Help is my bubble tip dying

[Jakewoods]

3 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Do you have more than one anemone in that tank? I thought I saw a grey/brown foot and now I’m seeing an orange/red one.

 

Also, I don’t think that’s a bubble tip. I think it may be a magnificent anemone (Heteractis magnifica). They generally don’t do well if there are any bubble tips (Entacmaea quadricolor). 

That’s the same one it’s getting sick 

[Jakewoods]

2 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

it doesn't look good. I'd remove it before it pollutes the rest of the tank. If you have a holding tank to put it in to see if it will recover than do that.

Nah I don’t have another tank. But I think I will have to remove it. 

[Jakewoods]

52 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

@Jakewoods I would suggest you buy your own test kits. NOT API but red sea/salifert or hannah. This would be a good use for $$$.

 

Your rock is fake painted rock and not super mature yet. The tank looks young/new.

 

That nem is not a BTA, I believe you were sold a different more difficult nem.

 

I see you have sand sifting starfish (two?). They do not do well in newer tanks and they may die at some point, it takes awhile for them to starve, a year seems average. FYI any tank with dry rock less then a few years old is pretty new. 

 

I am just letting you know, research and think carefully about your purchases as I am seeing things in your tank your LFS should not have sold you yet. I feel like they may be steering you in the wrong direction with livestock purchases. 

Yeah mate I agree I get poor information and not much guidance from my local supplier. I get brown algae growth how shoukd I deal with that. 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

23 minutes ago, Jakewoods said:

Nah I don’t have another tank. But I think I will have to remove it. 

Do you have a bucket and an air stone? It looks like it needs a cipro treatment. I’m thinking it got some sort of bacterial infection. 

[Jakewoods]

5 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Do you have a bucket and an air stone? It looks like it needs a cipro treatment. I’m thinking it got some sort of bacterial infection. 

I do have a bucket but not another heater. Should I get it out sooner rather then later 

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

1 minute ago, Jakewoods said:

I do have a bucket but not another heater. Should I get it out sooner rather then later 

Where do you live? This time of year a heater may not be necessary. It will need some sort of flow though.
 

I would pull it and start a cipro treatment on it, if it was mine. 

[Tamberav]

33 minutes ago, Jakewoods said:

Yeah mate I agree I get poor information and not much guidance from my local supplier. I get brown algae growth how shoukd I deal with that. 

 

Brown algae can be different things so hard to say exactly but you want a good clean up crew of snails. Trochus snails are my favorite and you want to use RODI or distilled water for top off and for mixing salt. 

 

here is a pic of different kinds:

 

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

[Jakewoods]

1 minute ago, Tamberav said:

Brown algae can be different things so hard to say exactly but you want a good clean up crew of snails. Trochus snails are my favorite and you want to use RODI or distilled water for top off and for mixing salt. 

 

here is a pic of different kinds:

 

https://www.reefcleaners.org/nuisance-algae-id-guide

I have had snails they don’t seem to survive. I have a top up system with ro water and salt depending on my salinity. What do you suggest in that regard 

[Jakewoods]

7 minutes ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Where do you live? This time of year a heater may not be necessary. It will need some sort of flow though.
 

I would pull it and start a cipro treatment on it, if it was mine. 

So what’s that treatment. I live in NSW Australia and it’s winter. I will pull it out in the morning and what about light 

[Tamberav]

4 minutes ago, Jakewoods said:

I have had snails they don’t seem to survive. I have a top up system with ro water and salt depending on my salinity. What do you suggest in that regard 

 

Not having snails is probably the issue... algae will ALWAYS be present in a reef and it is actually HEALTHY to have some of it. Micro algae and such.

 

RO is probably okay but distilled with no additives is even better if buying gallon jugs. RODI is also great if you have your own machine.

 

The snails dying may be sick before you got them or perhaps an issue with acclimating if salinity is different or such. Do you test with a refractometer?  

[Jakewoods]

3 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

 

Not having snails is probably the issue... algae will ALWAYS be present in a reef and it is actually HEALTHY to have some of it. Micro algae and such.

