GBTA hates light

[revrenhex]

Hello,

I have had this GBTA for about a month now. On only one occasion could I get him to eat (head of a silverside.) He always maintains a good green color and maintains his bubble tips, but he is never very inflated. The picture shows him in his usual form. The last two days he has been floating around the tank, but he has not resettled and attached to the crushed coral subrate. I also cannot get my pair of false percs to go anywhere near him. My water paramaters are ok (PH 8.2, Nitrate 3ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Ammonia 1ppm, 78 degrees.) I have a small diatom bloom I have been unable to thwart (despite many RO/DI water changes) Is he healthy or not, im having trouble telling anymore. My lighting is 80w Actinic, 80w 10k. I plan on getting some PC lighting on there in the next week, but he is just having to live with what I got so far. Although it seems as if the more light I put on there, the more drawn in he becomes. Wierd

Help please!

Thanks,
Cliff Harris

http://www.wasteofa.com/pictures/fish/GBTA.jpg

[Jeremy Blaze]

How old is the tank? There should be no ammonia in the tank. The anemone is likely getting burned from this. As far as the lighting goes, they need much more than this, however, I don't think that is the cause for its problems as of now.

As far as the clowns, how big is the gbta compared to the clowns? Idealy the anemone needs to be at least 2 times as wide as the length of the clown.

[revrenhex]

The tank is about a month old. I had a setup 20 gallon, bought the 55 and used the substrate, rock, and water from my 20 to get it started. The BTA is about the same size as my largest clown. I ordered my lighting today, 260w PC. Ive been doing water changes, but cant seem to get the ammonia down.

[Jeremy Blaze]

You need to get that anemone out of that tank! There is no way it is going to survive. I would never imagine putting an anemone in a tank that young. The reason you have diatoms and ammonia is because your tank is still cycling. Take the bta to the lfs, ask them to hold it for you if you must. Stop doing water changes, let the tank cycle. If I were you, I would take the fish out too, and replace the cc with aragonite sand.

[The Punisher]

I agree, your tank is likely much to young to sustain any anemone. The lighting is also subpar for anemones. They like bright intense light. It seems your tank is still cycling and I would advise that you stop adding livestock until your ammonia and nitrites are at ZERO for a couple of weeks. This hobby takes patience to do right.

[revrenhex]

The lighting I ordered was 260 w PC, 2 actinic, 2 10k. will this be enough lighting?

[The Punisher]

That lighting is not ideal but may work, but I don't think the lighting is your biggest problem. Your tank just isn't ready for it now.

[Ebisan]

Yeah, your tank is still cycling if you have ammonia. If you can, take the anemone back to the lfs to hold it for you if possible. If you can spend a little more, get MH. You won't regret it. I bought the Coralife PC fixture then switched to MH. I should have saved money and went straight to MH.

[revrenhex]

Ok, got a new test kit, my other one was old and not reading very accuratly. Here are my actual accurate test results.
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0.25
PH 8.4

What does this mean? How do I lower my Nitrate and nitrite?

Thanks!

[Jeremy Blaze]

Sit back and wait!

[Skorpinok]

revrenhex, i feel for you brother... I'm also in the cycling stage of my tank.

but, like every one said "patient is a virtue" let it sit. any posibility of returning those pc lights for T5's. i ordered T5's for my tank.

[revrenhex]

Ok, I checked today, and here are my parameters

Amonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
PH 8.4

Does this mean im past he cycle, should i start doing water changes again?

[The Punisher]

I would continue to do water changes, I think most people have differing opinions on water changes during a cycle but you're definitely getting toward the end of your cycle so a water change won't hurt. I'd wait a week or two and let everything settle in and then you can start with your clean up crew, just remember to keep taking it SLOW.

[Clown-N-Around]

Tank is not done cycling until amonia and nitrite hit 0. Nitrates will be what you watch ongoing to know when to do water changes. The lower the nitrates the better, especially with inverts.

The first BTA we got was right after the tank cycled and he could not get comfortable, kept shriveling and crawling into caves, etc. Sounds like yours! My clowns liked him at first, but when he started dying they would not go near him.

He eventually passed on, and we learned the hard way. Waited a few months for the tank to get better established and have a green that has had its good and bad days but fine for 6+ months now. Just added a rose anemone that has been great since we got him and getting consistent "performance" from our original green. Moral of the story- anemones do much better in an established system!!

Christina