Rainbow BTA

[kourtnee]

Hello! I am very new, I set up a 50 gallon tank 2 months ago, I tested the water and everything was as it was supposed to be, I went to my LPS and purchased live rock, live rock with BTA attached to it, and 2 clownfish, the same night both clown fish died along with a ton of brittle star fish that came out of the rock I purchased, the BTA does not look anything like it did in the tank before I purchased it, it one split into two last night and I now have about 6 or 7. Sometimes they look very long and stretchy, other times they look huge like they are going to pop and this one looks painfully engorged! I have a family member who lives in Florida and saltwater aquariums are literally her life, she was very upset that the pet store allowed to me to purchase what I did after telling him my tank was new, and even suggested I buy more. She feels he might have been after money instead of the best interest of the aquarium/fish. I feel horrible at this point and am questioning if I should return the BTA. I'm not sure if it's something that I'm doing wrong, or if my tank just wasn't ready! I have a FluvalSmart LED light, it's the same that the LPS was using, and they made my settings to match their light settings that the coral was getting previously. Again I'm still very new so I'm not exactly sure what those settings are, except for what I see, white, blue and red. Then blue alone at night then lights off from 10pm-8am. I had a wave maker that the settings could not be adjusted and it seemed as if it was too high, so I purchased a new one that is not as strong and put that in today.
i have not tested my water yet today because I was bringing it into the pet store in the am to have it tested to see what steps I should be taking next. Any help would be appreciated! I knew coming into this that this hobby is not an easy one, but I'm questioning maybe giving up, as much as I don't want too. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed.

 

[blaxsun]

The first thing you should list are what your tank is, filtration and water parameters.

 

[kourtnee]

The first thing you should list are what your tank is, filtration and water parameters.

thank you! I will do this now.

 

[sfin52]

Hello! I am very new, I set up a 50 gallon tank 2 months ago, I tested the water and everything was as it was supposed to be, I went to my LPS and purchased live rock, live rock with BTA attached to it, and 2 clownfish, the same night both clown fish died along with a ton of brittle star fish that came out of the rock I purchased, the BTA does not look anything like it did in the tank before I purchased it, it one split into two last night and I now have about 6 or 7. Sometimes they look very long and stretchy, other times they look huge like they are going to pop and this one looks painfully engorged! I have a family member who lives in Florida and saltwater aquariums are literally her life, she was very upset that the pet store allowed to me to purchase what I did after telling him my tank was new, and even suggested I buy more. She feels he might have been after money instead of the best interest of the aquarium/fish. I feel horrible at this point and am questioning if I should return the BTA. I'm not sure if it's something that I'm doing wrong, or if my tank just wasn't ready! I have a FluvalSmart LED light, it's the same that the LPS was using, and they made my settings to match their light settings that the coral was getting previously. Again I'm still very new so I'm not exactly sure what those settings are, except for what I see, white, blue and red. Then blue alone at night then lights off from 10pm-8am. I had a wave maker that the settings could not be adjusted and it seemed as if it was too high, so I purchased a new one that is not as strong and put that in today.
i have not tested my water yet today because I was bringing it into the pet store in the am to have it tested to see what steps I should be taking next. Any help would be appreciated! I knew coming into this that this hobby is not an easy one, but I'm questioning maybe giving up, as much as I don't want too. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed.

Deep breath we've all been in your shoes.
Let's start can you give us all you parameters
Alk
Cal
Mag
Ph
Salinty
Temp.
Also can you give us a pic of your tank
@Eagle_Steve.

 

[kourtnee]

Hello! So, I tested my water and realized I had an extremely high amount of ammonia, I'm assuming that's the answer I was looking for! :/
I did a huge water change, and today my BTA all look better then they have since I purchased them. I'm going to guess that I made the purchases before the cycling was done. Should I take the BTA out, and wait for the tank to finish cycling?
Any ideas of what step in the process my tank is on? And what steps I should be taking, to get back on track?
PH 7.4
Ammonia 0.50
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5.0