Dying anemone? Or just new tank syndrome (long post)
- Thread starter blake2shay
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blake2shay
New member
I did two 15% over two weeks. Water quality is great
blake2shay
New member
If not getting a pair of clowns now, I was thinking to get a small blue angel or some such fish to test out just have a fish again
I believe your problem is based on your alkalinity. An alk of 6 in 1.026 water is well below what any salt mixes at and I assume you are not adding any as you say the tank only gets mysis (if you are adding you are likely not adding nearly enough), and low alk can cause an issue for your anemone. The most prominent issue is pH swings as most of the buffering capacity in saltwater comes from the compounds which are measured by dKH, and buffering loosely refers to the solutions ability to resist changes in pH. A more adequate target would be between 8 and 9 ideally stable within + or - .5 dKH for the animals you are keeping.
High temperatures also seem to have this effect on BTA's but I am almost certain your alk is the issue. Also remember that alk needs to be in a good balance with your calcium and magnesium. Good number for a beginner to shoot for on these 3
alk: 8-9
calc: 400-450
mag: 1280-1350 (I would bet you have a deficiency here also)
I would also reiterate the early point that this nem should not be fed until it is healthy and that ice cubes are not a good method for moving BTA's especially ones stressed by being in a new environment or showing signs of poor overall health which should not be moved at all. The ice cube method can work but it is very important to make sure the nem is healthy enough for this and that the water is RO/DI in the ice as tap water contains heavy metals and things such as chlorine.
Anemones use hydrostatic pressure to hold their shape and interact with their environment, this means that they are particularly sensitive to changes in the water as they are constantly taking in and releasing water as they move, deflate and inflate. That BTA is far from dead but I would begin make corrections to the water chemistry, monitor your temp and if you are using a swing arm hydrometer to measure salinity I would get it checked by hydrometer just to be safe.
Also, based on the picture you posted as it when it was first placed in your tank it looks as though your LFS may have sold you one that was already struggling somewhat as it looks a little bleached. Just my 2 cents
High temperatures also seem to have this effect on BTA's but I am almost certain your alk is the issue. Also remember that alk needs to be in a good balance with your calcium and magnesium. Good number for a beginner to shoot for on these 3
alk: 8-9
calc: 400-450
mag: 1280-1350 (I would bet you have a deficiency here also)
I would also reiterate the early point that this nem should not be fed until it is healthy and that ice cubes are not a good method for moving BTA's especially ones stressed by being in a new environment or showing signs of poor overall health which should not be moved at all. The ice cube method can work but it is very important to make sure the nem is healthy enough for this and that the water is RO/DI in the ice as tap water contains heavy metals and things such as chlorine.
Anemones use hydrostatic pressure to hold their shape and interact with their environment, this means that they are particularly sensitive to changes in the water as they are constantly taking in and releasing water as they move, deflate and inflate. That BTA is far from dead but I would begin make corrections to the water chemistry, monitor your temp and if you are using a swing arm hydrometer to measure salinity I would get it checked by hydrometer just to be safe.
Also, based on the picture you posted as it when it was first placed in your tank it looks as though your LFS may have sold you one that was already struggling somewhat as it looks a little bleached. Just my 2 cents
Oops, missed the post about the faulty hydrometer. Glad to see you got that sorted. Also your ammonia and nitrite looked like 0 to me and considering how low your nitrate it is highly unlikely you would have either in a tank set up for any time over a month (Nitrate reducing bacteria are the slowest to appear in a tank, and if you have nitrite you have nitrifying bacteria which appear quickly and quickly turn ammonia to nitrate). I would strongly suggest monitoring alk, calc and mag going forward for the BTA but even more so for the torches. You would be surprised how much faster they, and the coralline, will grow.
