Is my bta splitting?

[Tkendrick06]

I have had it for about two months, first marine tank (biocube 15). Stock lights

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just my thoughts:
A. It doesn't even look like a BTA.
B. The split should only take a few hours and they typically move away from each other.

 

[Tkendrick06]

Just my thoughts:
A. It doesn't even look like a BTA.
B. The split should only take a few hours and they typically move away from each other.

What kind of nem do you think it could be? I’m brand new to marine tanks and would love any advice.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

What kind of nem do you think it could be? I’m brand new to marine tanks and would love any advice.

Do you have photos under white lights?

 

[Spare time]

Looks like it

 

[Jekyl]

Welcome to R2R.

Seems to be splitting but unfortunately most likely due to a less than ideal environment. Anemone require mature tanks, stable parameters and strong lighting to thrive.

 

[Tkendrick06]

Welcome to R2R.

Seems to be splitting but unfortunately most likely due to a less than ideal environment. Anemone require mature tanks, stable parameters and strong lighting to thrive.

I let the tank mature for several months before adding him, I used the fritz starter bacteria and would ghost feed for a week, then I slowly added livestock, beginning with nassarius, then blue legged hermits, then the two percs, then finally the anemone. This was all over about 4 months, I’ve now had the anemone for about two. I have been looking at stronger lights, but I’m balling on a budget, how are the hygger reef lights?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I let the tank mature for several months before adding him, I used the fritz starter bacteria and would ghost feed for a week, then I slowly added livestock, beginning with nassarius, then blue legged hermits, then the two percs, then finally the anemone. This was all over about 4 months, I’ve now had the anemone for about two. I have been looking at stronger lights, but I’m balling on a budget, how are the hygger reef lights?

Stability isn't just about time... has your water quality/parameters been consistent no big swings?

 

[Jekyl]

I let the tank mature for several months before adding him, I used the fritz starter bacteria and would ghost feed for a week, then I slowly added livestock, beginning with nassarius, then blue legged hermits, then the two percs, then finally the anemone. This was all over about 4 months, I’ve now had the anemone for about two. I have been looking at stronger lights, but I’m balling on a budget, how are the hygger reef lights?

The rock being as white as it is, is what's causing my concern. Generally my advice is to wait to add until coraline starts becoming a problem. Your tank seems as though algae hasn't started its progression at all.

Using RoDi? What are your parameters?

 

[Tkendrick06]

The rock being as white as it is, is what's causing my concern. Generally my advice is to wait to add until coraline starts becoming a problem. Your tank seems as though algae hasn't started its progression at all.

Using RoDi? What are your parameters?

I have been using well water which I tested before mixing and adding. I always assumed the lack of coraline was due to my caulerpa macro algae sucking nutrients.

 

[Tkendrick06]

I have been using well water which I tested before mixing and adding. I always assumed the lack of coraline was due to my caulerpa macro algae sucking nutrients.

Parameters are
Salinity 1.027
Calcium 400 ppm
Dkh 7.5
Phosphate .5 ppm
Nitrate 15 ppm
Just added chemi pure blue to filter in order to lower nitrates, also did 15% water change.

 

[Jekyl]

Without using RoDi, and without doing something like an ICP test, it will be very difficult to give advice. We just don't know what could be in your water.

 

[Ron Reefman]

First, it's REALLY difficult to try and ID your anemone in that blue light. A couple photos in a more white light (or even a flash from your camera) might be much better.

The nem looks to be quite white? Does it have any color that you can see? Do your best to describe it. Usually that's not a good thing. But I've collected very white Rock Flower anemones (RFA) in the Florida Keys and they recovered in my 40g aio tank and now have nice patterns in black, white and gray.

Where did you get this anemone? Were you told it's a Bubble Tip? As stated before, Bubble Tip anemones typically have longer tentacles, even when very young. They also tend to have the bubble form near the end of those tentacles, although some tend to give up those bubble froms for some reason. I have 4 Black Widow Bubble Tip anemones in my tank. I bought it about a year ago and it has lost that bubble form. However, it split and created 2 babies about 5 months ago and split again for one more baby a month ago. All 3 of the 'kids' have the bubble form.

As to the questions about your tank not being 'mature' enough... Well, that may be partially true, but that doesn't mean it's a big issue. The first 6 to 12 months can be filled with issues and problems. My 40g aio tank was set up about 9 months ago and I moved many of my corals and inverts to the new tank quite quickly as I sold the old 90g tank. I just finally got rid of a green cyano bacteria issue. It took a good 6 weeks, but the tank looks good now.

Using well water could be a BIG issue. It may not have the contaminates that city tap water has, but it could have a lot of other stray chemicals. Has the water yo use gone through a cistern and some kind of filter or de-ionizer? If you don't want to spend the money for an RO/DI system of your own, you could buy RO/DI water from your local aquarium store. Or you could by distilled water from the grocery store and use that to make all your new water change water.

From what I've seen, the hygger reef lights aren't strong enough for a reef tank. You need a fixture that has leds running at 3 watts or more per led. How big is your tank? There are good led fixtures out there, but you are looking at close to $200 for a small tank.

 

[Tkendrick06]

First, it's REALLY difficult to try and ID your anemone in that blue light. A couple photos in a more white light (or even a flash from your camera) might be much better.

The nem looks to be quite white? Does it have any color that you can see? Do your best to describe it. Usually that's not a good thing. But I've collected very white Rock Flower anemones (RFA) in the Florida Keys and they recovered in my 40g aio tank and now have nice patterns in black, white and gray.

