BTA question

[Coraljunkie]

Over the course of a month my bta has shrank to about half it's size. It moved a little and never inflated back to its original self. The only thing that changed was that I hadn't been feeding it as often, about a week or so without food. The color has also changed. It went from mostly orange with a lime green base and red tips to mostly lime green with orange tips.

 

[Coraljunkie]

 

[Coraljunkie]

 

[Coraljunkie]

Now it looks like this

 

[Coraljunkie]

I did about 3 5 gallon water changes over the course of a weekend to reduce nitrates and then that's when it slightly moved and deflated

 

[BigAl07]

What are ALL of your current tank parameters?

Honestly I think a lot of times color changes are environmental meaning the change could be from almost anything. Water conditions, feeding, lighting, even positioning in the tank. Your best bet is to get your water as pristine as possible and stay on top of your regimen (feeding, water changes, bulb changes etc) and see how it reacts over a long period of time.

 

[sirrealism]

BigAl is right. Another thing How long have you had the BTA? It is not uncommon for a BTA to loose its bubbles. Also it might be ready to split. They are strange creatures. But fallow what Bigal said. How old are your bulbs?

 

[reefer gladness]

Looking over your previous posts this tank wasn't mature enough to add a BTA. What's done is done though.

IMO 95% of reefing is keeping water, keep water in within stable parameters and everything else in the tank tends to take care of itself. In order for us to see where the problem is you need to provide a complete test results. You just did a series of water changes to reduce nitrates but you're not telling us what they were before and what your nitrates are now.

So many things to cover. Are you mixing fresh saltwater correctly? Adverse behavior after water changes indicates a problem with how water changes are being performed. Measuring for salinity with a refractometer? Using RO/DI water?

Are temps stable? i.e. not more than a 2 degree F swing in a day?

Feeding likely has little to do with it's behavior. I only feed my BTA's once per month, sometimes they go longer.

Color change could be related to the nem pouting about water conditions but the lighting is a major factor. I observe my BTA's shifting color, gaining green highlights etc. when the light spectrum changes from changing light fixtures.

 

[Coraljunkie]

Salinity 1.025
Calcium 440
Dkh 8
Mag 1390
Nitrates 0
Phosphate 0
Ph 8.2
Ai hydra for lighting

 

[Coraljunkie]

Temps are stable, water changes and salt mixing are done correctly, i've been in this hobby for about 4 years

 

[reefer gladness]

Salinity 1.025
Calcium 440
Dkh 8
Mag 1390
Nitrates 0
Phosphate 0
Ph 8.2
Ai hydra for lighting

That's all within range but how long has it been stable? Nitrates and phosphates reading 0 isn't likely. What kind of test kit are you using? If you're battling nuisance algae problems they will skew your nitrate and phosphate readings because they algae is using those nutrients.

 

[sirrealism]

what are you using for test kits. Do you have a friend local in the hobby that you can test wit here test kits?

 

[reefer gladness]

Temps are stable, water changes and salt mixing are done correctly, i've been in this hobby for about 4 years

Regardless of how long you have been in the hobby the tank itself was new. This is the same tank you were battling bryopsis with 2 months ago and dosed magnesium to high levels? If so this is what I mean by the tank not being mature, you want all those stability issues resolved before adding a BTA.

 

[Coraljunkie]

I'm using red sea test kits, these parameters have been stable since the start of this tank aside from the nitrate. I found myself overfeeding rods food and had a gha outbreak but I'm no longer battling it due to water changes and feeding smaller amounts daily

 

[Coraljunkie]

If you kept reading you would realize this tank is not the same tank

 

[Coraljunkie]

I definitely agree with you that this system is very young, I figured that I had it running stable so I would toss a bta in

 

[ReeferRob]

Where did you get the water for the water change? If you're using RO/DI water you might be getting some sort of contaminate making it through such as copper. I run RO/DI with triple DI units and I was still get copper coming through, a trace amount, but it's still there so I started using my Cold Steril unit on the end and no more copper.

As for the length of time you need to wait, dunno where it came from, don't really care, but I have kept ritteris in a 6 month old system. As long as you're 110% sure it's cycled, the nitrates and water parameters are good, then you're good to go. If you're new to the hobby, then I might agree, but a seasoned hobbyist knows when it's time.

 

[Coraljunkie]

Yeah I'm with Ya on that Rob, it's back and better than ever. Simple human error with overfeeding rods food. Did water changes and brought the nitrates down, the gha all died off and a couple days ago the anemone was back to loving life

 

[Snid]

We love to hear crisis averted stories. Congrats!

 

[sirrealism]

Very nice. ya not sure why someone jumped saying the system was to young. BTAs are pretty hardy and can take a lot. I have seen them doing well in systems that,Well lets say were not up to par and thats being nice. The amazing incredible fantastic water change does it every time