bta ?

mkinley17

mkinley17

Member
I have had a rose BTA for about a year now and has been doing great. He is a a 150 gal reef tank and hosted by two clowns. I was wondering what to look for when one starts to split? Mine has been looking a little funny kind of like a figure 8 right now and a little deflated. I know a picture would help but not sure how to do it yet. I have check water parameters have been stable in the tank and test OK. Phosphate may be a little high do to the fact that I have to clean the glass often. I have some GFO on order hoping that will help with that. Any one had a BTA split before? and what did it look like before it split? Thanks
 
mkinley17

mkinley17

Member
OK it might not be splitting, it just released eggs (spawned), should I be concerned about water condition? Really don't want to loose any of my corals. One of my fish were actually eating the eggs, that was a little freaky.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
It's not releasing eggs, it's releasing it's zooxanthallae algae. It's dying. Remove it. If it looks as if it's melting, that's a sure sign that it is dying.
If it were splitting, you'd literally see it splitting in half at the mouth. If you want a definite picture confirmation on whether it's dying or splitting, you can PM me and I'll send you my cell number and you can text me a picture.
 
mkinley17

mkinley17

Member
Thanks I sent a PM, My RBTA stills looks OK this morning and the pair of clowns are still hosting in it. I'm going to do a couple water checks, and watch the condition.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
The clowns may be aggravating it.
What test kits are you using? What readings are you getting exactly? What lighting?
 
mkinley17

mkinley17

Member
Before I left for work I ck 0 amona and 0 nitrates, API test kit I know that probable is not the best. As for light I am using two 270w led fixture they have been on the tank about as long as I have had the BTA a year or so. I'll ck other readings when I get home. All corals hammers, frog spawns and a few other look OK at this point. Would fish be eating the zooxznthallae?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Yes, the fish will pick at the zooxanthallae. The only thing that is throwing me off is the tentacles are really deflated. But it does look as if it is paling out.
Do you know what brand fixture it is? There are some great LED fixtures on the market, but most aren't good at all.
My guess is the clowns are aggravating it. But, API nitrate really aren't that great. They're know. To be highly inaccurate. That could be the issue.
 
mkinley17

mkinley17

Member
The fixture is a Atlantic Sunlite they are local. Whats odd is that the tank has been doing great sense it was new its150gal and over a year old. I had great results with my 90gal and its still looking great. I'm going to the LFS tonight to trade out some of my branching hammer coral getting to big for the tank. I'll see if I can pick up and better test kit.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
See if you can get the SeaChem nitrite/nitrate combo test kit. It comes with a reagent that you can test to make sure your results are reading accurately. Usually costs around $10
I'll see what I can find out about the light, but since your corals are ok, I'm assuming its probably the clowns.
Do you have any SPS?
 
mkinley17

mkinley17

Member



Here is a pic of complete tank and my RBTA when a got home from work to day 24 hours after expelling. Not opened up as usual but stills has color. Every one else in the tank seems happy.
 
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