Bubble Tip Question

I bought a bubble tip 2 days ago. After it settled into a place it liked it started to flourish. This morning I turned on my actinics and noticed that my once pink BT was flourecent green. It was shriveled and I noticed it's mouth was distended big time. After checking my perams I noticed that my calcium was low and my nitrates were a bit high. After three hours of light the BT perked up and is now fine. I added a bit of calcium and iodine. Any idea's? Is this normal?

 

calc doesnt have a big effect on bta's but be careful to raise any levels slowly because any kind of spike up or down can be very detrimental

 

Ummm, am not certain by what you mean "...mouth was distended big time..."

But otherwise, completely normal for BTA to shrivel up for periods every few days...(mine does about every other day for a while)

Is it hosting clowns?...think they play a big part in keeping anem stimulated for longer periods.

Have often wondered if BTA's can really thrive in an aquarium without them.

They clean it and feed it better then you can.

Good luck.

 

This is where many get into problems I call it the old Knee Jerk method. Anemones are nothing more then a sack of water and anytime they are relocate or a large water changes is done or several times a yr they will totally dispel all their water and uptake new water . never just add stuff if you don't know there is a need for it and Iodine is somthing I have yet to ever add or find a need for .. What your anemone did it totaly normal and it will hapen again.. I would work on the nitrates and feeding the anemone will just increase them their waste is a ball of nitrate mess

 

Ok that makes sense. I have a clarki and he thoroughly enjoys the bta. when I bought it the guy at the lfs also sold me silversides. I ground one up and target fed a little to everyone. When I got home from work all remnants of it were gone. I guess what didn't get eaten by the bubble tip and the few fish and corals was cleared up by the shrimp and snails. Thanks for the advice. I'm almost due for a water change. I guess I should have held back from adding anything until then. Yesterday we were picking up a few fw fish and I almost bought a uv sterilizer. The guy at the lfs made it seem like a critically important piece of equipment. Could it help this particular situation? Will it strip nutrients?

 

oh, Omard, when I first placed the bta and started obvserving it I noticed the mouth was a small beak-like protrusion in the center. This morning it was 3-4 times larger and almost gaping. I read that if you were to come across this at market you should avoid buying it because it's a sign of stress or malnutrition.

 

UV sterilizers on a reef tank are an abolute last resort before a copper treatment, they will kill all beneficial bacteria in the water along with the bad stuff

Their not a horrible thing to have but don't use it on a coral tank unless it's a massively bad problem and there is no other way around it

 

See, and here I am thinking 'there's no way someone would look me in the eye and lead me astray.' Thanks IRAF. I'm starting to learn that it's better to wait and ask someone here rather than trust a salesman... even if it is a family friend.

 

Your learning quick... I ask here before purchasing anything.. My bta I used to have would shrivel up alot. But mine was in when my tank was pretty new, which was a big mistake and ended up losing it.. I added another bta after a year or so and it lasted until I ended up taking my tank down....

 

I hear it takes upward of a year or more to fully cycle a tank. Do you think it would take that long to create a suitable home for bta's and other corals?