apircio1004
New Member
I have a RBTA that bleached a bit when I got it, I nursed it back to health and it was doing great, it even split for me about 4 months down the road. Since then, I've had it/them close to a year now and they are going downhill quick. All of the sudden bleached, one is traveling (I turned powerheads off so it doesn't get sliced up). They have never ever moved from the home I gave it/them until now. The one that is traveling is now at the top of the tank on the glass. Is it lighting all of the sudden? I have a homemade 20k LED light that they have been under the whole time. THere's no heater in the tank... is it too cold?
If you have time, here's some backstory if it helps:
Upgraded fish tank from a 55 gallon and 30 gallon running side by side into one sump to a 120 gallon (4 ft long) into one sump. I used all of the water and rock and just moved it over into the new tank. At that time, I had 2 clownfish, 3 blue chromis. I saw no cycling as I watched carefully for ammonia. It's a bare bottom tank. This was Feb 2012. After I saw no cycling, I got some more rock and let that settle in (I got dry rock and added it a piece at a time over a month or two so that I don't make phosphates go sky high). After it was all in and seemingly doing well, I added a Moorish Idol and Yellow Tang about a month apart from each other (May and June 2012). It was tough to get them both to eat. I ended up using rubberbands to tie Nori to rocks to get the Idol to eat. Once he was eating, I picked up the YT. He was trickier. He was skittish. I had to leave the canopy lid up and (sure, laugh... but it worked) threw food across the room into the tank. Thank you whoever made pellets lol! Once he was eating, I was able to get closer and closer everyday. I was able to really look at him... and I saw ich (I know - . I have never won against ich. Never (though, I've only had to try and fight it twice). And now I have my prized possession Moorish Idol in a tank with ich... I didn't want to medicate my tank because I had inverts and hammer corals. I made a trap with a two liter bottle, caught the YT and looked him over better. The ich could only be seen on fins. So I took a drastic move. I took him out of the water and carefully cut the ich off. Just 3 little snips and no real complaint from the fish! I wouldn't have done this, except I kept thinking, they quarrel and their fins can get rips in them, so how much worse is it to cut off a small piece? He made a full recovery. Everything was happy until early summer 2013. I got a pair of Snowflake clowns and the RBTA(he bleached and shrunk and as stated before, I nursed him back to health). The 2 pairs got along just fine. No problems at all! I dodged a bullet, I was ready to sell in case it didn't go so well. My older clownfish slept with the MI until they decided to spawn and killed him for trying to live with them. Sad day/night when this happened. After that, I added more fish. A bicolor blenny and a dusky jawfish (he does wonderful even without sand). About a month later, I added a Foxface Rabbitfish.
Late summer, all fish are doing well, clownfish were spawning regularly. Corals are looking great, really happy looking everyday. I have 2 strains of Xenia, 2 strains of hammer corals, RBTA is nice a deep red and splits, clownfish begin to use them as their host. Green star polyp and Kenya tree also doing great. Hang on - here comes all the bad. One strain of Xenia starts receding. Just the one.. but all of it. Some places look like a bite is taken out of it. I have watched for hours and hours and hours, no fish is touching the Xenia. And the other strain (I don't even know if I'm using the correct word) is fine. My heaters broke around September - October. Between children's birthdays and Christmas around the corner, I can't get new heaters. I refuse more cheap glass heaters that are going to break on me. 2 of my Chromis have died. They were with me around 4 years. The Xenia has shrunk to nubs now. The GSP has receded immensely. One piece and only one piece of Kenya tree is bleaching. And the RBTA is now bleaching and one is on the move. I recently added a Harlequin shrimp to eat the thousands of astrea starfish I have. I have watched those starfish forever and I don't seem to see them eating any coral or even on any coral at any time. They gobble up the coraline, but not corals.
THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME!
My water with an old and new test kits shows the same parameters as always and I know you won't like this but... :
Salt 1.026
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate .... 80-100 at all times no matter what apparently.
phosphate 0
calcium 500
pH 8.0-8.2
I use NLS pellets, Formula 2 pellets, Nori (green, brown, and red), frozen mysis, and I hatch brine myself.
