bubble tip turning white

[MikeyAl]

I have a BTA that has gone from light green to white. His tentacles are coming out but not as long and full as expected. I have a pink tip that is doing well so not sure what is going on. My tank:
90g
Quad T5 HO
Nitrates below 20: all other parameters normal

I use plugins 1/ week

Any advice?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Sorry for your issue!

How long have you had him and where is his placement in the tank?

 

[MikeyAl]

2 months. He is in rock work middle of tank.

In previous post I had written "plugins"- should have been Lugols.

 

[Trex]

What are the actual numbers for your parameters? Please include SG/salinity.

What lights was the anemone under?

What brand/wattage of T5s? Does the fixture have indivudual reflectors?

Why are you dosing iodine?

Are you using RO/DI water? If so, what is the TDS?

 

[MikeyAl]

SG 1.023
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates 0
Calcium - 420

Light is Odyssea T5:
2x 54W t5 HO lamps, 10,000k (on at noon, off at 6pm)
2X 54 W t5 HO lamps (on at 10:30 a.m., off at 7:30 pm)
4 LED Blue Moon (on at 6 a.m, off at 11 pm)

I am dosing with Lugols iodine, 1/week. Using RO/DI - 0 TDS. Everything else in tank looks good even my pink tip anemone.
I have 2 ocellaris clowns, but they will not go near the BTA

Thanks

 

[Trex]

What temp is your tank?

SG should be at 1.0256

Would run your lights longer.

What lights was it under?

I would stop dosing the Lugols. With any decent salt mix there really isn't a need. In the end, can cause more harm than good.

Ocellaris are not naturally hosted by an E. quadricolor, so it will take some time.

 

[Presto2345]

Sounds more like water temp may be the issue. How often do you do a wc?

 

[leptang]

How many months have you ran the T5 bulbs? After 6 months they start to lose par. I would check the alkalinity and magnesium of your water.

 

[MikeyAl]

10% water change ever 2 weeks. Temp is 78.5. T5s for only 2 months.

 

[MikeyAl]

I also do lugols as lfs told me they needed it.

 

[Bayoureef]

My experience with BTAs is when they start turning white and the tentacles start shrinking they are starving. If you feed it. It can recover. I know there are many who swear that you don't have to feed BTA's. They may be right, but this advice is how to help your BTA improve.

 

[MikeyAl]

My experience with BTAs is when they start turning white and the tentacles start shrinking they are starving. If you feed it. It can recover. I know there are many who swear that you don't have to feed BTA's. They may be right, but this advice is how to help your BTA improve.

Thanks everyone. I will double check parameters and start feeding more. Every 2 days?

 

[Mstanker]

Check my gbta out one post up

 

[nanoman28g]

Thanks everyone. I will double check parameters and start feeding more. Every 2 days?

That's fine, but try mysis shrimp, since large chunks of food are harder to digest. That's what I feed my GBTA and it's doing great so far. Mine was also almost transparent when I got it, but now it's green!

 

[MikeyAl]

Thanks everyone. I added a panorama LED for 50 more watts, increased light time to 4 more hours, and have started target feedings ~ 3x/week. The BTA is starting to get its bulbs back, looks more lively, and clowns are starting to show interest. Still white but looking better. Thanks.

 

[MikeyAl]

Oh- feeding freeze dried mysis, coral frenzy, frozen shrimp, and oyster feast. Mixing it up.

 

[BillH]

Be cautious also, not all white anemone's that look like bubbletips actually are. There has been a huge influx of white north pacific anemone's that are actually
Cribrinopsis olegi and their being shipped to lfs and sold as bubble tips. They are not, and no they are usually not bleached bta's as a lot of people will jump up to tell you. First you need to know for sure which one you have. If they come out and or open more fully at night or in darker area's instead of the daytime like a standard bubbletip would then you probably actually have a mislabled cribrinopsis. Heres a full article on them if you want to compare... http://actiniaria.com/cribrinopsis_olegi.php . Also notice that most (not all) cribrinopsis do not have tenticles anywhere close to the mouth area, another hint that it may not be a bta. It has become a trend over the past few years for these to show up because they are much more abundant and easier to collect. These crib's also eat a lot slower. If you notice how quickly bta's are to usually snag food pieces and pull them in, crib's will very slowly pull food in overall.