hey guys im new to this site. i have 55 gal reef, bout 60 ibs of lve rock. 2-3 inch live sand bed. ive had the aquarium up for about a year and had the bta for about 5 mos. about a week ago it started looking really bad. all shrivelled up and stringy. it has not gotten any better. i think i might know what the prob is but im not sure. i had some bad ammonia test strips and just found out that my ammonia is .25. i did a water change on weds. and another today. i also added a poly filter as the pre filter to over flow. is this most likely the problem and whats should i do? is there any chance in this guy making it? its bee about 8-9 days all shrivelled up. it seems like he ate the silversides that i gave it( had to kind of hold it on its mouth). nitrite is 0 and nitrate is about 5. why did he ammonia go up and not the others? its foot is still holding on real wellso im not sure. i feel bad for my clows cause they are kind of homeless now. i fanyone can help id really appreciate it
sick bta
- Thread starter jck9
- Start date
Hi Jck9 welcome to RS! sorry about your problem, now the questions, what lighting do you have? what are your test results today? is anything missing ie fish. your going to have to improve the water condition first off, find out why your ammonia went up, be very carefull with the water changes, allow 24 hours for mixing and salinity should be very very close, youll get quite a bit of info soon hope it pulls thru .Steve
ammonia .25
nitrate 5
nitrite 0
ph 8.2
alk 4.0
phos 0
sg 1.025
calcium 450
temp is 78
i have 260 watt pc lights actinic and 10000k day lights.
20 gal sump coralife ss 125 skimmer.
all softies tank( leathers, and some shrooms) two clarkii, square spot anthias, blue spot watchman, pajama cardinal, flame goby, cleaner shrimp
the only thing that has died is my pulsing xenias and green star pollups. all happened around the same time as the bta. my colt has closed up a couple more times than usual but it still has all its pollups out . ive been running kent reef carbon since i noticed anything. i think thats it its all ind of scattered brained but i think thats it. how do i get things back to when they were good. igot a new test kit now so im on top of that
nitrate 5
nitrite 0
ph 8.2
alk 4.0
phos 0
sg 1.025
calcium 450
temp is 78
i have 260 watt pc lights actinic and 10000k day lights.
20 gal sump coralife ss 125 skimmer.
all softies tank( leathers, and some shrooms) two clarkii, square spot anthias, blue spot watchman, pajama cardinal, flame goby, cleaner shrimp
the only thing that has died is my pulsing xenias and green star pollups. all happened around the same time as the bta. my colt has closed up a couple more times than usual but it still has all its pollups out . ive been running kent reef carbon since i noticed anything. i think thats it its all ind of scattered brained but i think thats it. how do i get things back to when they were good. igot a new test kit now so im on top of that
blue_eyes53813
Well-Known Member
Hello jck9 welcome to RS.. Im sorry for your troubles... The only thing that comes to mind is maybe the lighting. Anemones need strong lighting. I hope it pulls through for you. How old are the bulbs? What color was the anemone before it shrunk.. Was it a pale color or did it have bright coloration? And is it sticky to the touch. Healthy anemone will be sticky.. Good Luck
blue_eyes53813
Well-Known Member
All you can do is keep doing water changes, try to get the ammonia down and all water primeters in good shape and cross your fingers.
This is a bad thing particularly if you had good size colonies and would explain the sudden spike in ammonia. The BTA doesn't look good but if it's still well attached there's some hope. My suggestion is large water changes/carbon and strong skimming. I would also remove the rock which contains the dead corals and try to scrub/remove as much of the dead material as possible.
they were both very small frags just starting out. not colonies that is why im not understanding where the ammonia is coming from. do you guys think the ammonia is doing this or could it possably have been the specific gravity jump? have been doing heavy skimming and running carbon. how often should i do water canges and how much is large , more than 20%
BoomerD
Well-Known Member
You'll need to pinpoint the source of the ammonia. Could it be from your water? A quick skim thru the above posts don't tell what your source water is. If you use tap water, and it contains chloramine, and you only use a chlorine eliminator, that will free the ammonia from the bond that makes chloramine...
From the looks of the anemone, IMO, it's time to do the "smell test"...IF it's still alive, it won't stink...but smell like the ocean...same as the rest of the tank...if it's dead...well, you'll know it from the stench...
From the looks of the anemone, IMO, it's time to do the "smell test"...IF it's still alive, it won't stink...but smell like the ocean...same as the rest of the tank...if it's dead...well, you'll know it from the stench...
im thinking the ammonia is coming from removing the canister filter like was suggested earlier. removing canister =removing bio filter bacteria. would addding biospira build the bio filter back up. if the sg jump caused the bta to shrivel like it is is there a chance in it making it and would the sg jump kill the xenia?
With 60 lbs. of mature LR and an established sandbed I wouldn't suspect this would be a problem. I removed my canister from my old tank with much less LR and a heavier bio-load and didn't have a sudden ammonia spike. Any sudden change to salinity levels can affect all of your inverts wether sessile/motile so this may very well be the problem with your Anemone. The sudden spike in ammonia would kill your fish before you lose any of your inverts. Which test kit are you using for ammonia ? I would take a water sample to your LFS to make sure that the test kit is accurate.