I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for water changes, I let the 55 gallon drum sit with however much I made up for at least 12 hours and I test to make sure it's safe to go in.
I'm open to any and all suggestions and I know the first one is to remove nitrates. Believe me, it's my dream to remove nitrates, they just won't budge.
If you have time, here's some backstory if it helps:
Upgraded fish tank from a 55 gallon and 30 gallon running side by side into one sump to a 120 gallon (4 ft long) into one sump. I used all of the water and rock and just moved it over into the new tank. At that time, I had 2 clownfish, 3 blue chromis. I saw no cycling as I watched carefully for ammonia. It's a bare bottom tank. This was Feb 2012. After I saw no cycling, I got some more rock and let that settle in (I got dry rock and added it a piece at a time over a month or two so that I don't make phosphates go sky high). After it was all in and seemingly doing well, I added a Moorish Idol and Yellow Tang about a month apart from each other (May and June 2012). It was tough to get them both to eat. I ended up using rubberbands to tie Nori to rocks to get the Idol to eat. Once he was eating, I picked up the YT. He was trickier. He was skittish. I had to leave the canopy lid up and (sure, laugh... but it worked) threw food across the room into the tank. Thank you whoever made pellets lol! Once he was eating, I was able to get closer and closer everyday. I was able to really look at him... and I saw ich (I know - . I have never won against ich. Never (though, I've only had to try and fight it twice). And now I have my prized possession Moorish Idol in a tank with ich... I didn't want to medicate my tank because I had inverts and hammer corals. I made a trap with a two liter bottle, caught the YT and looked him over better. The ich could only be seen on fins. So I took a drastic move. I took him out of the water and carefully cut the ich off. Just 3 little snips and no real complaint from the fish! I wouldn't have done this, except I kept thinking, they quarrel and their fins can get rips in them, so how much worse is it to cut off a small piece? He made a full recovery. Everything was happy until early summer 2013. I got a pair of Snowflake clowns and the RBTA(he bleached and shrunk and as stated before, I nursed him back to health). The 2 pairs got along just fine. No problems at all! I dodged a bullet, I was ready to sell in case it didn't go so well. My older clownfish slept with the MI until they decided to spawn and killed him for trying to live with them. Sad day/night when this happened. After that, I added more fish. A bicolor blenny and a dusky jawfish (he does wonderful even without sand). About a month later, I added a Foxface Rabbitfish.
Late summer, all fish are doing well, clownfish were spawning regularly. Corals are looking great, really happy looking everyday. I have 2 strains of Xenia, 2 strains of hammer corals, RBTA is nice a deep red and splits, clownfish begin to use them as their host. Green star polyp and Kenya tree also doing great. Hang on - here comes all the bad. One strain of Xenia starts receding. Just the one.. but all of it. Some places look like a bite is taken out of it. I have watched for hours and hours and hours, no fish is touching the Xenia. And the other strain (I don't even know if I'm using the correct word) is fine. My heaters broke around September - October. Between children's birthdays and Christmas around the corner, I can't get new heaters. I refuse more cheap glass heaters that are going to break on me. 2 of my Chromis have died. They were with me around 4 years. The Xenia has shrunk to nubs now. The GSP has receded immensely. One piece and only one piece of Kenya tree is bleaching. And the RBTA is now bleaching and one is on the move. I recently added a Harlequin shrimp to eat the thousands of astrea starfish I have. I have watched those starfish forever and I don't seem to see them eating any coral or even on any coral at any time. They gobble up the coraline, but not corals.
THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME!
My water with an old and new test kits shows the same parameters as always and I know you won't like this but... :
Salt 1.026
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate .... 80-100 at all times no matter what apparently.
phosphate 0
calcium 500
pH 8.0-8.2
I use NLS pellets, Formula 2 pellets, Nori (green, brown, and red), frozen mysis, and I hatch brine myself.
I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for water changes, I let the 55 gallon drum sit with however much I made up for at least 12 hours and I test to make sure it's safe to go in.
I'm open to any and all suggestions and I know the first one is to remove nitrates. Believe me, it's my dream to remove nitrates, they just won't budge.