Rainbow BTA acting weird

[Unenabled]

Hello good people of R2R,

My BTA has been like this for a while now. It's been in for about 2 months now and it hasn't changed at all since I got it. I started out with 2 anemones, but I gave the other to a friend who has a bigger tank. The other one looked normal, but this one looks like a plate with an outie. Thoughts?

Sorry about the bad quality pictures, I took them quickly and I am about to be late for class. But this is more important anyway lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

Assure it’s not getting too much water flow and that light is moderate- neither dim nor bright

 

[Unenabled]

Assure it’s not getting too much water flow and that light is moderate- neither dim nor bright

It’s definitely not getting too much flow as it is in a hole at the bottom of the tank. It is directly under the light but it also put itself there and hasn’t moved since (it moved there about 3 weeks ago) I thought it was something like that too but at this point I don’t think that’s the case

 

[DevilDuck]

Whenever they start looking like that for me they did not survive.

 

[Unenabled]

Oh I forgot to include my parameters. My parameters are: Nitrates 20, Nitrites 0, ammonia 0, ph 8.2

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s definitely not getting too much flow as it is in a hole at the bottom of the tank. It is directly under the light but it also put itself there and hasn’t moved since (it moved there about 3 weeks ago) I thought it was something like that too but at this point I don’t think that’s the case

Ok good. Have you fed it?
Other thing is to verify that the nitrate and phosphate are not elevated
Salinity 1.025
Temperature 77-80

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oh I forgot to include my parameters. My parameters are: Nitrates 20, Nitrites 0, ammonia 0, ph 8.2

What test kits are you using?
If nitrates are accurate- anemones do best in nitrate below.8

 

[Jekyl]

Oh I forgot to include my parameters. My parameters are: Nitrates 20, Nitrites 0, ammonia 0, ph 8.2

Need alkalinity and phosphate measurements. 20 is a little high on nitrate

 

[Unenabled]

What test kits are you using?
If nitrates are accurate- anemones do best in nitrate below.8

I think the test kit is inaccurate. I had the other bta in for a month and it was doing fine and growing pretty rapidly. This one has just been like this since the day I got it

 

[Unenabled]

Need alkalinity and phosphate measurements. 20 is a little high on nitrate

No idea on the phosphate and alkalinity, I don’t have the money to buy one of those alk test kits lol

 

[landlubber]

Oh I forgot to include my parameters. My parameters are: Nitrates 20, Nitrites 0, ammonia 0, ph 8.2

just going from your "parameters", is this a brand new tank? the reason i ask is the numbers you supplied are what are relevant when measuring if your cycle is complete.
after that measuring ammonia isn't important anymore as the de-nitrifying bacteria should be handling nitrite and ammonia and your nitrate levels should be the primary concern along with your Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and Phosphate.
if it is an under 7 month old tank the odds are stacked against it surviving as nems need a fairly stable system that new tanks cannot provide.

 

[Unenabled]

Ok good. Have you fed it?
Other thing is to verify that the nitrate and phosphate are not elevated
Salinity 1.025
Temperature 77-80

Temp and salinity is good, I have fed it once or twice a week

 

[Unenabled]

just going from your "parameters", is this a brand new tank? the reason i ask is the numbers you supplied are what are relevant when measuring if your cycle is complete.
after that measuring ammonia isn't important anymore as the de-nitrifying bacteria should be handling nitrite and ammonia and your nitrate levels should be the primary concern along with your Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and Phosphate.
if it is an under 7 month old tank the odds are stacked against it surviving as nems need a fairly stable system that new tanks cannot provide.

It’s been 3 months since I’ve added it. I’ve had this tank fully cycled since October, so that could definitely be it

 

[Jekyl]

No idea on the phosphate and alkalinity, I don’t have the money to buy one of those alk test kits lol

Then unfortunately we can't help you. Without being able to test for the necessary parameters I'd recommend not buying any more anemone or coral. Bare minimum would be getting your LFS to test your water only if they're not using API tests.

 

[Unenabled]

Then unfortunately we can't help you. Without being able to test for the necessary parameters I'd recommend not buying any more anemone or coral. Bare minimum would be getting your LFS to test your water only if they're not using API tests.

Definitely not going to get any more anemones for this tank. Why not add more coral? I've added a few zoas in the past few weeks and those have been doing great. I really doubt its my parameters though considering I had another BTA in there for the same amount of time and it was doing fantastic. This one has just been like this since I got it, and it was like this in the tank it was originally in before I got it. I guess the question that I meant to ask is why hasn't it showed any growth or development even though my parameters were good enough for the other to grow and thrive.
I left out some of that info in my initial post because I was in a rush, my bad.

 

[Jekyl]

Definitely not going to get any more anemones for this tank. Why not add more coral? I've added a few zoas in the past few weeks and those have been doing great. I really doubt its my parameters though considering I had another BTA in there for the same amount of time and it was doing fantastic. This one has just been like this since I got it, and it was like this in the tank it was originally in before I got it. I guess the question that I meant to ask is why hasn't it showed any growth or development even though my parameters were good enough for the other to grow and thrive.
I left out some of that info in my initial post because I was in a rush, my bad.

You have no idea if your parameters are good or not. Using API master test you get one or 2 of the 6 tests needed with a shaky value at best. Minimum for anemone you need accurate nitrate, phosphate, ph and alkalinity. With corals you need to add magnesium and calcium to that list. I'm not trying to be mean here, so please don't take it that way. Before wasting money on more coral or nems, that probably will struggle, buy better tests. Salifert is what I use, hanna and red sea are good also.

 

[landlubber]

You have no idea if your parameters are good or not. Using API master test you get one or 2 of the 6 tests needed with a shaky value at best. Minimum for anemone you need accurate nitrate, phosphate, ph and alkalinity. With corals you need to add magnesium and calcium to that list. I'm not trying to be mean here, so please don't take it that way. Before wasting money on more coral or nems, that probably will struggle, buy better tests. Salifert is what I use, hanna and red sea are good also.

this is all true.
the reason he's saying not to buy more corals is you may be exposing them to an environment that may not be suitable. When i read "i had an anemone before that was doing fine" the first thought that comes to mind is that we don't know the parameters were then when things were good and can't confirm they're the same, better or worse now.