BTA ID please

[Oceansize]

Is this a "White BTA"? If anyone knows the Latin or common names, that would be great. And as long as we're at it, what level should light, flow, and nitrates be?

I should mention that the nem is white under natural light. As the light gets more blue, the nem becomes more of a fluorescent yellow/green

TIA,
Barry

 

[Mykesocalreef]

That would be an extremely bleached BTA

 

[Mykesocalreef]

rose and green would be the most common colors

 

[Oceansize]

Are you certain it's bleached and not simply a variety you're not familiar with? What makes you say it's bleached? The foot is a rather striking pink, it looks very healthy. There were 5 others at the LFS and all looked exactly like this one. If it is indeed bleached, what are the causes/how should I rectify? Being bleached implies it is in poor health, does it not? And yet this one has full bubbly tentacles and a closed mouth, not agape at all. None of the others at the LFS looked unhealthy either.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I would say in my experience as well as my research I would presume it is bleached. I have yet to see one that is in fact true white. Ive read that its white because it has expelled all of the zooxanthellae. the type of algae it has within itself. Good water parameters and sufficient lighting are a must. Ive read that if you start to feed it, it can help with the repopulation of the zoox. What are your parameters what type of lighting and how long has your tank been up and running?

 

[Mykesocalreef]

Try and google white bubble tip and see what you get.

 

[Oceansize]

Under lighting, it is more yellow/green than white. I used the name "white BTA" because I saw someone else here refer to one. It would appear they know as much as I do.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: Between 10ppm and 15ppm (is this a problem for BTA's? I keep 'trates here since my zoas seem to like it)
Phosphate: 0.25
pH: 8.3
Alk: 9
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1350

The tank has been up about 5 months. My BTA is in the same condition as when I bought it (which seems pretty good, it is behaving normally and it's mouth is closed), so if it is NOT in good shape, then it wasn't in good shape at the LFS either, and thus I doubt my tank age or parameters are an issue (although I freely admit I may not have enough experience to make that claim).

I have what I consider to be pretty good flow, I've got a big Hydor powerhead and a smaller one in a 92 gal corner tank, alas I don't recall the gph. "High flow", "Medium Flow" etc are such subjective terms, I don't know where mine falls compared to most. Somewhere between high and medium with several eddies is my guess.

For lighting, as you can see from my avatar, I've got two Kessil A360W's. I suppose that _might_ not be enough for a standard rectangular 92 gal tank, but my corner tank has a smaller lateral footprint and I get great coverage with the exception of a tiny portion of the back corner. Since their patterns overlap quite a bit, I have intensity set at only 40%. It still seems plenty bright.

I am target feeding it with mysis, and if I have any coral food (oyster eggs & tissue) left after target feeding my frags, I'll squirt a little bit on him for dessert. Based on all the reading I'm doing right now, I think I'm going to back off on the feeding. Also, I'm going to pick up some zooplankton/phytoplankton the next time I'm at the LFS to see if he likes that better than mysis.

Before you said he was bleached, I was operating under the assumption that this is a healthy BTA since, aside from color, he seems to be doing fine. What is the most likely cause of bleaching? Intense lighting? Insufficient nutrients?

TIA,
Barry

 

[Mykesocalreef]

In my experience my lfs usually try's to sell bleached bta's. Sadly that's the way most are sold. I've read you generally want to feed meaty foods to them. Being it's lacking strong coloring you might want to start feeding really small portions. I feed mine mysis and small chunks of wild shrimp I picked up at the grocery store. As far as the non meaty food I've heard that it might just add excess nutrients to the tank. Hopefully an expert will chime in, I am not one by any means. Just trying to help you out.

 

[Oceansize]

He doesn't seem to like my lights at all. As an experiment I've been keeping the intensity no higher than 5%, but after 3 or 4 hours he pulls himself into a tight little ball with no tentacles visible until I turn out the lights, at which point he returns to normal. 5% intensity for just 3 or 4 hours is all the light he can take?? Wow I hope he eventually acclimates.

 

[Oceansize]

In my experience my lfs usually try's to sell bleached bta's. Sadly that's the way most are sold. I've read you generally want to feed meaty foods to them. Being it's lacking strong coloring you might want to start feeding really small portions. I feed mine mysis and small chunks of wild shrimp I picked up at the grocery store. As far as the non meaty food I've heard that it might just add excess nutrients to the tank. Hopefully an expert will chime in, I am not one by any means. Just trying to help you out.

Is there a nitrate level that you find ideal for green BTAs?

 

[Mykesocalreef]

When I first purchased mine, my nitrates were barley registering. Mine has done well since the day I introduced it. I have not checked nitrates in a while. I try to avoid chasing numbers but would rather let my eyes do the testing.