 

RO is probably okay but distilled with no additives is even better if buying gallon jugs. RODI is also great if you have your own machine.

 

The snails dying may be sick before you got them or perhaps an issue with acclimating if salinity is different or such. Do you test with a refractometer?  

I don’t I get the water tests done at the pet shop and I buy my water from there too 

[sadie]

how is your critter?  Did he make it?

[Jakewoods]

34 minutes ago, sadie said:

how is your critter?  Did he make it?

His back to normal I am surprised he looked like he was gone for all money. But then this morning looking a lot better 

[sadie]

that's great!  so happy to hear.  it's crazy how bad they can look, then pop right back!

[Tamberav]

Glad he is looking better.

 

I would really suggest getting your own test kits.

 

The surefire way to know a nem is dead/dying is by the smell. They will smell AWFUL, like make you vomit awful. That is how I always tell since they can look like they are dying when pissed off. 

[seabass]

I don't believe that you are out of the woods just yet.  It was looking pretty bad.  However, in this state, I might try to feed it some small meaty fish food (like some thawed frozen mysis shrimp).

 

I feel like it was looking its best in the following pic:

While I'm 100% sure about an ID, the above pic shows inflated tips (although not all BTAs always exhibit inflated tips).

 

We still don't know about your lighting.  Based on the pics (and it moving around), I'm guessing that your tank's lighting is probably inadequate.  Plus, it's a young tank without confirmed measurable phosphate.  Lack of nutrients could be a problem for the health of the anemone, as well as open the door for dinoflagellates.

 

I'd also feel better if you hadn't felt that your tank's water parameters were good, when they were obviously low.  What type of salt mix are you using?  The tank's parameters (besides nitrate and phosphate) should pretty much match a batch of newly mixed saltwater.

 

And I totally agree with Pjanssen, those sea stars should be re-homed.  Due to their structure, it's hard to visually assess their health.  But they will undoubtedly starve in this tank.

[Jakewoods]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

I don't believe that you are out of the woods just yet.  It was looking pretty bad.  However, in this state, I might try to feed it some small meaty fish food (like some thawed frozen mysis shrimp).

 

I feel like it was looking its best in the following pic:

While I'm 100% sure about an ID, the above pic shows inflated tips (although not all BTAs always exhibit inflated tips).

 

We still don't know about your lighting.  Based on the pics (and it moving around), I'm guessing that your tank's lighting is probably inadequate.  Plus, it's a young tank without confirmed measurable phosphate.  Lack of nutrients could be a problem for the health of the anemone, as well as open the door for dinoflagellates.

 

I'd also feel better if you hadn't felt that your tank's water parameters were good, when they were obviously low.  What type of salt mix are you using?  The tank's parameters (besides nitrate and phosphate) should pretty much match a batch of newly mixed saltwater.

 

And I totally agree with Pjanssen, those sea stars should be re-homed.  Due to their structure, it's hard to visually assess their health.  But they will undoubtedly starve in this tank.

I buy my water from the pet shop already mixed. And o get a test every weekend and do about 36 litres water change after I get test.  And just top up with ro water. I’ll get back to you on my light. These photos are taken after a tank clean it doesn’t look like that now. And with the lights on he sand looks clean when the lights go out it doesn’t look clean at all. I am away working atm so my partner has been giving me updates. It’s gone back to how it was last night. 

[Jakewoods]

6 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Glad he is looking better.

 

I would really suggest getting your own test kits.

 

The surefire way to know a nem is dead/dying is by the smell. They will smell AWFUL, like make you vomit awful. That is how I always tell since they can look like they are dying when pissed off. 

What do you recommend for testing what tests should I buy and how often should I do them. His not looking to good again tonight 

[Jakewoods]

7 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Glad he is looking better.

 

I would really suggest getting your own test kits.

 

The surefire way to know a nem is dead/dying is by the smell. They will smell AWFUL, like make you vomit awful. That is how I always tell since they can look like they are dying when pissed off. 

