RBTA Issue

[ERIC85854]

I went on vacation for a week and while I was gone turned off the skimmer because I didn't want the person taking care of the tank to mess with it. I also stopped carbon dosing 3 days before I turned the skimmer off.

When I got back the water level was all screwed up because my cat pushed the gate down on the overflow which raised the water level in the sump so fresh water wasn't being added for a couple days.

When I got home I fixed the overflow gate position and then added ~2-3 gallons of RO/DI water. Anyway, one of my anemones has been all small and shriveled up since I got back. I'm sure if it may have been the rapid change in salinity from adding the RO/DI water too fast or something else like rise in nitrates. I tested my nitrates when I got back and it was between 5-10ppm. It is now around 5 after changing ~20 gallons of water. The other anemone looks good but not great and keeps moving around (may be become emerald crabs disturbing it). My corals (GSP, Hammer) look good.

Here is a picture of the anemone from a few minutes ago. His foot was also not sticking to objects very well and he kept going down in the sand before I put him in a hole on a rock.

Tank - 54g
Sump - 10g
SG - 1.026
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 5
Kessil - A360WE
Current Orbit Marine LED Strip - 23 watt

 

[Dkuhlmann]

How low did the SG go? How fast did you raise it?

 

[ERIC85854]

The sg would have been high when I got back due to less water volume from evaporation. I have no ATO and the cat lowered the water volume in the display tank (raising in sump) by stepping on the HOB overflow surface skimmer gate. Consequently, the person taking care of the tank didn't add any fresh water for a couple days because the level was high in the sump.

When I got back, after I adjusted the overflow (raising DT water level), I added the freshwater quickly to the sump. So it was maybe around 1.028 to 1.026 quickly.

 

[ERIC85854]

Now the other anemone has a bunch of stringy white stuff (mucus?) around the base of it and the anemone is moving around.

 

[ERIC85854]

Here's the best picture I have of the white stringy stuff around the foot area.

 

[ERIC85854]

Could it be from lighting shock? I switched from 2x Current USA Orbit Marine LED strips (23 watt each) to a Kessil A360WE along with one of the Current strips.

 

[TrevorHenry]

Sounds like you just stressed them out. Keep your water parameters in check for a few weeks and see how they recover from this incident.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Anemones need a stable tank. That goes for parameters as well as lighting. If you have fluctuating parameters, temp, sg and so forth your anemones will not be happy or healthy. Stability is the biggest reason its said to wait at least 6 months before you get an anemone.

 

[TrevorHenry]

You will be alright just keep the tank in check for a bit and they will recover bud.

 

[ERIC85854]

Thanks guys. The tank has been up for 8 months.

My uncle has around 10 healthy RBTA in his tank and I was curious what his water parameters were compared to mine so I tested them today. I actually got both of my anemones from him a couple months ago. Anyway, his nitrate level is near 100 and he's had these anemones for years. My nitrate level is between 2-5. I guess more can be said for stability than specific water parameters.

From what I've read I didn't think they would flourish at those nitrate levels. Go figure...