 

[mochaclownlover]

You might need to try light acclimating him. You said he didn't like your light any higher than 5%, start with what ever percentage he likes and every 2-3 weeks increase the intensity by 1% or close to that. Feeding him is essential, without his zooxanthellae he won't be able to feed himself. I have found that frozen missis works best.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I've read that they will stay out of the light until they regain some of the zooax back. How has feeding gone, how about an updated pic?

 

[Oceansize]

Can't take a pic right now cuz he nestled himself in the very back about three days ago. He parked himself right next to the highest flow in the tank and has never stayed in one place this long. So he definitely seems to like high flow. He seemed to be doing alright with the reduced lighting until yesterday: when I got home from work he looked bad. He was almost completely deflated and his mouth looked like it was fairly open, even though the light had been off all day. This was different than how they look when they're excreting waste, something was definitely not right. Since flow was already high and light was still off for the day, combined with the fact that I had been deliberately holding off on feeding for two days, I deduced that lack of food was now the issue, as opposed to too much light. So I immediately fed him some mysis, turned the lights on to 5%, and he perked up instantly. I had been going back & forth in my mind on the feeding: until yesterday, every time I fed him he seemed uninterested. Yesterday was the first time he really seemed to enjoy being fed. So I'm more optimistic that he's successfully acclimating to the light now.

I read that overfeeding is a definite risk when they're acclimating, and since he also has not had much of a feeding response until yesterday, that's why I was holding back on feeding more than I was. But if he's now adjusting to the light, that would help explain why he's got an appetite for the first time since being introduced.

So my plan is to feed him more regularly now while continuing to keep the light much less than normal. The food should cause him to color up at which point I'll start dialing the light back up. Based on what you're telling me, he shouldn't have more light until he has more zooxanthellae.

Nitrates are steady at 10ppm. Hopefully that isn't too high because that's the sweet spot for my zoa.

Thanks for your help, by the way! You seem to be the only one who cares, LOL.
Regards,
Barry

 

[mochaclownlover]

Is your clown still hosting him? I've had bubble tips before that acted a lot better once they had a clownfish hosting them.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

Sorry there isn't much traffic on your thread. Hopefully it starts to recover soon and comes out into the light. How's it doing today?

 

[Oceansize]

I've gone from "reluctantly cynical" to "cautiously optimistic" over the last two days. Since that day where he looked really bad but also accepted food for the first time (he actually moved the Mysis in his tentacles over to his mouth) he's been improving rapidly. He also hasn't moved for four days which is the longest he's been in one spot. He is still extremely bleached, but he's eating and is starting to seek light rather than hide from it. I feel like, as long as I don't return to my normal lighting program too fast, it's just a matter of time before the bleaching starts to improve since he is taking meaty foods now.

My maroon clown has been hosting since Day 1. I credit him with helping keep the water inside the nem well circulated, he's always trying to "fluff up" the tentacles. The section he is working on at any given time usually looks better after he's done.

Which brings up another curious thing I've noticed: the clown will sometimes gently grab the tip of a tentacle in it's mouth and tug backwards, as if trying to make it longer. The tentacle doesn't necessarily look all that great when he does this, but at the same time there has definitely been no permanent damage. Right now I am not able to determine which of the tentacles have been tugged in this manner because they've all recovered perfectly. I'm only slightly concerned because the tip of whichever tentacle he's tugging on will have an ugly pinch in it for a few hours. He does seem to know just how much force to use since there is no evidence of what he's done after a few hours. Just like the "fluffing" he does with his fins, it would appear he's trying to help increase the water volume within the tentacle. Anyone else notice this behavior or know what it's about?

 

[Oceansize]

Sorry there isn't much traffic on your thread. Hopefully it starts to recover soon and comes out into the light. How's it doing today?

Regarding the lack of traffic, I'm assuming it's because this started off as an ID thread.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I have read that the clowns can also stress them if clowns are to big in comparison and also if they are already struggling

 

[Oceansize]

I have read that the clowns can also stress them if clowns are to big in comparison and also if they are already struggling

Yes, I was really beside myself at first, wondering whether I should separate the clown since he was acting absolutely spastic when I first introduced the nem. He just seemed so happy, and netting him would result in a lot of chaos, so I decided to let them be and hope for the best. It seems in the past two days like I've nursed the nem past the danger zone (knock on wood) with the clown hosting every step of the way, so I think I'm going to just leave well enough alone. I've satisfied myself that my water params are just fine and it's the lighting that has been the issue. I was reluctant to believe that much acclimation would be necessary since he was under the exact same lights at the LFS, but in hindsight I was obviously wrong about that.