What's wrong with my green bubble tip!!!!

[brittanysmith18]

My green bubble tip looks awful.. He's very clinged to this rock and he does respond to touch slightly. Food sticks to him, and he drags it to his mouth, but I haven't seen and of it go in, and he's not pooped in a week.. He doesn't look like a bubble tip though!!!! Ahhh. :deadhorse:

Current picture as of 10 minutes ago...

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/Basmith18/image-10.jpg

December 29th he looked like this...
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/Basmith18/IMG_1855_zps33e57977.jpg

It's been a slow progression it seems. What can I do to help or fix it? What's wrong....


55g tank, T5HO lights 4 bulbs 216w. 2 actinic, 2 12k daylight. Salinity 1.023.
No ammonia, nitrates, copper, nothing like that.
Temp is about 83 (clownfish breeding)

No clowns currently hosting.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[velvetelvis]

83F seems high to me. I keep both my tanks around 77F. The high temperature could be stressing the anemone. What's your KH and Ca? Both levels are important for ionic balance.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Calcium is around 430. And Kh? I'm not sure if you meant pH or what's KH?

My pH is 8.3 ish.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

Kh or Dkh is alkalinity. And honestly, isnt life or death for inverts. If you have any kind of stoney corals, your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium must remain in a ballanced harmony for success. (See chemistry forum). With that said, after reading your other thread, you have stability issues. So Alk CAN be a peice of the puzzle if it is swinging up and down wildly. Your temperature is very high. Probably not the problem in and of itself, but part of the puzzle.

I hope a lot of new reefers read what Im going to say here because I see this over and over on RC. Please give us the ACTUAL, UNFILTERED, UN-OPINIONATED FACTS about your test results. DO NOT be embarrassed about something you have done or something you may know about your system. It is impossible for you to get quick, relevent, life saving advise from the good people here on RC without ALL the facts. I know some of the questions may be impossible for you to answer (for example, I would LOVE to know the TDS of the water youre using) I see too may people saying "My perameters are fine". If you say that, you cannot get the life saving help you need. If you are having a serious problem and your test kits are telling you your perams are fine, throw them away and get good quality test kits. Do yourself a favor and throw away your hydrometer and get a decent refractometer.

Theres no way we can stop new reefers from adding animals to a system that isnt ready, but if we can get ALL the facts, theres a chance we could crack the code and help you. Without the facts, theres just no way.

So before you even post your MAYDAY, here are some suggestions to have ready...

PERAMETERS
-salinity (include any swings)
-temperature (include any swings)
-ammonia
-nitrate
-phosphates
-calcium
-alkalinity
-magnesium

EQUIPMENT
-tank description
-lighting/bulb age
-filtration
-flow
-sump/refugium info (if applicable)
-sand bed or bare bottom
-reactors/dosers
-auto top off system (if applicable)

OTHER
-bio-load (fish stock, corals, inverts, cuc, etc...)
-husbandry practices (water change frequency, feeding, manual dosing, testing frequency, test kit brand and age, etc)
-**Water source** (TDS if possible...This is just so incredibly impotant!)

Im sure I am missing something, but some honest factual information in the above list will go a long way in diagnostics.

"But I dont have time to post all that in my emergency" you might say? If you are serious about the well being of your investment, spend an hour or two and build a spread sheet on you computer/ipad with this information, so when you have an RC MAYDAY, all you have to do is copy and past your info to your thread. Just a quick update on your most current perameters and bulb life and any other relevent updates.

We, as reefkeepers, are passionate about the well being of these critters. we truly want to help you. Some of the replies youll get may be condescending. Usually thats a product of frustration due to lack of facts. Other times, its the frustration of seeing someone introducing a beautiful, helpless creature into a toxic, death chamber. But please dont let these people deter you from being completely trasparent about your system.

I know this post seems a bit forward in this thread, but I just read and posted in your other 4 page thread with the exact same title and RC is simple over run with similar mayday threads.

I truly hope we can help you

 

[velvetelvis]

Well said. :thumbsup:

 

[brittanysmith18]

PERAMETERS
-salinity (include any swings): 1.022-1.026
-temperature (include any swings) 80-83
-ammonia: 0
-nitrate: 0
-phosphates: Really unsure, kit ran out, have to get another.
-calcium: 400-420
-alkalinity: It's in a really odd measurement but it has no swings, and stays in the normal range.
-magnesium: Unsure.

