BTA Shrunken, mouth closed

[colorodo]

Phosphates: 0.74
Nitrates: 3ppm
salinity 1.024
pH 7.9
Calcium: 365
kH: 5.0
anything i can do to help it make it through?
Tank is 6 months old, but was filled using my old tank which was 2 years old

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

If by kH, you have referring to alkalinity, then that is very low. I think 8-9 dKH is a good target to shoot for.

If it is that low DO NOT RAISE IT QUICKLY. I think ideally you don't want to raise it more than 1 dKH per day.
Also, I would double check that number before dosing anything to raise alk.
What test kit are you using?

EDIT:
Is this a new BTA? I have some and they seem quite hardy, but when I first added one it did some deflating as it adjusted so that might be part of what's happening. Still, this one looks deflated more than I'd expect.

 

[colorodo]

kH, yeah; it was a salifert test kit so i was pretty surprised. ill retest later to be sure, maybe against some freshly mixed water for control.
I picked up this BTA on sunday and its been wandering for a bit but never fully attached. I tried raising the lights to a higher intensity today since i noticed it likes to crawl from under the rocks, but i may have jumped too far...
Im going to prepare a hospital tank if things dont improve but im wondering if ive overfed it way too much. will retest and if it shows that low, i prepared some baking ash and will aim to raise by 0.5/day

 

[martin.a]

Sorry, it's almost impossible to say anything from this photo. But to me it may look like what you described as closed mouth is in fact exposed gastrovascular cavity. They do it sometimes, but should suck it back quickly. As @ThisIsTheWay said BTA sometime do this deflation after a 'significant incident' like tank move (sometimes after a few days of seemingly being OK).

All you can do now is step back and do not touch a thing, especially that anemone. Do not touch it, feed it, shine light on it, or try to medicate it. Do not alter water params now. But check for ammonia, just in case. Anemones do not like ammonia at all.

If its to live it will be back to itself within a few days. Remove it asap if it dies, it will release.

 

[colorodo]

Grabbed a photo with the lights on in my room. I'll avoid touching anything in the tank except for monitoring water params

EDIT: i've also seen it reinflate occassionally; it's most likely that i've just been way overfeeding it then. didn't realize that feeding would be adding on stress and assumed it'd help with acclimation

 

[Rob A]

That looks more like a condy than a BTA

 

[colorodo]

Unfortunately didnt make it... really have a lot more to learn with reefkeeping before trying again, especially anemones. will do more research

 

[martin.a]

Well, we live and learn. Don't worry. Forgive the preaching, but make sure you learn as much as possible from this experience. (E.g. do not assume that the species is what you think it is. )