Need HELP with my BTA

C4ctus99 · Mar 15, 2023

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really have any actual mechanical filtration in my tank

hob refugium
T5s (2 actinic/purple ati, 2 warm Home Depot

)
15-20 pounds of live rock (11 from out of the Gulf of Mexico from @sbreefco)

the anemone got really happy once I put in the t5s and started using the purified water. The green film algae also got really happy

but the coralline is starting to overrun that too.

Mine is a newer tank too, so we will see if everything holds up, got it beginning of October but broke it down and rip cleaned it when I moved it back in December, then got the anemone ~6 weeks later, so way too early

hope that helps. I got the t5 fixture used and modified it for my tank

I think having the actual liverock helped, I ended up with amphipods, a serpent/brittle star, an extra snail, porcelain crab, and some other stuff which helps with not having much mechanical filtration

melonheadorion · Mar 15, 2023

first things first. SPS in my experience is what tends to react the most when it comes to nitrates, and MAYBE some colonies of zoas.
The tank i have my RBTA has nitrates at 21, and it has absolutely no issues. i have had the RBTA for less than a year and it has split 3 times, holds its color, and does just fine. i dont want to rehash all of the info already given, because it is all correct, and good info. i will say that the plastic stuff....ditch it. replace it with something useful like more of the rock. I wouldnt let nitrates go nuts, but having elevated nitrates wont hurt it. ammonia is a no-no. regardless of what other people have, you dont want to follow it and have any elevated ammonia, but thats where more rock comes in. bacteria within it will help keep ammonia away.

before allowing yourself to be sold more stuff, cruise these boards and familiarize yourself with saltwater fish keeping. getting accustomed to being able to keep fish alive is important. this gives you time to learn about different aspects of this, being able to keep live things alive, and then move onto something that requires more knowledge. unfortunately, most want to jump right into anenomes and other coral without knowing better, and its mostly to blame for places like petco that just want to sell an item. i was one of those that was super interested in keeping all the cool things, but i used an LFS that was more concerned with me knowing the ins and outs before going to crazy.

Viamustang1 · Apr 7, 2023

Bucs20fan said:
Also, around 6 months alot of those plastic tank decorations, like the ones you have , start to deteriorate in salt water, this could be leeching any number of things into your water.

That's what I've been hearing, well, the damage is done anyway. Everything else is fine, so I just give up with nems. Expensive and just not for me right now. Thank you!

Viamustang1 · Apr 7, 2023

melonheadorion said:
first things first. SPS in my experience is what tends to react the most when it comes to nitrates, and MAYBE some colonies of zoas.
The tank i have my RBTA has nitrates at 21, and it has absolutely no issues. i have had the RBTA for less than a year and it has split 3 times, holds its color, and does just fine. i dont want to rehash all of the info already given, because it is all correct, and good info. i will say that the plastic stuff....ditch it. replace it with something useful like more of the rock. I wouldnt let nitrates go nuts, but having elevated nitrates wont hurt it. ammonia is a no-no. regardless of what other people have, you dont want to follow it and have any elevated ammonia, but thats where more rock comes in. bacteria within it will help keep ammonia away.

before allowing yourself to be sold more stuff, cruise these boards and familiarize yourself with saltwater fish keeping. getting accustomed to being able to keep fish alive is important. this gives you time to learn about different aspects of this, being able to keep live things alive, and then move onto something that requires more knowledge. unfortunately, most want to jump right into anenomes and other coral without knowing better, and its mostly to blame for places like petco that just want to sell an item. i was one of those that was super interested in keeping all the cool things, but i used an LFS that was more concerned with me knowing the ins and outs before going to crazy.