I need help with my GBTA??

chicap29

chicap29

Member
About once every other day my GBTA deflates, I can his mouth open, then goes back to normal. I've been reading that seeing an open mouth is bad but how do you help them?

I will try to save some pic's of him on my gallery.
 
D

dobejazz

Well-Known Member
It's really hard to say can you post your tank specs - lighting water parameters ect?

BTA's do expell and replace the water in their bodies so it could be normal behavior but knowing the above and some pics would be helpful
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
My saltwater has 2x150 watt metal halides, 2x96 watt atenics and 3 LED lunar lights. The filter is a Magnum 350. The water salinity is at 30ppt.

I have uploaded some pic's of the GBTA in my gallery and am going do more.
Thanks.
 
Octoman

Octoman

Well-Known Member
You need to get a good alkalinity test kit. It tells you how much buffer is in the water (carbonate). Buffer helps keep the pH stable among other things.
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Anemones require very stable water parameters. Most will say that does not occur until the tank has matured a year or more. Anemones must equalize the water within their vascular cavity to that of the outside water. If the tank water is fluctuating in salinity or other ionic components or larger molecules are present like nitrate, nitrite or ammonia the anemone will renew its vascular cavity water to attempt to equilize with its surrounding environment. How old is your tank?
How often are you doing water changes?
Do you have an auto top-off of fresh water?
Are you using any additives?
What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings.
How stable is your temperature?
 
blue_eyes53813

blue_eyes53813

Well-Known Member
How long have you had the anemone and is it sticky to the touch? How long did you acclimate it before you added it to the tank? Alot of questions, I know,,,, We really want to help you.
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 140ppm
Alkalinity not sure yet
pH 8.4
Calcium 420
Temp 77.5 stable for a month now.

Our tank is about 6 months old.
I have been putting in Purple up for calcium.

I just bought an RO/DI system, so as of now we have been toping off the water ourselves. We do have a whole house filter now.

We do water changes once a month.
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
With nitrates that high your anemone will not survive long term. My suggestion is work on getting your nitrates down. A 50% WC will bring them down to 70 then another 50% WC will bring them down to 35 and a third 50% WC will bring them down to 17, so and so forth. Zero nitrates is what is required for anemone husbandry.
 
blue_eyes53813

blue_eyes53813

Well-Known Member
Nitrates 140ppm????? That is probably the problem... Nitrates need to be below 10. Anemone are very delicate. Water change, water change , water change.... You need to get the nitrates down. I would do 2 or 3 water changes weekly to get that down.
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
I have had him for about 3 weeks. He attached himself right away to a rock and I have a maroon clown that stays with him.

I would say we acclimated him for about an hour.

Questions, no problem! I really appreciate the help!
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
Yeah, I thought that was a crazy number. We just did a 20% WC 2 days ago, the only problem is my boyfriend normally handles that & he's out of town for a week.

Is there any other way to bring them down, maybe by adding anything?
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Chicap, nitrates are the bane of the reef hobbyists existence. They are the end product of nitrification and can only be broken down further by the denitrification process which is carried out by anaerobic bacteria that live in deep sand beds and deep within the live rock. There are some additives that feed the anaerobic bacteria causing an increase in their numbers, but I would not recommend these be used by inexperienced hobbyists. Not only that, they take time to be effective. The best and quickest way to export the nitrates is with WCs.
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
Alright! Thanks SO MUCH!!! I will do a water change this weekend, my dad used to own the same tank I do so I will get him to help me.

I am going to buy some food for the anenome's, what do you think is the best? I heard a little about silversides.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Pieces of shrimp, squid, scallops or anything similar. Along with those water changes you want to very slowly increase your salinity. 35 or 1.025 is generally what we shoot for.
 
reefman420

reefman420

Active Member
silversides is what i feed mine,I really wish u would have wated a while b4 u got the nem,there for advaned aquariast and that high of nitrates im suprised ure fish are liveing.Dont wait till this weekend to do a waterchange do it now!! or everything will die.The nem is prob. a gonner due to the fact they die slow.So please do a waterchange,not for us but for the nem.

Beginner aquarist need to relize we are takeing alll our livestock from the ocean,when one dies u go get another one wich depleats the number in the ocean<im not trying to bash on u,or critisize you.But please research every move u make in this hobby.

Coral reefs are fastly dissapearing it is up to us the hobbyist to be responsible,thrue coral propagation,and tank bread fish

So please do the water change now!!!
 
chicap29

chicap29

Member
Ok, the last thing I want is for anything to die. I will do a WC ASAP, 50% and will probably be online when I do it.

One more question then I must go. I am using a biowheel 30Pro, along with a undergravel filter and the Magnum 350. We set this up before we know we were going to get 120 pounds of live rock. Someone told us to get rid of the Biowheel, cause we don't need it. Do you guys agree?
 
Dentoid

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Biowheels are nitrate factories unless you are diligent about cleaning them. Remove the biowheel. What kind of skimmer are you using? I am assuming with 120lbs of LR your tank is 50-100 gallons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top