EQUIPMENT
-tank description: 55g, regular filter pump with 2 bio wheels.
-lighting/bulb age: Bulbs 1 month, T5HO, 2 actinic, 2 12k daylight, 216w total
-filtration: regular filter with 2 biowheels, and a powerhead
-flow, pretty heavy where the power head is on one side and filtration adding water on the other side, there's constant flow in all directions of the tank.
-sump/refugium info (if applicable) do not have.
-sand bed or bare bottom: sand.
-reactors/dosers: None.
-auto top off system (if applicable): None


I have a couple of mushroom corals doing very well. Lots of rock as well. Water source is well water. I use the API test kits, they're about a year old. Feeding is generally once or twice a day (fish). I test every week. I don't do water changes really unless the salinity gets up too high.

 

[dc]

Have you resolved your tang issue? Did you treat it with anything?

IMHO you need to start over like you have just set up your tank. Forget about breeding the clownfish for now, there's plenty of time for that.

Since you've had your tank for so long, you already know things don't happen fast in this hobby.


Something's not right in there, you need to be doing water changes. Are you not topping off with fresh water? High salinity shouldn't be a reason for a water change.

 

[brittanysmith18]

I only add water to lower the salinity. Within a week, the tank drops about 4 inches from evaporation.

I have not treated my tang with anything, but I've increased variety in her diet, and her color actually appears to be darkening. The lines aren't going away, but her color is darkening and it's noticeable. Hope it's a good sign! It's only been about 10 days since I started, but progress is progress with her..

I'm just super worried about this anemone...

 

[mnchartier]

You need to keep the salinity stable, everything in your tank would be much happier and healthier. Get into a routine of topping off each day.

What else do you have for inverts in the tank?

 

[OrionN]

...Within a week, the tank drops about 4 inches from evaporation....

This is unacceptable. The obvious problem is the stability of your tank, specifically the salinity of your tank. You cannot wait a week or two before adding top off water. You got to do it at least daily. The result salinity swing is a too much for sensitive animals.
Well water top off can be a problem. Try to top off with RO water, or purified water in gallon container. (don't get the type that impurity "added for taste") Get either RO or distil drinking water to use as top off and do it twice a day. You can mark the water level where it should be and just add fresh water to this level as the tank elaborate, don't have to measure the salinity every time. As long as you don't add any thing else or remove anything from the tank, the salinity would be stable. The salt does not evaporate, just water.

The second possible problem is the water you use for top off. Since you use well water, you need to change your water much more than people who use RO water. All the impurities build up over time as you add them into your tank. I use tap water to mix salt for water change and RO drinking water to top water for my office tank because I don't have an RO system in my office. My fish and anemone do well but I change about 50% of the water monthly. My tank there doing great for 8 years and stable. You need to do the same, more water change and more frequent top off water with RO water. The animals will slowly recover. I would mix salt heat it to tank temp and salinity and let it sit for 24 hrs. The next day change as close to 100% of you water in the next few days. If you do this, you will remove whatever toxin in your tank and allow your animal recover. If you can only exchange 50% of the water than do this daily for 3-4 times. If you match salinity and temp and let the newly mix salt water sit for 24 hrs, there will not be stress to the animals.

The solution of problem with tank water is dilution. Maximum dilution is what you need. Good luck.

 

[Tmoriarty]

Sorry to see you are still having problems. With how it looks now it appears to me it is consuming itself.

Or something else in your tank is nipping at it. I agree that stable conditions are needed, and RO or RO/DI would be better then well water, but if well water is all you have then work with it and perform consistant top offs and water changes.

The temperature is fine, I keep my nem tanks at that temp year round with no issues. I feel you are fighting a loosing battle with how the nem currently looks, while nems can recover from tentacle loss if they are semi healthy prior to it, recovering in unstable tank conditions is highly unlikely.

DC may be right, you may need a restart and take a shot at it from there. When you get your next anemone get a captive raised one instead of a wild one, they are much more hardy and will not suffer from the initial problems your nem had when you got it.

My best guess to the issues would be less to do with tank conditions and more to do with an unhealthy BTA to start. None of the pictures since you got it have it looking healthy, there is always the possibility that the nem you have carried an infection that it has been fighting since you got it. Best of luck.

