New bubble tip looking pitiful. Suggestions?

[GrumpyAlison]

i picked up a little aquaculture bta at RAP this weekend and it’s been looking progressively more pitiful ever since.

When I first got:

Two minutes ago:

The mouth has started gaping and it looks like the green around the oral disk may have faded but it’s hard to tell because it’s wandered to a somewhat shaded area of the tank.

Parameters have been pretty stable since getting it except for a sizeable waterchange I did after accidentally dumping a crap ton more food into the tank tham I meant to :/ I did match temp and salinity of the water before adding.

It ate some mysis shrimp but then seemed to mouth-poop them out later (which my rockflowers sometimes do but they never looked this sad).

Tank is a year old, vipaspectra light, 1.25 salinity, ~10dkh.


Other stuff in tank:
1 oscillaris clown
1 neon goby
Assorted crabs
Brittle stars
1 peppermint shrimp

I have seen the shrimp picking at the anemone once and he’s been known to do that to rock flowers in the past, but I’ve never seen him do it to a point where the men looks that sad.

Was wondering if I should give it a few more days or if I should maybe move it to the refugium with the rest of my rockflowers/minimaxis (all happy) or one of the other 3 tanks I have setup. I’d move the shrimp but it’s impossible to catch.

I’m not sure if it’s help, but I work from home so I could tend to the dude multiple times a day for feeding or what not if neacessary.

Thanks everyone!
Alison

 

[TheHarold]

Do you have a photo of the whole tank? It definitely does not look good.

 

[GrumpyAlison]

Indeed.

Whole tank:

Refugium rock flowers:

Ben after I turned off main power head:

Turned off the main powerhead out of curiosity and it seems like a few of the tentacles came out a bit more/the dude isn’t being budgeted around so much.

I’m thinking it might make sense to shift to refugium where the flow is lower for now?

 

[GrumpyAlison]

This is the other tank (10gal) I could shift it to but that one is full of aptasia and other stuff that might mess with the bta if it hit it (acans, Dendro, duncans, aptasia, etc)

 

[TheHarold]

Indeed.

Whole tank:

Refugium rock flowers:

Ben after I turned off main power head:

Turned off the main powerhead out of curiosity and it seems like a few of the tentacles came out a bit more/the dude isn’t being budgeted around so much.

I’m thinking it might make sense to shift to refugium where the flow is lower for now?

What lighting do you have?

Have you checked nutrient levels recently? Looks a bit dirty.

 

[GrumpyAlison]

This light which I can’t pull proper info for it for some reason :

Nutrients are usually around 15-20 for nitrates and I don’t have a phosphate test (my tanks are small enough that I just do regular water changes and that keeps stuff in check). Might be a bit lower atm because of the giant water change I had to do (spilled food)

My tanks just have a perpetual dirty look. They don’t grow coralline on the rocks (mostly on plastics) so everything just a grimey green algae color)

 

[GrumpyAlison]

It was mostly detached from the rock so I grabbed it and threw it in my Refugium with the rest of my assorted anemones.
It still doesn’t look super happy, but it’s mouth has shrunk back down to a more respectable size so I’m hopeful at least.

Might try some new lights over the tank - I have this weird feeling nothing likes the viparspectra. It does have the interesting side effect of making some of my zoas grow extra tentacles though, which makes them look like weird blastos!

It didn’t take good this morning but I figure keep trying every few days? If I ever have a sad rock flower they get better way faster when they’re fed.

 

[laverda]

It does not look good. I hate to say this, buy your tank does not look very healthy either. It is weird you don't have coraline algae on your rocks. Anemones require a fair bit of light. You really should post all your parameters to help us diagnose the possible problem. Did you check for ammonia or nitrite? Do you use RO/DI watet with zero - 2 TDS for top off and making you saltwater?

 

[GrumpyAlison]

There is green coraline on the pvc and egg crate in the tank, the red stuff just never colonizes the rocks for some reason - seems to be a trend in 75% of the tanks I have setup.
I'll also grant that this tank looks super gross - I never do much with it because the rock work is a huge pain, so there's not much in it and just random algae everywhere, but I have a bunch of brittle stars and such in there that all seem to be doing fine/growing at an alarming rate so as long as they're happy, I'm happy.

I shifted the bta into my refugium and it's looking way better (still not super happy, but it just looks like an irritated nem rather than half dead). I think it's some combo of a different light and no shrimp picking at it while I'm not looking. Now I just have a stupid rock nem that wandered across the tank to sit super close to the bta... yay XD

Don't have params on hand, but ammonia & nitrates were within my usual ranges when I checked a few days ago. I do use 0 tds ro water for my water.

 

[GrumpyAlison]

The worst kind of phone pic, but I have hope! It keeps opening more and more and the stupid rock flower has run away back to its own rock

 

[laverda]

Don't have params on hand, but ammonia & nitrates were within my usual ranges when I checked a few days ago. I do use 0 tds ro water for my water.

That tells us nothing we can use to help. Ammonia should be zero. No range is acceptable. Anemones like nitrates so zero is not good for them.

 

[laverda]

Don't have params on hand, but ammonia & nitrates were within my usual ranges when I checked a few days ago. I do use 0 tds ro water for my water.

That tells us nothing we can use to help. Ammonia should be zero. No range is acceptable. Anemones like nitrates so zero is not good for them.

 

[ReeferReefer]

Yeah, I would recommend testing Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphate and Alk.

More information is needed if you want further assistance. I am glad to see the nem is doing a bit better.