RBTA not fully opening anymore and loss of color

[josh27]

Well I'm not too sure what is going on with my rbta. About 2 weeks or ago i noticed my nem wasn't opening up like it used to. Since then it doesn't open much at all and its base is seeming to become pale. Any ideas on what may be happening?

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Here is the most recent pick I have of it fully expanded.

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[bradleym]

Yep that's bad. Looks like its bleaching. 3 top questions:

How old is the tank?
What are the parameters (with numbers)?
What lighting are you using?

Also, less likely but may help - what and how often do you feed it?

 

[josh27]

The tank is about 1 year old
0 ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phosphates
1400 Mag
420 Cal
9 alk

I have a 6 bulb t5 light and feed about half a cube of mysis a week

 

[Slickcg33]

ph,salinity,temp? when was the last time you replaced your bulbs, do they have individual reflectors? how high are they off the water? that tank looks a lot newer than one year old.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Don't take this the wrong way, but why does your tank look so dead? A healthy tank this old/established would normally be covered in coralline algae...

 

[josh27]

ph last time I checked was 8.2 I believe. I keep my salinity at 25 or 26 and my bulbs are only about 3 months old with individual reflectors. I'm not positive why I"m lacking coralline but I thinks its because of starfish. I can't remember their name but I have a ton and always see them going over my coralline and after they pass that spot of coralline is gone. I also just remembered i recently got 3 peppermint shrimp. Could they be trying to eat it or something along those lines?

 

[bradleym]

Don't take this the wrong way, but why does your tank look so dead? A healthy tank this old/established would normally be covered in coralline algae...

Yeah that's why I asked about the age of the tank. The only thing I've heard of eating coralline is urchins so that's weird. But IDK much about starfish. Also, it looks like nothing in that tank has been there for more than a month or two. Your frags are small, no large leathers or colonies, etc.

Did you have a tank crash? Or did you just leave it sit empty for like 9 months? Or maybe it was "fish only" until recently? Something just seems off and it is likely the cause of your problem, or at least making it worse.

 

[bradleym]

Well I'm not too sure what is going on with my rbta. About 2 weeks or ago i noticed my nem wasn't opening up like it used to. Since then it doesn't open much at all and its base is seeming to become pale. Any ideas on what may be happening?

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Here is the most recent pick I have of it fully expanded.

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HOLD THE PHONE!!! Is the bottom picture the most recent of all the pictures, or just the last time it was fully open? There appears to be a lot more coralline in the top two pictures is why I ask. The top two appear to be more recent than the bottom one. Is this the case?

 

[josh27]

It's the most recent pic I have of it opened just to give an idea of what it's doing. I also just recently began to add corals I didn't want to add any then get my nem and have it walk over all the corals luckily it never even moved.

 

[bradleym]

Ok, so to be clear, technically the bottom picture is the oldest of the three you posted right?

 

[josh27]

yes

 

[bradleym]

Well that's very different! The tank looks much more aged in the upper pics. And the upper pics also show a pretty healthy color IMO. It is probably hiding somewhat from the lights, and they typically like to have their foot well-hiddden so it seems to be acting normally.

 

[josh27]

I just don't understand why it has stopped fully opening now. I guess it's happy though or it would have moved already.

 

[Anemone]

Do you have a skimmer? When was the last time you did a water change (and how often/much do you change)? Do you add any additives? Salinity? Temp?

As others have mentioned, you tank looks very sterile for a year old tank, and something in the water chemistry may be out of whack. What that is, well, there's the "art" of reefkeeping.

Kevin

 

[josh27]

I do have a skimmer and I change 10 gallons of water every week. I keep my salinity at 25 or 26 and my temp stays at 77.

 

[todd williams]

A few things come to mind.

1) Water: Water changes are your friend when livestock appear to be declining. If something is out of whack changing the water often will improve the situation. As you say that you do frequent water changes and that has not helped, maybe you should let it go a while and see if your tank does better with less frequent changes. I know when my tank was a year old I was doing water changes much less frequently. Once a month or two on my 220g but that is just me and everyone has their own opinion on that. The appearance of your tank suggests to me that something is not right with your water. A one year old tank should have much more life going on IMO. Good life or even bad algae or something. Your tank appears to have something inhibiting growth. It looks too sterile. Have you changed anything you put in the tank? Additives? Something new may be the clue.

2) Test kits fresh? Maybe your numbers are not as good as you think?

3) Food: What are you feeding? I feed silversides (weekly), cyclopese(weekly or more), and Nutra Kol "Nutra Plus"(every few days to a week) . My Roses seem very happy and split regularly. I have one that has become 5 and many more returned to LFS for credit. Maybe it is not getting what it wants nutritionally.

4)Water flow: Move your powerheads to a different position. Mine like a little movement but don't really like being blasted.


My first guess would be the quality of your water. Somethings missing, something is overdone, or there is something in there that should not be there.

Good luck

 

[josh27]

I am now pretty sure it is one of my peppermint shrimp. I just saw it standing on top of my nem picking at it. Would this be enough to cause the nem to stay retracted all day?

 

[incloud]

How'd you make out? My RBTA is suddenly acting weird and not fully extending like it normally does. I think it is just moving but not sure. Everyone else seems perfectly fine. No changes have been made.