Bubble Tip Anemone Struggling- Any Suggestions?

bunk

New member
Hello Anemone Keepers of Reef Central,
I am in need of some anemone help. My bubble tip anemone is struggling. I have attached pics of its current state and what it looked like three months ago when I initially bought it.

Specs:
Tank size- 25 gal display with 10 gallon sump
Parameters all look good, alkalinity stays around 11-12 KH and calcium around 440 ppm. Nitrates and nitrites are 0. salinity 1.025
Other tanks inhabitants- 6 line wrasse, 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 clown goby, small zoanthid colony away from anemone, kenya tree, and GSP

Factors that could be contributing to nem stress:
-2 very attached clowns
-Lack of flow: prior to today I had one 700gph powerhead for the tank which seemingly provided adequate flow, I have just added a 400 gph powerhead to increase flow today
-Lack of food variety- only fed store bought shrimp (not mysis, but occasionally when feeding the fish I will sprinkle some mysis onto the nem which he accepts and eats readily)
-Lack of salinity stability- currently without an ATO, trying to keep salinity around 1.025 with manual adding of RODI alkalinized (baking soda) water
-Occasional Ca2+ supplement with "purple up"- about once a week in between water changes

The anemone readily ate the shrimp i fed him yesterday which it has typically not had trouble eating. I have seen it shrink up before, but never like this and never for as long as this. It has been looking this way for most the day with stringy material being expelled from its mouth. In attempts to revive it I have increased the flow of the tank and did a 25% water change yesterday. Any suggestions on how to help would be immensely appreciated!
 

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how old is your system?
how long have you had the BTA?
what lights are you using?

Your BTA looks pretty good on the first 2 pictures. last picture shows some stress (mouth open). But it could be from acclimating to your new tank.. or from trying to poop out left over food (usually 1-2 days after feeding).. or from expelling zoo (from acclimating to your tank or sick).

my new BTA looks like your 3rd picture during first 2 weeks of acclimating.. then its mouth would stay tightly closed.

in the mean while, you can stop feeding and observe. they do not need food to survive. IMO feeding sometimes bring more stress. keep parameters balanced as best as you can. I would stop messing with the flow.. your BTA might keep moving from changing flows
 
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What lighting do you have? Also the age of your tank please. You need to keep water stable for anemones. BTA's don't like a lot of flow and they will move to a place where they are comfortable.

This all said your anemone appears to be bleached and not doing very well in the third picture.
 
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