How should I feed it the shrimp 

[seabass]

55 minutes ago, Jakewoods said:

How should I feed it the shrimp 

You can't feed it in its current state.  But if it should go back to a more healthy condition, you could try placing a few thawed mysis shrimp on its tentacles.  You could use a turkey baster to target feed it.  A healthy anemone is very sticky, and it will grab hold of the food and place it in its mouth.  Don't try to place food directly in its mouth.

 

However, I suspect that this anemone is no longer sticky (even when inflated), and that it will not take food.  It's always hard losing livestock (and not just because they are so expensive).  BTAs are one of the more hardy host anemones; however that doesn't make them easy.  I'd say they are for a more experienced reef keeper, with a more mature tank.

 

That said, I really hope that it recovers for you.  Sorry that I can't be more optimistic, but this often how a dying anemone will look like.  When you can see it's guts, remove it from the tank.  If you leave it in after it has died, it will start breaking up and pollute your tank.

[seabass]

Also, the brown "algae" that appears on the substrate throughout the light cycle, then goes away overnight is likely dinoflagellates (often referred to as dinos).  This would explain your dying snails, also the low nutrient levels, and possibly even the demise of your anemone.

 

Dinos are common in newer tanks that weren't started with live rock from the ocean.  Lack of competition (from other life like: plankton, pods, worms, and other micro-inverts) creates an environment where they can bloom.  It's a horrible pest to deal with.  I'm hoping your tank is just having a diatom bloom.

[Jakewoods]

57 minutes ago, seabass said:

You can't feed it in its current state.  But if it should go back to a more healthy condition, you could try placing a few thawed mysis shrimp on its tentacles.  You could use a turkey baster to target feed it.  A healthy anemone is very sticky, and it will grab hold of the food and place it in its mouth.  Don't try to place food directly in its mouth.

 

However, I suspect that this anemone is no longer sticky (even when inflated), and that it will not take food.  It's always hard losing livestock (and not just because they are so expensive).  BTAs are one of the more hardy host anemones; however that doesn't make them easy.  I'd say they are for a more experienced reef keeper, with a more mature tank.

 

That said, I really hope that it recovers for you.  Sorry that I can't be more optimistic, but this often how a dying anemone will look like.  When you can see it's guts, remove it from the tank.  If you leave it in after it has died, it will start breaking up and pollute your tank.

I might try feeding it if it shows improvement over the weekend. I appreciate everyone’s help. I’ll take some photos of the whole tank and the algae and light and see what you think. I need some help. 

[sadie]

I would start dosing Phosphates right away.  My Phosphates were 0 and my coral were suffering.  I got NeoPhos and dosed pretty heavy until I had a reading of 20, then slowly brought it down to about .05-.13 and my coral are thriving now.

 

Don't dose anything unless you have a test kit for it though.  I use the Hannah Phos checker, the low one.  

 

Good luck, I hope he recovers.

[RaymondNoodles]

I would stop doing so many water changes. Let the tank build up some nutrients. Low nutrients is probably the cause of the uglies you are currently experiencing. Dinos and cyano thrive in low nutrient systems and that is what you have. Algae/diatoms are normal and will dissipate with time. Water changes will not fix this. Some algae such as green hair is actually a good sign.

 

I have a bubble tip anenome that I rarely feed directly. It catches bits and pieces floating in the water when I feed the other fish, but they get most of their nutrients from light (photosynthesis). You keep talking about feeding it but that's probably the last thing it needs right now. It needs good light and nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in the water. 

[Jakewoods]

4 hours ago, RaymondNoodles said:

I would stop doing so many water changes. Let the tank build up some nutrients. Low nutrients is probably the cause of the uglies you are currently experiencing. Dinos and cyano thrive in low nutrient systems and that is what you have. Algae/diatoms are normal and will dissipate with time. Water changes will not fix this. Some algae such as green hair is actually a good sign.

 

I have a bubble tip anenome that I rarely feed directly. It catches bits and pieces floating in the water when I feed the other fish, but they get most of their nutrients from light (photosynthesis). You keep talking about feeding it but that's probably the last thing it needs right now. It needs good light and nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in the water. 

Yeah fair enough mate thanks. I’ll send some more photos over the weekend about lighting and stuff get a few more pointers would be helpful