Dieing BTA's (Help!) Specs and Pictures

[Sistom]

I previously had a GBTA (6inch) and a RBTA (4inch) (Entacmaea Quadricolor) until Saturday when my RBTA melted and died. I have been ignoring signs of trouble for a long time after reading all of the threads here but after the death of my RBTA I realized something is definitely not right. For probably the past 2 months both BTA's were spending more time deflated than open and full. I fed them both probably 2-3 times per week with either frozen mysis (thawed) or silversides (cut down to size) when the BTA was open (whether the lights were on or not). The real shocker was that it was my RBTA that died. It had a fairly good color (maybe very slightly bleached) and when it was open looked great. My GBTA was the one I was worried about. He has lost a bit of his color and he is holed up near the bottom of my tank in a cave. When he is deflated it looks as though his foot is just barely hanging on (which is how the RBTA looked before it died). My worry is that my GBTA is next. Here are my specs.

46 Gallon Bowfront
2 Koralia 3 pumps for water movement
Mag 7 Return
Nova Extreme T-5 Fixture 36" "“ 156 watts
(2 x 39w 12000K Aquablue Special ATI)
(2 x 39w Blue Plus T5 ATI)

20 G Long Sump
Skimmer rated for 75gallons
Phosban Reactor running carbon
Cheato / Refugium

Mixed corals (all healthy)
Live sand
60 pounds LR
Mix of small non-aggressive fish
True Perc Clownfish pair hosting in GBTA (not overly rough or believed to be a problem since they never even touched the RBTA that died)
Clean up crew of snails/crabs


Temp: 79-80 Degrees Fahrenheit
Salinity: 1.023 "“ 1.025 sg
Ph: 8.2
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Calcium: 400-420 ppm
Alkalinity: 7 dKH (cant seem to get this to increase)
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Magnesium: Tested once and I know it was fine; maybe 1300ish (ppm)? (Salifert)

I use RO/DI water and ReefCrystals for about a 10-15% water change every 2 weeks during my routine maintenance. I have a refractometer and ensure my water is aged and mixed a day prior to use.

Although my phosphates test 0, I am currently in the process of battling some hair algae on some garbage live rock I got from the LFS. I've had it for about 8 months and it's slowly starting to color up with coralline algae. As it colors up the hair algae is losing ground. I only bought about 10 pounds of it from the LFS and the other 50 pounds I ordered online is amazing and colorful without any hair algae.

Anyway, I just did a 27% water change yesterday during my routine maintenance. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure what is going on but I don't want to lose my GBTA.

Pictures will follow today when I get home if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[papania]

It seems to me that you are doing everything really good, but you feed your BTA more than me. I have a GBTA and it is doing really well, but I only feed it maybe once a week sometimes only once every two weeks.

not sure if that is the solution to your problem.

 

[Sistom]

I appreciate the comment.

I would prefer to only feed once a week but since he was getting so little light being deflated I tried to supplement him with increased feedings. I have ignored this problem for over 2 months because every time I tested the water everything checked out fine. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my lighting possibly? I run the actinics (Blue Plus) for roughly 12 hours? and the aquablue specials (12000k) for 7 or 8? I'll have to double check that when I get home since its been awhile since I looked at the timers. Not sure if this is too much, or to little...

 

[Elliott89]

I know little about Anemones but i have had a similar experience with 2 RBTA's and everything in the tank was as it should be BUT i was feeding alot like you were...i now thinking this is where i went wrong.. i have spoke to many people about this now in the Reefing industry and i am under the impression that overfeeding anemones kills them as they can't digest the food quick enough and it rots inside them! next time i buy a BTA im not feeding it at all except what my fish leave...if your lighting is adequet i really believe heavy feeding isn't necessary...

Any other opinions on this?

Thanks

Elliott

 

[Sistom]

I have read that also and do think its worth mentioning. I will actually give that a try despite my skepticism. From my experience my BTA would either reject the food entirely or just spit it out shortly after being fed if they weren't hungry (which they did occasionally). Now this doesn't do much for water quality but I'm not sure overfeeding would result in death.

Then again, for anyone who has removed a dead BTA, it sure does smell like that could be the case!

I appreciate the input everyone! Let's keep it going!

 

[Sistom]

::Update::

My GBTA has now gone about a week without inflating enough to reach any light. He has partially inflated but not enough to peak out of his cave and its really starting to lose its color. Is this the point I should intervene and attempt to make the situation better for him? If so, what should I do exactly? The last time I just sat back and hoped for the best it didn't work out in my favor and I don't want to just sit and watch my GBTA slowly die. Since entacmaea quadricolor derive most of their energy from lighting I'm guessing I should relocate him to a spot with more light without requiring him to extend so far to reach it?

Could anyone provide any suggestions??? At this rate I would guess he only has about 2-3 days left.

 

[Surfacer]

Lets hear an update on the situation. I have a RBTA that has deflated as well and I am curious as to what happened with yours.

 

[Sistom]

Thanks for the inquiry Surfacer,

I think I read your post about your RBTA? I wouldn't worry about your situation. It is very normal for a BTA to partially deflate on occasion to expel waste. The problem with both of my BTA's is that they spent more time deflated then fully expanded. This contributed to the bleaching and ultimate death of the RBTA. The GBTA I have is still barely hanging in there. I moved him to a higher location in my tank since he was so badly bleached. I'm kinda worried to go home today and see how hes doing.

What confuses me is why my BTA did not move at all the entire time they were struggling. I would think if they wanted more light or flow they would move! Some people cant get there nems to stop moving!

So for now, my water is still perfect but the GBTA may have lost all of its zooxanthellae. I'm hoping there's still enough to make a comeback buts its not looking good.

Who knows, maybe my lighting just isn't strong enough to keep a BTA...I'm clueless at this point.

Thanks for asking though!