. How much flow in the tank?
6. How long has the tank been setup?

[Martyg6]

water quality in proper parameters
2 weeks i ve had the anemone
fed it a 1/4 piece of shrimp 2 days ago
no purging
2 maxijet 1200s with hydor 360
7 months since fully cycled

[dhnguyen]

Hi Marty,

You're gonna have to be a bit more specific than "water quality in proper parameters" Anemones by and large are creatures that are very sensitive to water condition.

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
pH
Alkalinity


Also are you using RO water?
Has it moved?

D.

[Martyg6]

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 8.4
Alkalinity 3.77meg/l

using distilled water and instant ocean sea salt
Hasnt moved since first day i got it.
Does it look sick to u??? it does to me but im a newbie

[dhnguyen]

Those looked fine how about your SG or salinity? Temperature?

By the way what test kit(s) are you using?


D.

[Martyg6]

salifert and hagan.
temp ranges from 79-81 throughout the day.
1.022

[dhnguyen]

Hmm your SG is a bit low. I would raise it slowly up to 1.025 and see it that would imrpve things.


D.

[Martyg6]

thanks for all ur help. just to clarify. That pic shows the anemone's in rough shape, right. defintly not normal???

[dhnguyen]

Well it's not entirely abnormal for anemones to shrink from time to time especially if it's purging after a meal for instance. I would keep an eye on it for a few days and see if things improve once you bring that SG back up where it should be.

D.

[Martyg6]

thanks alot ill keep u updated

[DaveAngie79]

if that is a red tip lighting is also a little more critical

[DaveAngie79]

i had a standard with t5 only lasted almost a week and all things in the water checked out the only thing could have been the lighting ive heard that bta's prefer MH lighting

[pitt_prodigy]

I've had mine for 2 months under 265w PC (10k and actinics) and the thing is friggin flourishing! But when i first put it in the tank it shrunk up for a while.... then came back..... then shrunk again. After that it has stayed puffed up. 2 days after i added it, it stopped walking around and found a place it liked in a LR pile about mid tank (close to the return outlet so its tentacles get gently blown around). RBTAs need good flow and 02 in order to grow well. I dont really have to feed mine due to my GSM feeding it ever chance it gets! It is about 9" in diameter now (just smaller than the size of a dinner plate) and i think that if the clown keeps feeding it like it has been id imagine it will split in a few months.

My params are:
pH = 8.0
nitrate = > 10ppm
nitrite = 0
amonia= 0
Ca = 430ppm
alk = 8-12 kDH
phos = 0
sg = 1.026

Lighting is 12hrs actinic.... 8 hours 10k in the middle.

Where is the white stuff coming from? BTAs can heal from pretty significant damage.... unless the foot is injured. If the foot gets damaged they usually die.... at least that is what my friends experiences have shown.

[Martyg6]

I have a 150w mh. Last night got impatient and did a 10 percent water change. also tried to feed it shrimp and silversides in really small pieces. rejected the food but today anemone is perfect and clown is all over her. Thanks for all your help. im gonna post a pic in a little bit. We'll see what happens over the next few days

[Martyg6]

Looking better but color isnt there.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/105310Bya_001.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/105310Bya_002.jpg

[anthworks]

Look pretty good to me.

[OCDP]

It looks much better. A lot better.

Perhaps it was just re-inflating itself with new water.

FWIW, I have kept numerous BTA's and an RBTA. They all closed up, shrivelled up, then re-inflated. Sometimes daily.. or nightly, etc..

Keep your paramaters in check, don't have any sudden changes in the tank. Stability is key. When it looks good (as it does in the photo) feed it. It could probably use some food.

Scott