Bubble Tip is dead. What to do?

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

Unfortunately my beautiful Green BTA died today. It had been opening and closing for about 2 weeks. It opened last night for the last time.

My question is: What should I do? I removed it from the tank. I've heard dead nems can "nuke" tanks. What should I be on the lookout for? I also have a trip planned this weekend. I'll be gone from tomorrow and back Monday night.

As of this morning my Nitrates are running at 0. But should I do a big water change? What else?

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

Bump for help

Eagle_Steve · Jun 10, 2021

RocksNStuff said:
Bump for help

Do you have a pic?

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

Eagle_Steve said:
Do you have a pic?

No. It was clearly dead and I flushed it.

Reefer Drew · Jun 10, 2021

Check your ammonia levels. If they are elevated it would be worth doing a water change.

Eagle_Steve · Jun 10, 2021

RocksNStuff said:
No. It was clearly dead and I flushed it.

But not melted, correct. If it was not a pile of mush and you were able to remove it, you should be fine. They only “poison” a tank when the melt and turn to mush. This causes an ammonia spike most of the time.

If you want, run a little carbon. Water change will not hurt anything either

also check for ammonia. If using api kit, it may show a you have some, but could be a typical error with those kits.

I have had bta die, but not melt and it hasn’t hurt a thing.

If you have fish and they are all breathing normal and acting fine, then more than likely all is well.

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

Eagle_Steve said:
But not melted, correct. If it was not a pile of mush and you were able to remove it, you should be fine. They only “poison” a tank when the melt and turn to mush. This causes an ammonia spike most of the time.

If you want, run a little carbon. Water change will not hurt anything either

also check for ammonia. If using api kit, it may show a you have some, but could be a typical error with those kits.

I have had bta die, but not melt and it hasn’t hurt a thing.

If you have fish and they are all breathing normal and acting fine, then more than likely all is well.

Thank you! You're correct that it wasn't melted. But it's mouth was turning inside out. I'm really sad over here but not as sad as my clowns. Poor things. I just tested ammonia (with API) and it showed 0.

Eagle_Steve · Jun 10, 2021

RocksNStuff said:
Thank you! You're correct that it wasn't melted. But it's mouth was turning inside out. I'm really sad over here but not as sad as my clowns. Poor things. I just tested ammonia (with API) and it showed 0.

Mouth turning inside out does not mean dead, but may mean it could have needed treatment. But if you are going out of town, as sad as it is, you may have done the right thing. Just do not beat yourself up about it. Things happen and as long as you learn from it, all is well.

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

Eagle_Steve said:
Mouth turning inside out does not mean dead, but may mean it could have needed treatment. But if you are going out of town, as sad as it is, you may have done the right thing. Just do not beat yourself up about it. Things happen and as long as you learn from it, all is well.

Thanks. I really liked that nem!

WallyB · Jun 10, 2021

Mouth turning inside out is normal. Mine it does quite often.

If you haven't tossed it and want to be safe can you get it into some bucket with salt water and a heater to see if it reverses.

Or some container (tupperware) you can float in the tank or sump, so the container stays warm with the tank water around the container. Just somehow have that container firmly in place at the edge of your tank rim.

The more water the better since you will be away the weekend.

RocksNStuff · Jun 10, 2021

WallyB said:
Mouth turning inside out is normal. Mine does quite often.

If you haven't tossed it and want to be safe can you get it into some bucket with salt water and a heater to see if it reverses.

Unfortunately I already flushed it. It had been doing that for a couple of weeks but would always remain firm and plump. Today it was limp and wasn't attached to it's rock anymore. Kind of just stuck in a low flow area. If this ever happens again, I'll probably try to treat it earlier when it starts looking sick. It started taking a turn for the worse when I added about 10lbs of live rock and my Nitrates dropped to 0. I tried to get the NO3 back up but just couldn't.

vetteguy53081 · Jun 10, 2021

Net it or siphon it. . . do not let fragments become loose in the tank which will smell and can emit toxins
Afterwards, drop in a pouch of chemipure blue to control nitrates and any toxins present

WallyB · Jun 10, 2021

RocksNStuff said:
Unfortunately I already flushed it. It had been doing that for a couple of weeks but would always remain firm and plump. Today it was limp and wasn't attached to it's rock anymore. Kind of just stuck in a low flow area. If this ever happens again, I'll probably try to treat it earlier when it starts looking sick. It started taking a turn for the worse when I added about 10lbs of live rock and my Nitrates dropped to 0. I tried to get the NO3 back up but just couldn't.

Sorry for your loss.