A great read on reef chemistry that is perfect for a not so new beginner:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/
blake2shay
New member
The test kit I have doesn't test for calc or mag. Is that something I should really being testing for in terms of the nems health? The mysis I feed does come from an ice cube however I thaw it in a glass of water that I take from the tank and let sit to even out in temp before putting in the tank. I feed with a dropper and sometimes will pinch a group of the shrimp with my fingers and drop them just above the plant and let them drift down. On the 22, (3/22) my alk tested at a 12, then a water change put it at a 2 and a day ago another water change (2.5 gallons) put it at a 5. My ph has been stable, by that I mean it hasn't changed more than 0.4 over the past month ( when I put in the nem) I am very pleased in using the refractometer now and find myself even checking the salinity for fun. I did report back to my lfs about the nem and he said he had four and sold three. I was one of the three. He said of the others, one nem died, and the other already split. His that he still had looked very stressed. Like mine did about two weeks ago
It looked a little something like this. This nem has become a wake up call for me in my tank monitoring and care system.
It looked a little something like this. This nem has become a wake up call for me in my tank monitoring and care system.
blake2shay
New member
I see that Red Sea has a testing kit for kh, ca, and mg as well as a supplement package too. Does anyone use this or any other way to boost or test for those?
I personally test with salifert, but have used the Red Sea tests on a few occasions and they are equally suited for giving accurate results. If you by the alk, calc and mag kit you can also purchase refills for the reagents rather than buying the whole kit again which makes them cheaper long term than the salifert which is pretty cool.
Whatever you have been testing alk with up to this point appears to be highly inaccurate based on those numbers and what you did.If you like the Red Sea I would highly recommend grabbing their kits and you wont be disappointed. As far as their relationship to the nem it is mostly based on tank stability, and I would again recommend reading the link I posted above. It even has a great chart right at the top with a quick reference to recommended parameters levels, and the article goes on to explain in a basic way the overall role of each parameter in our tank and which ones are more important to test and dose for.
As for the chemicals to dose with, Red Sea is very high quality and would be a good place to start since your tank is relatively small the extra cost wont seem like too much burden in the short run. Once you get the hang of it there are cheaper versions which do the same thing.
Good luck, and keep asking questions as it is the best way to learn.
P.S. - The fact that one of the other nems died, his looks stressed, yours has been stressed and the other split (for a newly added nem this is also usually a sign of stress and is not a good thing) leads me to believe it was not the best batch of nems. However, like you said this has put you on the path to better water chemistry and that is a big positive.
Whatever you have been testing alk with up to this point appears to be highly inaccurate based on those numbers and what you did.If you like the Red Sea I would highly recommend grabbing their kits and you wont be disappointed. As far as their relationship to the nem it is mostly based on tank stability, and I would again recommend reading the link I posted above. It even has a great chart right at the top with a quick reference to recommended parameters levels, and the article goes on to explain in a basic way the overall role of each parameter in our tank and which ones are more important to test and dose for.
As for the chemicals to dose with, Red Sea is very high quality and would be a good place to start since your tank is relatively small the extra cost wont seem like too much burden in the short run. Once you get the hang of it there are cheaper versions which do the same thing.
Good luck, and keep asking questions as it is the best way to learn.
P.S. - The fact that one of the other nems died, his looks stressed, yours has been stressed and the other split (for a newly added nem this is also usually a sign of stress and is not a good thing) leads me to believe it was not the best batch of nems. However, like you said this has put you on the path to better water chemistry and that is a big positive.
blake2shay
New member
The kit I use for alk is from Red Sea, I will be testing in an hour or two when I get home. I did have trouble with getting a definite result the last time I tested.
Hmm...
well somewhere there is a testing issue with alk as going from a dKH of 12 down to 2 in a one week span with just a water change is highly unlikely unless the water change was 100%, but even then would be tough because of the buffer all ready present in fresh salt even at a low SG. Calcification could take some away but calcification pretty much halts at a dKH of 5.
well somewhere there is a testing issue with alk as going from a dKH of 12 down to 2 in a one week span with just a water change is highly unlikely unless the water change was 100%, but even then would be tough because of the buffer all ready present in fresh salt even at a low SG. Calcification could take some away but calcification pretty much halts at a dKH of 5.
blake2shay
New member
I had only done two 15% water changes over the month and one the other day of like 5~%
blake2shay
New member
So I've seen pictures of rose BTA's from Google, and I see this
and I'm wondering if my anemone will become this red. Right now I like its color as it has hint of pinkish red to it in places.
