Lta

[*bta*]

Ive had an LTA for 2days now and i have noticed it has shriveled up and lipped itself around. I mean that the tentacles are facing the substrate and the base is in the air, i havent read or heard of this, is it a bad sign?

 

[thomas712]

Well its not what we want.
Check to see if its a water current problem.
Also check your water paramiters including ph, cal, alk.
You might try to place him on the substrate near a rock and see if he will attach himself.

 

[*bta*]

hes in a low current where some of the tentacles would sway slowly, so basically in a low current i had placed him in the substrate next to rubble rock, but when i got up this morning throck had been pushed a few good inches away from the LTA ill check my parimeters now..

 

[thomas712]

It could also be acclimation shock, how did you acclimate. Sometimes even if you do acclimate slowly it could simply be shock from your system and a new enviroment.
IMO it takes a couple of weeks in the new tank to truely acclimate istself.

 

[*bta*]

ive already found the problem... my SG rapidly increased over my vacation somehow its now 1.030+, so now i have to steadily lower it over a few weeks or days right?
I drip acclimated it for 3hrs

 

[thomas712]

I'd change 5 gallons today and replace with fresh RO/DI water and 1 gallon every day after that until you have hit the 1.025 or 1.026 mark, IMO.
I would still check alk and cal.

 

[*bta*]

im doing those tests right now, so five gallons today ok.

 

[thomas712]

Lets go a little slower. Change 2 or 2.5 gallons now, then check to see where the salinity is. Then do the other 2.5 later this evening. Just to be safe, and slow.
Thomas

 

[*bta*]

alk- normal
Ca- 450ppm
temp 77.2
and i still have to finish the other tests

 

[*bta*]

PO4- .1
Ammonia- less than .25
NO3- 5.0
NO2- .1
nitrates a little high..

 

[jacob_poly]

I think nitrates below 10 are fine.

 

[jacknjill]

ammonia needs to be zero
nitrites need to be zero
nitrates are fine

 

[*bta*]

well thanks for all the help but my lta just melted a little bit ago..
well before i buy anything else for my tank i have two projects to accomplish
replace CC with sand
build fuge
and this should help my nitrite and ammonia problems right?

 

[jacob_poly]

sorry about your loss....yes the fuge would be a good idea....but I dont think its absolutely essential. I dont have one on my 90 and my NH3, NO2, NO3 are all zero (I just have a sump). If these are not so then either its because the tank is not fully cycled(which is not your case) or theres organic matter decaying in the tank (extra food, dead fish, fish waste) or the water changes are not sufficient in keeping up with that rate and quantity of decay. So my suggestion would be to pinpoint what is the cause of the spike and take care of that (if possible - you cant stop fish waste....) and then determine the quantity and frequency of water change required to keep those conditions consistent. Hope that helped....