Help please. Very Pale RBTA.

[Hal]

My RBTA has lost most of its color. It's been in the tank 6 weeks. It only has some pale pink on its tips. It is still well bubbled, and generally is open/expanded to its full size of 2-3 inches. It was a decently solid red when I got it.

Salinity= 1.020 (low)
pH= 7.9 (low)
Amm= 0
NO2= 0
NO3= 0
Alk = 6.1 dKH (low)
Ca= 235 ppm (low)
Mag= 1140 (low)
PO4=0

The tank is somewhat new. It was setup Feb 14 of this year (2012), with all new sand. The live rock (150 lbs) was transferred over from my old tank, as was 100 gallons of water.

I dose Biodigest (1 ampoule) every 2 weeks.

Lighting is 10K. XM's I think. Lighting is OLD. Like 2 years or more old. Lumenbright 3 reflector. Still very bright.

The RBTA is about 12 inches offcenter from the bulb, in a crevice. It gets pretty good light being that close to the bulb.

Sorry for the lousy pics. I had to shoot through the end of the tank in order to see the RBTA.

Any ideas for a diagnosis and what I should do to fix it?

 

[bradleym]

You already listed most of the things to fix. Do those. Especially salinity, alk, and pH. You should really stay on top of those three if you're going to have any chance of recovery in a newer tank.

 

[Islandfever]

Raise your salinity, keep temp stable, spot feed with mysis everyday. Do not overfeed so it does not raise your nitrates. Raise your actinics slightly to help the zooanthellans recover inside the nem.

 

[Hal]

Raise your actinics slightly to help the zooanthellans recover inside the nem.

Sorry, I should clarify that my actinics are not on right now. My hood for the new tank is under construction, so I only have the single MH operational right now.

 

[ssgtgonzo]

What other inhabitants are there? Definitely need to raise salinity, that will help out with the ph too. With salinity so low, the osmotic pressure is off, causing the anemone to become over hydrated...the water is literally sucking the salts from the anemone's tissues. Do NOT raise it too quickly though...that is almost certainly a death sentence for the nem.

Do check out karensroseanemones.net...lots of good info.

 

[killerbubbles]

first, raise the salinity to 1.026. then raise the mag to 1350-1450. then start on the ca and alk. you have to raise the mag first, otherwise the ca and alk won't be stable at all. these need to be done in increments, and as already stated - slowly.

 

[Islandfever]

how long has your actinics been down? Work on it and get it back up. Correct your parameters. If i were you, your next bulb change the spectrum to 14k or 20k.

 

[Hal]

Other inhabitants are:
yellow tang
2x false perc clownfish (who ignore the RBTA)
diamond goby
green chromis
2x pep shrimp (I assume, since I don't see them; they hide in the rocks)
1x Mex turbo snail.

I started to raise the salinity. I'll do it over the next 2-3 days. I know to go slow when raising salinity. I added about 2 cups of salt yesterday. Will do the same today. Total water volume is close to 300g.

The actinics have been out for months. I wondered whether that is a factor. It wouldn't be difficult for me to bring them back online if it'll help. I'm looking for guidance here.

Bringing the mag up shouldn't be a problem. I've got Randy's mix of mag sulfate and mag chloride. I'll need to check a reef calculator to see how much I need to add. I should be able to do that pretty quickly since I only need to add about 200ppm.

I need to reread how to raise the alk w/o dropping the pH. Anybody have a preference for a particular method? I think I need to start by bringing my kalkreactor back online with my ATO.

Raising the Ca could be an issue since I'm so low and the water volume is so high. I'll need something like 2x jars of Kent Turbo Calcium. I don't think that DowFlake is available this time of year; maybe I'm wrong. Does Ca even matter to a RBTA?

 

[killerbubbles]

Ca shouldn't matter with a nem, but it's part of the system's overall balance. Randy has an article on making your own 2 part.

