Black widow nem shrinking?

[Sstadler]

I’ve had this black widow nem for 6 weeks or so. Tank is almost two years old. All corals are fine. All other inverts are fine, including a rainbow BTA. No fish because system is fallow. The nem in question has been slowing shrinking for the last 3 weeks. It was like twice the size it is now and it was fully extended. It has been being manually fed mysis / brine 2-3x a week. It is approximately 5 inches under the waterline underneath a kessil 360. It does not move. It’s foot is strong. Colors are still strong also. Thoughts? Flow is low/medium

Params:
1.024 sal
0 am
0 nitrite
20 nitrate
0 phos
79.0 temp
Cal 440
Mag 1440
Alk 7.7

 

[Pillahump]

possible chemical warfare between different kinds of nems?
do you run carbon?
either that or could be a lighting issue.
not exactly sure lets ask @OrionN

 

[Sstadler]

possible chemical warfare between different kinds of nems?
do you run carbon?
either that or could be a lighting issue.
not exactly sure lets ask @OrionN

I do run carbon. Just the minimum amount as recommended by BRS. I have a rainbow nem that is approximately 2.5 feet away. But the rainbow is healthy

 

[Pillahump]

I do run carbon. Just the minimum amount as recommended by BRS. I have a rainbow nem that is approximately 2.5 feet away. But the rainbow is healthy

from my past experience when i had two different types of BTA's the dominant one would make it and the other would slowly die off...not sure why...some say its "chemical warfare"

 

[Lovefish77]

Just give it time. Your light seems to be enough, any idea on par? Maybe it is the 20 ppm nitrates if that nem came from different parameters? Never had that high nitrates with nems.

 

[Grill]

from my past experience when i had two different types of BTA's the dominant one would make it and the other would slowly die off...not sure why...some say its "chemical warfare"

I had this happen to me. Had a rainbow BTA for nine months with zero issues. Added a different BTA and the rainbow slowly withered away. I'm still not 100% sure what happened but like others have said could be a type of chemical warfare going on. A black widow nem is beautiful... Good luck with it.

 

[Blumon18]

Mine is like this what's going on

 

[D-Nak]

Mine is like this what's going on

Yours looks bleached. How long have you had it? What type of lighting do you have?

 

[Lovefish77]

Mine is like this what's going on

Either bleached or could be hiding or any under nem. When they get deprived of lighting that look very pale like this.

 

[Blumon18]

Either bleached or could be hiding or any under nem. When they get deprived of lighting that look very pale like this.

Ok yeah I had to bleach my rocks cause i had a really bad aptasia outbreak

 

[Blumon18]

Ok yeah I had to bleach my rocks cause i had a really bad aptasia outbreak

But I soaked the rocks in rodi water for over 24hrs

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mine is like this what's going on

Being that its bleached and hiding- I suspect white lighting too bright. Lower intensity a little. What light are you using?

 

[Blumon18]

Being that its bleached and hiding- I suspect white lighting too bright. Lower intensity a little. What light are you using?

Ok I'll try that thank you

 

[Lebowski_]

Ok yeah I had to bleach my rocks cause i had a really bad aptasia outbreak

When they say bleached, they don't mean with bleach, they mean it's losing the algae within it which gives it colour. Often a symptom of not enough light.