 

[E.intheC]

this is unacceptable. The obvious problem is the stability of your tank, specifically the salinity of your tank. You cannot wait a week or two before adding top off water. You got to do it at least daily. The result salinity swing is a too much for sensitive animals.
Well water top off can be a problem. Try to top off with ro water, or purified water in gallon container. (don't get the type that impurity "added for taste") get either ro or distil drinking water to use as top off and do it twice a day. You can mark the water level where it should be and just add fresh water to this level as the tank elaborate, don't have to measure the salinity every time. As long as you don't add any thing else or remove anything from the tank, the salinity would be stable. The salt does not evaporate, just water.

The second possible problem is the water you use for top off. Since you use well water, you need to change your water much more than people who use ro water. All the impurities build up over time as you add them into your tank. I use tap water to mix salt for water change and ro drinking water to top water for my office tank because i don't have an ro system in my office. My fish and anemone do well but i change about 50% of the water monthly. My tank there doing great for 8 years and stable. You need to do the same, more water change and more frequent top off water with ro water. The animals will slowly recover. I would mix salt heat it to tank temp and salinity and let it sit for 24 hrs. The next day change as close to 100% of you water in the next few days. If you do this, you will remove whatever toxin in your tank and allow your animal recover. If you can only exchange 50% of the water than do this daily for 3-4 times. if you match salinity and temp and let the newly mix salt water sit for 24 hrs, there will not be stress to the animals.

the solution of problem with tank water is dilution. Maximum dilution is what you need. Good luck.

+1.

 

[brittanysmith18]

Well, my hermit crabs keep trying to climb in it. I knock them off every time I see this, but maybe they're causing it?

 

[velvetelvis]

The possible/probable causes for your anemone's decline have been exhaustively detailed above. The hermit crabs may be crawling on the anemone to scavenge it.

You keep asking for answers but not taking in the responses. Fluctuating water parameters (salinity, for example) can spell death for an anemone. There are problems in your tank that go beyond just the anemone.

 

[brittanysmith18]

I don't want to lose it I can fix the water easy, but what if that's not it...

 

[velvetelvis]

Assume that it is, and do something about it. It's more effective than wringing your hands and constantly second-guessing every single suggestion. You don't have much to lose at this point.

 

[JHawlz9989]

I don't want to lose it I can fix the water easy, but what if that's not it...

I can speak from first hand experience that salinity is, more likely than not, the problem. When I added top off water manually, my tank saw fluctuations of a little over .001 SG per day, and my anemone was constantly inflating and deflating itself to regulate its internal chemistry. If you are experiencing swings of .003-4, I would be willing to put a large sum of money that salinity swings are your problem, whether you are willing to take action or not.

Either you take the five minutes per day to add some water to your aquarium, or you put the nail in the coffin for your anemone.

Josh

 

[brittanysmith18]

Alright, I will fix the salinity, I hope it saves it as it's still very attached to the rock, and it does somehow get food to it's mouth, but not with tentacles. It closes the sides around it, which I still figure that's good that it's eating, as well as it's sensitive to touch. If i touched the side, then it sort of bloats up and twists over as though it caught a piece of food...

 

[E.intheC]

I can speak from first hand experience that salinity is, more likely than not, the problem. When I added top off water manually, my tank saw fluctuations of a little over .001 SG per day, and my anemone was constantly inflating and deflating itself to regulate its internal chemistry. If you are experiencing swings of .003-4, I would be willing to put a large sum of money that salinity swings are your problem, whether you are willing to take action or not.

Either you take the five minutes per day to add some water to your aquarium, or you put the nail in the coffin for your anemone.

Josh

I agree with this. Plus, creating a stable environment will only help things. Even if the problem is not water stability (extremely unlikely), having stable water will help improve the overall health of the tank. You're not going to cause further harm by creating stable parameters.

If you don't want to manually top off every day, buy an auto-top off device. They make a world of difference.

 

[OrionN]

In addition to keep the salinity/temp stable, you need to do large volume water change also. Using well water it is very likely that there are accumulation of trace element/chemical since you start your tank reach the toxic level for the invertebrates. You can only solve this problem with large volume water change. Nothing against well water. It is the same with tap water. We really need RO water for our reef for top off.