RBTA won't open fully

[carmexx]

Well I have a concern about my RBTA. I had it in a 46 gallon bowfront hosted by 2 occelaris clowns. It was on the sandbed under 2 hydra fixtures. It was out in the light always and fully extended during day hours. I then recently moved him to a 57 gallon rimless placed on the sandbed. It's been 2 months since the change over. To give you an idea here is what it looked like before the move....



Then this is immediately after the move....




And this is now.........



It hasn't moved out from under the rockscape..I have the same 2 hydra's and the new tank is the same depth as the old one. They are relatively the same distance above the water. I have been playing around with light intensities but for the most part RB,DB,V around 65%, R/G around 10%, and CW near 25% (I just increased this from roughly 20%) I did see the nem expelling some "poop" and it is taking food (except for today). Ohh and the top on my old tank was black eggcrate now I have clear mesh which probably allows much more light to pass. Is there anything I should be doing differently?

 

[ddelozier]

when you moved to a new tank, i assume you added some new rock. you have to give parameter info. He looks ok to me but it may take a bit to acclimate fully. Did the color of the bulbs change from old to new system? What are standard params? New rock cycled/dry/? With GH Algae in that pic i'd guess you have a nitrate issue as well. If the parameters have changed, if the light has changed, or if the color/distance from the lights have changed, he may take a couple months to fully bounce back. During the "Ugly" Phase of a new tank, parameters are usually all over the place until it settles down. So long as he looks no worse than that, i wouldnt worry. Give it time and monitor parameters.

 

[carmexx]

I did start the tank with dry rock and sand, cycling it, them seeding it only with the rock that the corals were on. I have been doing 5 gal wc weekly. My nitrates have been less than 5 but haven't tested phosphate b/c I understood that even if it tested zero they may still be present. Yes the color of the nem has been ok all throughout. Thank you for some assurance. I'll just have to do some more testing. I did have a Tds problem post rodi pure water. It's funny, if I made water and stored it for roughly a week I got 20-30tds. I know immediately out of the rodi I have zero. I am now only going to make water when I need it.


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[ddelozier]

your going through New tank syndrome. You will have to be wary of parameter swings. Ammonia spikes over .5 will in all likelyhood kill the anemone. new tanks arent a good place for nems.

 

[carmexx]

I've tested for all three, ammonia ,nitrite, and nitrate. I cycled for 3-4 weeks and no detectable ammonia or nitrite since adding my live stock. I did acclimate over a few hours as well. My water parameters were almost identical just prior to moving from the old to the new. I did use 5 or more gallons of SW from Established tank.

 

[DaveK]

... I cycled for 3-4 weeks and no detectable ammonia or nitrite since adding my live stock. ... I did use 5 or more gallons of SW from Established tank.

That's actually the main problem. While you may not have ammonia or nitrite spikes, a new tank even when cycled correctly is still going through a lot changes for many months. Conditions are far from stable no matter what you do. Your going to have to wait this one out and hope.

Typically we recommend that you don't put an anemone in a tank until the tank has been running about a year. It takes almost that long for the tank to really become stable.

I know it's really hard to not do anything, but that what needs to be done. For now, except for checking to make sure is not dead, leave the anemone alone. Keep up your tank maintenance and water changes. You may want to put a plastic cage over it to keep the clowns from bothering it. They can be part of the problem too.

 

[carmexx]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep an eye on it and hope for the best.