A huge update on my fish journey...

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

Hello guys! It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted on here

Last time I was on here, I had a 25 gallon fish tank (hence the name haha) however in July i got my dream tank. A 450 litre / 120 gallon fish tank! It’s been running very smoothly, and I cycled it for 5 weeks before buying fish. I used all my knowledge to help get here and all that knowledge came from you guys so thanks to the whole R2R community Currently I have 4 clownfish (2 are from my old tank that I transferred), a blue tang, a blue damsel and a fox face rabbit fish! I also have my original anemone that is now 3 medium nem’s that naturally split over the last 7 or 8 months. Just three days ago or so, I picked up a white BTA similar to my current however not an RBTA. So far this nem has been thriving but struggling to attach to a rock so of course I came to the best reef forum out there. anyways, hope you are all having a nice day and If you have any help as to why my anemone is struggling to attach then that would be great! Also, any questions about my tank just ask!!

j.falk · Oct 25, 2020

White BTA = a bleached out anemone...this means it hasn't been properly cared for and is slowly dying. It needs good lighting, good quality water and good nutrition to bring it back to a healthy state.

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

j.falk said:
White BTA = a bleached out anemone...this means it hasn't been properly cared for and is slowly dying. It needs good lighting, good quality water and good nutrition to bring it back to a healthy state.

Oh... that’s interesting. How do I know if it’s regaining health?

Cole.mormon · Oct 25, 2020

Color will return

Cole.mormon · Oct 25, 2020

Feed it give nutrients ect

Cole.mormon · Oct 25, 2020

I hate it when the lfs has white anemones and are like 45 dollars im like what the heck

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

Cole.mormon said:
I hate it when the lfs has white anemones and are like 45 dollars im like what the heck

I bought mine for around that and I’m now worried

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

Here are some closeups. Do you guys think my nem is dying/ dead?

j.falk · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Oh... that’s interesting. How do I know if it’s regaining health?

The color will slowly start returning. It takes a long time to return them back to health. Good lighting is the key. Not having good lighting is what causes them to bleach in the first place.

j.falk · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Here are some closeups. Do you guys think my nem is dying/ dead?

View attachment 1848002 View attachment 1848006

Dying yes...in a sense. The fact that it's not holding onto the rock is not a good sign. A healthy anemone will firmly attach it's foot to the rockwork.

Dead...no. If it were dead it would look like a pile of mush and smell horrible. Like this:

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

j.falk said:
The color will slowly start returning. It takes a long time to return them back to health. Good lighting is the key. Not having good lighting is what causes them to bleach in the first place.

Okay thanks, take a look at the photos. What do you think? It doesn’t look like a proper white bleached nem online but I’m pretty sure it is. Also, I use AquaIllumination lights designed for a reef tank so I hope that will help!

j.falk · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Okay thanks, take a look at the photos. What do you think? It doesn’t look like a proper white bleached nem online but I’m pretty sure it is. Also, I use AquaIllumination lights designed for a reef tank so I hope that will help!

AIs are very good lights. They should be able to bring it back to health.

The best advice I can give you is don't buy a bleached anemone ever again. It's not worth the headache. Know what you are buying before you make a purchase. That anemone is definitely bleached.

MnFish1 · Oct 25, 2020

Nice tank - have you checked the PAR levels? Are your lights mounted a little high? I like the scaping btw. is the anemone eating?
Here is a pretty basic article that has a lot of anemone (BT) information:https://aquariumstoredepot.com/blogs/news/bubble-tip-anemone-care

MnFish1 · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Okay thanks, take a look at the photos. What do you think? It doesn’t look like a proper white bleached nem online but I’m pretty sure it is. Also, I use AquaIllumination lights designed for a reef tank so I hope that will help!

There are still some zooxanthellae - at least it looks like that on the picture - The AI lights are great - but what are your settings? i.e. what level? If you can borrow/rent a PAR meter it would be helpful to see where you're at.

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

MnFish1 said:
Nice tank - have you checked the PAR levels? Are your lights mounted a little high? I like the scaping btw. is the anemone eating?
Here is a pretty basic article that has a lot of anemone (BT) information:https://aquariumstoredepot.com/blogs/news/bubble-tip-anemone-care

Lights are at recommended level for this size tank (can’t quite remember exact “) also thanks for the feedback on the scape. I feed flakes and frozen shrimp alternatively so only fed frozen shrimp once since I’ve had him. I’ll let you know later on!

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

MnFish1 said:
There are still some zooxanthellae - at least it looks like that on the picture - The AI lights are great - but what are your settings? i.e. what level? If you can borrow/rent a PAR meter it would be helpful to see where you're at.

Not sure what a PAR meter is in complete honesty but I’ll ask one of my reefing friends for one haha. My lights are on 25% peak on the actual app itself which is quite low but i can always try higher if that’s what you recommend.

MnFish1 · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Not sure what a PAR meter is in complete honesty but I’ll ask one of my reefing friends for one haha. My lights are on 25% peak on the actual app itself which is quite low but i can always try higher if that’s what you recommend.

A PAR meter 'reads' the 'amount' of light that is reaching whatever level you place it at. If you check out the article - it suggests a PAR level of 200-350. I don't know which AI lights you have - (i.e. which version) - but when I owned them I had them at 70-80 percent at the peak - with a 10-12 hour total cycle. A PAR meter can be expensive - so - often LFS will lend them out for a small fee (or even for free) - and you can check - and adjust your lighting. If you look at your AI settings, I believe they have an acclimation setting - so that you don't change things too quickly. (In other words you dont want to change from 25 percent to 80 percent overnight)

Hope this helps

Oscar’s25Gal · Oct 25, 2020

MnFish1 said:
A PAR meter 'reads' the 'amount' of light that is reaching whatever level you place it at. If you check out the article - it suggests a PAR level of 200-350. I don't know which AI lights you have - (i.e. which version) - but when I owned them I had them at 70-80 percent at the peak - with a 10-12 hour total cycle. A PAR meter can be expensive - so - often LFS will lend them out for a small fee (or even for free) - and you can check - and adjust your lighting. If you look at your AI settings, I believe they have an acclimation setting - so that you don't change things too quickly. (In other words you dont want to change from 25 percent to 80 percent overnight) Hope this helps

Thanks for all the info and I’ll give the article a read right now. Also... how big was your tank when you owned the Ai’s?

I’ll do the acclimation feature and set it to maybe 50 or so.

MnFish1 · Oct 25, 2020

Oscar’s25Gal said:
Thanks for all the info and I’ll give the article a read right now. Also... how big was your tank when you owned the Ai’s? I’ll do the acclimation feature and set it to maybe 50 or so.

a 5 foot Red Sea reefer. If I remember correctly - I had them about 8 inches over the water level (might have been 10) - now have Radions - 8 inches above tank level. (PS I had the AI Hydra 52's)