Reef Discussion

[somethingfishy76]

Hi guys, I have never really had any issues with Nems and keeping them but lately they just dont thrive and just keep getting smaller and smaller... I feed it but it gets to a point where it doesn't want to eat any longer. I used to keep a crispa and bubble tip for over a year... now a simple bubble tip looks like its fading after only a few days...

Any ideas. My clam is doing great....

 

[BlueBolts]

Check your nitrates and phos ? My nems loose some stickiness when these wp are high. A good WC never hurts.

 

[MagicJ]

A rapid change in conditions is what causes problems with corals etc

Your clam may have gradually got accustomed to something out of whack in your tank whereas the nem has not had that opportunity.

Maybe to a test of all parameters and see if anything shows up? Check the salinity etc as well,

 

[Lesley]

If it's only been a few days I wouldn't worry too much. They are pretty hardy & may just take time to get used to different parameters etc.

After bringing many bleached bta's back to health I soon realized that as long as their foot is attached they have a really good chance of doing ok.
If his tentacles aren't sticky, you may have to feed him with a syringe, defrosted brine or mysis,

When you say he doesn't want to eat, how often are you feeding him ?

If he has good color and you have decent lights he shouldn't need feeding more than once a fortnight (if that)
I actually only ever feed bleached ones, and the healthy good color ones don't get fed at all ?

If he has been eating so much he may just be closing up to dispell waste, used to freak me out when they did this, it would often be a few days.
Give it time, he will be fine.

 

[somethingfishy76]

Thanks for the replies...

My parameters are
Mag1500 (high due to not having a test kit for the last two to three months... settings have been changed to bring this down)
Cal 460
Kh 12
Nitrates 0
Phos 0.09
pH 8.14
Temp 24 (0.3° swing)
Salinity 1.025

Nem has been in the tank before moving to the new tank.
New tank has been running for three months. Used all old sand and rocks.
However i did strip the rocks to bare using vinegar and RO water then gerni with salt water. I wanted a clean start as my old tank had a bad green hair algae problem brought on from collecting water near wynnum bout ramp. (i know i know... what was i thinking...)
My clam is new and i have had him for a month. Looks happy and healthy. I have kept these before with much success.
I never use to feed nems much as the clowns did... however since this nem started getting smaller i tried feeding but in time it would not take the bits of prawn i give it. I think the loss of stickiness might be part of this.
I run Maxpect Razor 16000K... a great light with heaps of punch.

All my corals look fantastic so i doubt its metal in the water. I have no rusty bits anywhere and pumps are new also.

Bit frustrated by all this as i use to have one large crispa and two bubbletips for over a year...

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Lesley]

If he is losing stickiness of tentacles I would def defrost some mysis and syringe onto them. Once they start declining they find it hard to grab & eat large bits of prawn. But I still say , if foot is attached well and then he will be ok. Just give him time. I don't know anything about the Maxpect lighting, but is that a different light to what he came from ?

 

[Agent M]

Nothing is jumping out at me as being an obvious reason for it - perhaps zero nitrates? But then SPS keepers often have BTA's in zero nitrate tanks so....hmm. I keep my BTA's confined in a basket or breeder box, and they get out regularly now so I've had a few bad things happen to them. I give them the exact same treatment whenever there is a problem. Confine them to a basket, as close to the water surface/lights as possible, with gentle consistent flow. And leave them alone for a few weeks. If you feed the fish frozen cubes of soft foods like brine shrimp etc put a few bits in there where it can settle on to the anemone. Even with a weak grip an anemone should be able to consume a single brine shrimp placed on its mouth if given enough time. But don't feed chunks of food, go for the mushy, easy to digest stuff and just feed a tiny amount whenever you think of it. I don't believe hand feeding is a must, its optional.

If you don't see an improvement in a month or likely less then I don't think there is much hope for it, but I haven't had this way of keeping them fail me yet when it comes to recovery. In the past I have lost 2 BTA's gradually from them withering away over many months and I don't know why, but I was inexperienced and perhaps there was a reason I couldn't see at the time.

 

[somethingfishy76]

Just fed it a small piece of scallop... he took it and he seemed to have sticky tentacles. So we'll see.

 

[potatocouch]

@somethingfishy76 did it survive?