Nems love nutrients, ive blasted mine with over 2k par before, no problem, subtle changes will help - 75% water change is not the move for an established nem.
I've kept thousands of BTA's under more intense lighting than most would ever consider using. They absolutely love light if adjusted. That nem has been with him/her for months, I'd agree with you if it was new, but it is not. Light is not the issue.
not always, they do great in all conditions, provided its a well established tank.
No it does not, and his are already stressed. And over the last 25 years ive done many 100% water changes without issue. I currently do 100G water changes on my 210 every two to 4 weeks. Nitrates and phos undetectable, and to date, I have never lost a single rbta. Matter of fact one that got caught in a powerhead and produced 30-40 babies from that incident. You should have used his pictures as a clue, he had green on his rocks, thats a pretty sharp clue his water has plenty of nutrients.
This doesn't help the OP, neither will "100% water changes" or running blues and whites at 1%..
I do know this, If the light has remained the same over the last 7 months, that is not the issue, also nems lacking light don't show those symptoms, and thats not enough for too much, or even close, especially after 7 months.
The difference between us is I know I cant tell his exact problem. Its one of two things however. too much light or bad water. I have never had a nem shrink into a ball from good water ever!. And I never said for him to run his lights at 1% its just working fine for me, Its not hard to cook a tank with too much light and LEDs are so new there has not been a ton of info on these lights in daily practice, and if you read the threads of no growth and say Kessils or other bright lights, its often the fact their intensity is SET too bright. Its a common mistake and it bit me, and I do this professionally and sell my excess corals for a decade before switching to LEDS. It was a slow decline without bleaching. The signs are not always what they seem. Anyway my point is, if it could bite me, it can bite others as well. But as far as large water changes, nothing corrects bad water like getting rid of it.
the fact his large one is hiding in a cave in the dark, leaves the possibility open. The other one back down on the bottom is also telling. Never ever have I seen a nem shrivel up like his from good water quality either. And how good can his water be with all the green on the rocks? Also never seen one do that with high intensity, less the 75 I have on rocks which all stayed in the shade under the rocks when both lights were on. Now they are all out and growing again. But they never got as bad as his. Possible he has a combination of problems. All of which are solved by turning down intensity and flushing out bad water, if bad water is the problem. Also not arguing, offering multiple diagnosis and by discussing this we may trip on finer details he can use to correct his issue you are certain of, and I am far from it. But not to far. it can only be 2 things period
I enjoy your professional opinion as well. And in that time while not killing a single one, I have had a great range of tanks and water conditions over the years. From SPS to keeping LPS alive for decades is not always easy around life changes. I did manage to kill a tang from old age, and still have a pair of clowns 20 years old. One thing I can count on has been my branching hammers started with 5 and at one point had thousands, and rbta's and a lobo, and a scolli. lost lots of other corals but always managed to have minimal loss during tank crashes. I generally take in sick corals or fish and bring them back. I hope OP is as lucky. Im just now recovering from 3 years of too bright of light, and I dont want to see others make my mistake.
My tank is 16 inches deep and the light is 13 inches off the water. I am pretty sure that it is not over lighting because they are in the part of my tank that gets less light because of the way my light is positioned. They used to be directly under the light all day for months. I have not dosed, added anything chemical, or changed my light from when they were bigger and out more.
Not too much light, that looks really good, especially 13" off the water, I'd even venture to say you could increase lighting, though I wouldn't reccomend making any large changes to your lighting schedule at this time as that may stress the animal more.
Nothing wrong with a 10 percent imo, can still work on getting nitrates up while doing a 10 %. Increase feeding once snails and crabs arrive.