 

[Islandfever]

Try this. http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm

 

[ssgtgonzo]

IME BTAs love flow. Perhaps it is where it is where it is not getting proper flow. This can happen if it finds a spot it REALLY likes (a nice hole where its foot is protected). In its current condition it may be too weak to move or even eat. Will it accept food? Does it show a stinging response? You may need to hand feed it. I've been doing the same with a nem and its bouncing back nicely. My progress: http://corareef.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14626

For my BTAs, flow is a huge factor. They go downhill quick if they don't have it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Touring]

Why are your salt levels so low? Do you not have sea salt? it seams you want him to die

 

[Hal]

IME BTAs love flow. Perhaps it is where it is where it is not getting proper flow. This can happen if it finds a spot it REALLY likes (a nice hole where its foot is protected). In its current condition it may be too weak to move or even eat. Will it accept food? Does it show a stinging response? You may need to hand feed it. I've been doing the same with a nem and its bouncing back nicely. My progress: http://corareef.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14626

For my BTAs, flow is a huge factor. They go downhill quick if they don't have it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

I'm running an MP40 in the tank, so it's getting somewhere between 4-13x turnover just from that (reefcrest mode), and then about another 4x turnover from my return pump. I can boost the flow if needed. I have 2 more MP40's available. The RBTA is on the far side of the tank from the MP40, so it isn't getting strong direct flow.

It's difficult to say whether it's accepting food. Due to it's position in the tank I can't observe it well. I'll shoot some frozen mysis on top of it with a turkey baster, but it usually retracts in response, and I can't tell if it has grabbed any food as part of that retraction or not.

I'm not sure what a "stinging response" is, so I can't answer that.

 

[Hal]

Why are your salt levels so low? Do you not have sea salt? it seams you want him to die

Your comments seem intended to be inflammatory, and I'm not going to respond.

 

[killerbubbles]

I'm running an MP40 in the tank, so it's getting somewhere between 4-13x turnover just from that (reefcrest mode), and then about another 4x turnover from my return pump. I can boost the flow if needed. I have 2 more MP40's available. The RBTA is on the far side of the tank from the MP40, so it isn't getting strong direct flow.

It's difficult to say whether it's accepting food. Due to it's position in the tank I can't observe it well. I'll shoot some frozen mysis on top of it with a turkey baster, but it usually retracts in response, and I can't tell if it has grabbed any food as part of that retraction or not.

I'm not sure what a "stinging response" is, so I can't answer that.

if it retracts, them it's probably grabbing some food. It can take a while before they regain their color.

 

[ssgtgonzo]

Stinging response is if it feels sticky. When they are going downhill they won't/can't expend the energy to fire off nemotocysts.

I had been hand feeding my nem...get a small piece of silverside or krill or raw table shrimp, and literally hold it over its mouth. DO NOT push it in! It will take some time (longest for me was 30 minutes) but it should eventually take it. Karen suggests this everyday until it is looking better. Took mine about 2 weeks. Can't stress enough that the pieces be SMALL. Too much food at once will rot inside and kill your nem.

My flow is a spray bar with a 1000 gph pump running all the time. So it gets laminar flow and there is no prop to accidentally shred any nem. My prop tank has been thriving under this setup.

Good luck!

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[Hal]

Update: I brought my kalkwasser reactor back online. That should help with the pH and calcium. I also brought my last 2 Vortech's online, so I have the master on 1 end of the tank and 2 slaves on the opposite end. Still in reefcrest mode.

I've been target feeding the RBTA with mysis. It seems to be sticky and eating, but it's a little tricky to tell.

No noticable change in the color so far, but it's still early.

 

[killerbubbles]

could be too soon to tell. i've had bubbles take weeks before regaining their color losing it.

 

[Mavrk]

It is very important to feed a bleached BTA daily at first. Then you can move to every other day when it starts to get some color, and slowly transition to whatever your normal feeding schedule is. Without the zooxanthellae, it will starve.

 

[Hal]

Update: The smaller of my two clowns has started nuzzling the RBTA. It'll swim up to the RBTA, stick it's head into it for a few seconds, then swim away. I didn't see any food transfer, or any food in the clown's mouth, but I view this as a positive step.