How to help my bleached RBTAs regain their color

[mochaclownlover]

I never thought I would be making a thread like this... my rainbow BTAs have bleached, pretty severely. Sorry in advance for how long this is...The bleaching initially started when I had Dinos pop up about 3 months ago(they have since been beaten). I had thought the bleaching was from the dinos but, figured out my ro filter had gone and I had around 30 tds in my top off water and that was what was making them bleach along with kill ~60% of my coral. I had the choice to either do water changes and let the dinos grow out of control or halt water changes, even though my water was contaminated, in an effort to eliminate the Dino’s. I regretfully chose to halt WCs. It worked, but in the meantime not only had my btas bleached , but they had also shrunk to a fourth of their size as well. After doing multiple water changes per week, I finally believe I’ve removed all the contaminants. That was around 4 weeks ago. Since, I’ve been feeding the nems small portions almost everyday, (They all still eat food very well) skipping a few days here and there to give them some breaks from constant feedings. They are looking a lot happier, slightly larger even, but still lack almost all their colors. I know this process will take a long time, but are there any other things I can be doing to help them begin getting their color back? Any help in a greatly appreciated!
Parameters:
pH: 8.2 ppm
Nitrates: 2-5 ppm
Nitrites: ~0.02ppm
Alk: ~7.0 dkh
Temp: 82F
Lighting: 2 kessil a160 & 1 AI prime(16% royal&blue, 2% green, 8% UV&violet)

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Feed them while you can and give them time. If your tank is back on track, your BTAs should bounce back with feeding.

 

[mochaclownlover]

They've responded well with the feedings. Last icp came in good, so hopefully no more hiccups.

 

[Txplicit]

Your alk is a little low. How much light are they getting daily? What's your cal and mag? Bleaching is usually a sign of over light saturation. However, with such a low alk it could be due to swing in major elements too.

 

[mochaclownlover]

@Txplicit Total light time is about 13 hrs. They get strong light for about 11 and a half hrs and moon for and hour and a half. Just did cal and mag tests. Mag is 1560ppm and cal is 490ppm... Not sure how these got so high, haven't dosed either since I started having problems with water quality(~3months ago). All I've done since has been water changes (w/brightwells salt).

 

[Txplicit]

@Txplicit Total light time is about 13 hrs. They get strong light for about 11 and a half hrs and moon for and hour and a half. Just did cal and mag tests. Mag is 1560ppm and cal is 490ppm... Not sure how these got so high, haven't dosed either since I started having problems with water quality(~3months ago). All I've done since has been water changes (w/brightwells salt).

The issue with spike in trace is the low alk. Alk acts as a buffer. Think of it as an airbag. How much impact can it absorb before it cause damage? This is likely your mag and cal got so high. Magnesium that high is also a good reason the nem is bleaching. Can you measure par? News should only be getting about 100 par... I'd move him down the water column if you could, then slowly put your parameters back in line. Should help.

 

[mochaclownlover]

I don't have a par meter, but I can dim the lights down a bit. Should I also start dosing a bit of alk to try and balance out the mag and cal? or just increase WCs?

 

[Txplicit]

I'd do wc. Changes need to go slow. A swift dosing to shift cal/mag may cause a shift in alk further shocking the livestock. Do a 50% wc, wait a couple days, test then do a 20-30% if still too far off parameters. That way your livestock will thank you.

 

[mochaclownlover]

Thank you so much!! I'll do that tomorrow!

 

[my.PsychReef]

Keep the parameters stable. And feed some small meaty food daily. It will recover.

 

[mochaclownlover]

Figured I’d drop an update on this thread for anyone who may end up in a similar predicament. I ended up doing weekly WCs, upgraded to a Radion XR30, and continued feedings every other day. In about 2-3months the nems were back to their old selves. This is a picture of them today:

 

[Uncle99]

Good follow up, that really helps, so we can see the outcome.
They look great.

 

[GoReefin]

Awesome recovery