Help with RBTA

[tdburchett]

I need advice on a RBTA. It was healthy for a few months with long tentacles and great color, then moved to a spot with higher lighting (250 PAR) and higher flow. It ate for a few days there, but then shrunk its tentacles to almost nothing and got very dark, which I assumed (probably incorrectly) was a response to the higher flow and a plus up of zooxanthellae. Without tentacles, it was difficult to feed, but I thought it was getting enough energy from photosynthesis given its dark color. It stayed in the spot largely unchanged for about a month. Last night, it moved under a rock. I tried to feed it shrimp, but it did not eat it. Any ideas what is going on, and what I can do about it? It still hosts two clown fish. Thank you.

Water parameters:
Temp: 78 deg
Salinity: 35 ppt
PH: 8.0
Alk: 8.6 dKH
Cal: 415 ppm
Mag: 1245 ppm
Nitrate: 2.5 ppm
Phosphate: 0.01 ppm

 

[dedragon]

phosphate might be a tad low but matters what test kit you are using. Stop trying to feed the anemone altogether, it will make it worse. It most likely is just trying to recover from moving up too high too fast.

Dont try to feed anemones while they are moving as it could cause problems, but most of the time mine just reject food altogether if they decide to move (i never really feed mine they just get what my fish spit out)

 

[Jekyl]

How old is the tank? What lights being used? Nitrate and phosphate a tad low but probably aren't the issue. I also never directly feed my nems, they eat what they catch or what my clowns feed them.

 

[tdburchett]

How old is the tank? What lights being used? Nitrate and phosphate a tad low but probably aren't the issue. I also never directly feed my nems, they eat what they catch or what my clowns feed them.

phosphate might be a tad low but matters what test kit you are using. Stop trying to feed the anemone altogether, it will make it worse. It most likely is just trying to recover from moving up too high too fast.

Dont try to feed anemones while they are moving as it could cause problems, but most of the time mine just reject food altogether if they decide to move (i never really feed mine they just get what my fish spit out)

Thank you very much. I stopped target feeding it when it moved up and shrunk it’s tentacles, simply because without tentacles, the food didn’t stay put and the anemone had virtually no feeding response.

 

[Jekyl]

Thank you very much. I stopped target feeding it when it moved up and shrunk it’s tentacles, simply because without tentacles, the food didn’t stay put and the anemone had virtually no feeding response.

How old is the tank? Where was the nem purchased? Current photo in white light can also help.

 

[tdburchett]

How old is the tank? What lights being used? Nitrate and phosphate a tad low but probably aren't the issue. I also never directly feed my nems, they eat what they catch or what my clowns feed them.

I use an AI Prime 16 HD.

 

[Jekyl]

I use an AI Prime 16 HD.

Light should be fine depending on settings.

 

[exnisstech]

I would just leave it alone. I quit target feeding my nems a few years ago and they do very well without it.

 

[tdburchett]

How old is the tank? Where was the nem purchased? Current photo in white light can also help.

Tank is 5 months old. I purchased it 3 months ago (too early, I know), though water has been very stable and I have had no other problems with any other inhabitants. It is currently closed up. Here is a picture. I will post another when it opens.

 

[Uncle99]

Nems don’t last long in new systems.
Likely flux in Alk and PH which creates instability in the water chemistry
Are you sure both these have little flux within 24 hours.

 

[tdburchett]

Light should be fine depending on settings.

It was getting about 130 PAR before it moved, then 250 PAR where it stopped for the last month.

 

[tdburchett]

Nems don’t last long in new systems.
Likely flux in Alk and PH which creates instability in the water chemistry
Are you sure both these have little flux within 24 hours.

Yea, newer system is a concern (in retrospect), though PH has remained stable within 0.1 (between 8.0 and 8.1 the whole time), while Alk has slowly changed by up to 1.5 dKH (it started around 10, and I have been slowly adjusting it down over the last two months to about 8.5).

 

[Jekyl]

Tank is 5 months old. I purchased it 3 months ago (too early, I know), though water has been very stable and I have had no other problems with any other inhabitants. It is currently closed up. Here is a picture. I will post another when it opens.

Likely your cause here. Nems take longer that coral do to really start showing that they're unhappy. I will say it seems you're doing the right things in helping it stay healthy. I tried nems from about months 4, 7 and 8 when my tank was starting out. None made it and followed about the same path as yours. Tried again after a year and they flourished. Being at 5 months your tank should be coming into the ugly phase. There are now chemical and biological events happening that they don't make tests for. Keep things stable as you have. Start dosing live phyto daily for the next month or more as directed to on their label (I get mine from algae barn). This can help the nem, ugly phase, and chemistry all in one.

