Bta problem

[Srh444]

Hi,

I have 6 bta's, 4 red/pink and 2 green. However, 1of the red ones has gone black and 1 of the green ones is very pale looking.

The bta that has gone black has been like this for several weeks. I have tried spot feeding with live brine shrimp but it's not interested.

The green one that has gone pale has happened very recently during the hot weather, so I assume this is why it has it gone pale? I have also tried to spot feed it the same as above but it's not even open. Both of their mouths are closed.

My parameters:

SG - 1.026
Temp 29 - we've had hot weather here in the UK over the last couple of weeks.
pH - 8.0
Phosphate - 0.1
Alkalinity - 5/1.79
Calcium - 510
Magnesium - 1400
Nitrate - 10
Ammonia - 0.1

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Formulator]

What unit of measure are you using for Alk? 5 dKH is extremely low…

 

[Jekyl]

Lots of stories around here of red and green not mixing well. Are you running any carbon?

 

[Srh444]

What unit of measure are you using for Alk? 5 dKH is extremely low…

It's a Red Sea test kit.

 

[Srh444]

Lots of stories around here of red and green not mixing well. Are you running any carbon?

They were all getting along fine for the last few months. Yes I have carbon in a bag in the back chamber of the tank. I also have a Hydra 30 with a carbon cartridge also in the back chamber.

 

[Formulator]

It's a Red Sea test kit.

I mean what unit, as in dkh, ppm, meq/L?

 

[Srh444]

I mean what unit, as in dkh, ppm, meq/L?

It's as in (1dKH)

 

[Formulator]

It's as in (1dKH)

So your alkalinity is 5 dkh? That is extremely low. Anemones don’t necessarily need alk and calcium the way stony corals do, but alkalinity is a measure of your waters buffering capacity which keeps pH and everything else stable, or resistant to change more accurately. 5 dkh is very far from natural seawater and I would be surprised if your anemones survived long term in that water. You need to get it up to at least 7, but I’d suggest closer to 8. You need to do this slowly to avoid shocking anything so dose enough to raise about 0.5 dkh per day until you get to target. Then continue to monitor and adjust as needed to maintain stability.

 

[Srh444]

So your alkalinity is 5 dkh? That is extremely low. Anemones don’t necessarily need alk and calcium the way stony corals do, but alkalinity is a measure of your waters buffering capacity which keeps pH and everything else stable, or resistant to change more accurately. 5 dkh is very far from natural seawater and I would be surprised if your anemones survived long term in that water. You need to get it up to at least 7, but I’d suggest closer to 8. You need to do this slowly to avoid shocking anything so dose enough to raise about 0.5 dkh per day until you get to target. Then continue to monitor and adjust as needed to maintain stability.

OK thanks for your reply. I shall be doing a water change tomorrow. I shall test the water the day after the change and will dose accordingly. I need to do a WC tomorrow as I'm going away for a week but someone will be here to look after my fish