Barebottom Mixed Reef just experienced the dreaded BTA suicide.

[IndianReefGuy]

Good Evening Fellow Reefers,
I wanted to share some anecdotal information with you regarding my latest reef experience and a BTA.

Background:
Tank Size: 48 Gallon Bowfront- Barebottom
Age: 6 month tank but transferred from 10 month old tank- total of 16 months
Sump with a VERY small Refugium 2-3 inches of sand (4"x10"): 15 gallon Pro Clear
MacroAlgae: Grape Calerpa and Chaetomorpha
Skimmer: Pump running (for O2) but removed the body/ the chamber of an IceCap K100
Filter Socks: Nope
Feeding: Pellets 2-3 x / day and reef frenzy when I have time.
Circulation: AI Nero 5
UV: AquaUV 8
Chemical: <1 cup of GAC and <1 cup Pellet Phosphate Absorber
Algae Situation: None in the tank, GHA in the sump, Macro in the sump, some blue-green in the sump.
Normal Water parameters: NO3-2.0 (Salifert); PO4- .18 (Hanna); Alk 9.0 (Red Sea); pH 8.45 (Hanna); SG 35 (Red Sea)
Dosing: Used to...now I just do water changes 15-20 gallons every week..my pH has never been so good!
Coral: a mix of LPS, a few experimental SPS, 2 BTAs, GSP, Xenia, Zoa's, plate corals don't survive in this tank
Fish: I hippo tang, 1 big saddleback clown, 2 black and white clowns, 1 coral beauty, 3 chromis, 2 Monos
CUC: 3 Large Snails in sump, 5 small snails in DT, a few hermits in DT, hitchhiker starfish all over, crabs died in the dino explosion 2 months ago.


Situation:
So earlier this week I came home early because I had a wardrobe malfunction, checked on the tank, and found that my Green BTA was migrating. He had been acting up lately, there are two other RBTAs in the tank that are doing great. But I guess he couldn't find a nice spot. I thought about moving him to my office tank but thought "let's wait and see where he goes". Big Mistake ...I got home 8 hours later to find a cloudy tank and a malfunctioning Nero 5. I really liked that guy, and was very sad that I didn't make the call to move him out. In any case, I removed the Nero5 out and cleaned it up a bit. Decision time, should I panic and start massive water changes? After looking at the corals and fish I decided to let the natural filtration of the refugium work its magic. Aside from a closed-up colony of GSP everything else (fish included) looked fine. GAC (activated carbon) had just been replaced before the suicide.
Today:
PO4: 2.0 Hanna LR
NO3: 2 Salifert
Everything looks good...especially the macroalgae in the refugium

My Question: is the concept of "Toxins from BTA" exaggerated? Or... are tanks "nuked" because of the rise in and inability to process the excess nutrients? In short, advice always appreciated, but everything looks good, will do my normal water change tomorrow.

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

Im not sure about the toxins and what is true or not but i have an experience....

I had a large rose BTA (approx. 8in) somehow find its way into my covered MP10. When i came home in the morning it looked like someone poured whole milk in my tank. You could not see a thing. The nem was shredded to bits with guts everywhere.

I did a quick 3gal WC cause that was all i had on hand. I made 15 more gallons, put new and extra carbon in the reactor, and dosed the recommended amount of prime for a 40gal tank. After a few days it cleared completely. The other inhabitants were definately affected for a week or more but thankfully the only loss was the suicide BTA.

I suppose it could depend on the size of tank, size of BTA, maturity of tank and how long did it sit before some action was taken.