 

[tdburchett]

Likely your cause here. Nems take longer that coral do to really start showing that they're unhappy. I will say it seems you're doing the right things in helping it stay healthy. I tried nems from about months 4, 7 and 8 when my tank was starting out. None made it and followed about the same path as yours. Tried again after a year and they flourished. Being at 5 months your tank should be coming into the ugly phase. There are now chemical and biological events happening that they don't make tests for. Keep things stable as you have. Start dosing live phyto daily for the next month or more as directed to on their label (I get mine from algae barn). This can help the nem, ugly phase, and chemistry all in one.

Great advice, thank you. I currently feed reef roids once a week and oyster feast once a week. Do you think the phyto also needs to be fed in addition to these? Also, kind of the sad question: when you lost your nems, at what stage did you remove them? Did you wait for them to actually die and hope to catch/remove them before they nuked your tank, or did you remove them when they were sick to cut your loss? I really want to give it every chance to recover (it is my wife and son’s favorite), but also don’t want to lose the whole tank. Anything else I can do to help? It sounds like the consensus is don’t target feed, keep water stable, and hope for the best.

 

[Jekyl]

Great advice, thank you. I currently feed reef roids once a week and oyster feast once a week. Do you think the phyto also needs to be fed in addition to these? Also, kind of the sad question: when you lost your nems, at what stage did you remove them? Did you wait for them to actually die and hope to catch/remove them before they nuked your tank, or did you remove them when they were sick to cut your loss? I really want to give it every chance to recover (it is my wife and son’s favorite), but also don’t want to lose the whole tank. Anything else I can do to help? It sounds like the consensus is don’t target feed, keep water stable, and hope for the best.

Phyto is completely different than the food you are feeding. They're live organisms that are the lifeblood of the oceans. Without phyto basically the planet would die. As far as the nems, once they started deteriorating was when I removed them. Basically looked liked they were melting away. If it doesn't work out, or for future purchases try finding local reefers selling them. Better health, quality, size and prices this way. Also no shipping.

 

[tdburchett]

Phyto is completely different than the food you are feeding. They're live organisms that are the lifeblood of the oceans. Without phyto basically the planet would die. As far as the nems, once they started deteriorating was when I removed them. Basically looked liked they were melting away. If it doesn't work out, or for future purchases try finding local reefers selling them. Better health, quality, size and prices this way. Also no shipping.

Great. I will look into Phyto and give it a try. So far, the nem still looks solid. I will keep a careful eye and remove it if it looks like it is melting at all. I really appreciate the good advice.

 

[tdburchett]

Phyto is completely different than the food you are feeding. They're live organisms that are the lifeblood of the oceans. Without phyto basically the planet would die. As far as the nems, once they started deteriorating was when I removed them. Basically looked liked they were melting away. If it doesn't work out, or for future purchases try finding local reefers selling them. Better health, quality, size and prices this way. Also no shipping.

Sorry, one other question about Phyto. Reading it, it sounds like it’s main purpose is to outcompete bad algae. Since my nutrients are already on the low end and I am running chaeto in a refug, would Phyto still help, or could it make it worse by removing the last few nutrients?

 

[dedragon]

phyto dosing in low quantities shouldnt hurt anything

 

[Jekyl]

Sorry, one other question about Phyto. Reading it, it sounds like it’s main purpose is to outcompete bad algae. Since my nutrients are already on the low end and I am running chaeto in a refug, would Phyto still help, or could it make it worse by removing the last few nutrients?

I think at 5 months you're coming up on the worst phases of algae for a tank. My ugly phase didn't really get awful until around 7 or 8 months, which lead to my suggestion. You will still need to monitor your parameters closely and might need to increase feeding. However I think the phyto will help with the maturing process, keeping the ugly phase in check, pod growth and can actually increase nitrate while getting established. The best thing for our tanks is heavy in and heavy out for nutrients. If you find your numbers dropping, it just means you can feed your friends even more.

 

[tdburchett]

I think at 5 months you're coming up on the worst phases of algae for a tank. My ugly phase didn't really get awful until around 7 or 8 months, which lead to my suggestion. You will still need to monitor your parameters closely and might need to increase feeding. However I think the phyto will help with the maturing process, keeping the ugly phase in check, pod growth and can actually increase nitrate while getting established. The best thing for our tanks is heavy in and heavy out for nutrients. If you find your numbers dropping, it just means you can feed your friends even more.

Great, thanks! I will give this a shot.