Where did you get this anemone? Were you told it's a Bubble Tip? As stated before, Bubble Tip anemones typically have longer tentacles, even when very young. They also tend to have the bubble form near the end of those tentacles, although some tend to give up those bubble froms for some reason. I have 4 Black Widow Bubble Tip anemones in my tank. I bought it about a year ago and it has lost that bubble form. However, it split and created 2 babies about 5 months ago and split again for one more baby a month ago. All 3 of the 'kids' have the bubble form.

As to the questions about your tank not being 'mature' enough... Well, that may be partially true, but that doesn't mean it's a big issue. The first 6 to 12 months can be filled with issues and problems. My 40g aio tank was set up about 9 months ago and I moved many of my corals and inverts to the new tank quite quickly as I sold the old 90g tank. I just finally got rid of a green cyano bacteria issue. It took a good 6 weeks, but the tank looks good now.

Using well water could be a BIG issue. It may not have the contaminates that city tap water has, but it could have a lot of other stray chemicals. Has the water yo use gone through a cistern and some kind of filter or de-ionizer? If you don't want to spend the money for an RO/DI system of your own, you could buy RO/DI water from your local aquarium store. Or you could by distilled water from the grocery store and use that to make all your new water change water.

From what I've seen, the hygger reef lights aren't strong enough for a reef tank. You need a fixture that has leds running at 3 watts or more per led. How big is your tank? There are good led fixtures out there, but you are looking at close to $200 for a small tank.

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, I can upload pictures under a more white light, I apologize for asking about something that is not easily identifiable. I was told it was a bubble tip, to the eye it has greenish tentacles and a pink body and foot. I will be using distilled water from here on out, are the biocube lights decent? I believe it is an older biocube, I bought it second hand, it has two led strips and two tube lights, one blue and one white for each. I have been turning on one blue and one white in the mornings, then two whites and one blue, then all four, then one white two blue, and finishing the day with just the blues. I could be completely wrong but I have been doing this to try and mimic nature. I currently have the nem, a leather finger toadstool, a hollywood stunner, and a kenya tree. How urgently do I need another light, I genuinely am a broke college student who just loves fish and I am quickly falling in love with reefs.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Most older bio-cube led fixtures are good enough to keep easy stuff like zoas alive, but really are NOT good enough for much more than that. Your Hollywood Stunner will be a good test as it's a fairly hearty, fast growing LPS.

Given I think your leds are weak, you should be running more blue and less white. The zooxanthellae (algae that lives inside your corals and anemones) use blue light to do photosynthesis which helps feed the coral and anemone. I'd suggest your midday lighting should be all blue for at least 6 to 8 hours as that's about how long the zooxanthellae can do photosynthesis before shutting down (think 9am to 3pm or 8am to 4pm out on a reef).

Try looking around for a better used led on Craigslist, Ebay or on the For Sale Forum here at R2R.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but to do this hobby right, it takes a reasonable budget. But good used equipment can be a good source of hardware. There are always people getting out of the hobby, frustrated, and willing to sell stuff fairly cheap.

Look for something like the attached. It has 55 leds and is 165 watts (a bit better than 3 watts per led). It's only $90 new at Amazon. With a light like this, you can keep almost any coral or anemone.
Amazon product

 

[Tkendrick06]

Most older bio-cube led fixtures are good enough to keep easy stuff like zoas alive, but really are good enough for much more than that. Your Hollywood Stunner will be a good test as it's a fairly hearty LPS.

Given I think your leds are weak, you should be running more blue and less white. The zooxanthellae (algae that lives inside your corals and anemones) use blue light to do photosynthesis which helps feed the coral and anemone. I'd suggest your midday lighting should be all blue for at least 6 to 8 hours as that's about how long the zooxanthellae can do photosynthesis before shutting down (think 9am to 3pm or 8am to 4pm out on a reef).

Try looking around for a better used led on Craigslist, Ebay or on the For Sale Forum here at R2R.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but to do this hobby right, it takes a reasonable budget. But good used equipment can be a good source of hardware. There are always people getting out of the hobby, frustrated, and willing to sell stuff fairly cheap.

Look for something like the attached. It has 55 leds and is 165 watts (a bit better than 3 watts per led). It's only $90 new at Amazon. With a light like this, you can keep almost any coral or anemone.
Amazon product

Thank you again for the detailed replies and kindness, I understand that the hobby is expensive, I have been working and was very easily able to support my tank addiction lol, but now starting college I haven't been working. I will look into used lights and the one on amazon. Again thank you so much for the help.

 

[Tkendrick06]

Thank you again for the detailed replies and kindness, I understand that the hobby is expensive, I have been working and was very easily able to support my tank addiction lol, but now starting college I haven't been working. I will look into used lights and the one on amazon. Again thank you so much for the help.

Most older bio-cube led fixtures are good enough to keep easy stuff like zoas alive, but really are NOT good enough for much more than that. Your Hollywood Stunner will be a good test as it's a fairly hearty, fast growing LPS.

Given I think your leds are weak, you should be running more blue and less white. The zooxanthellae (algae that lives inside your corals and anemones) use blue light to do photosynthesis which helps feed the coral and anemone. I'd suggest your midday lighting should be all blue for at least 6 to 8 hours as that's about how long the zooxanthellae can do photosynthesis before shutting down (think 9am to 3pm or 8am to 4pm out on a reef).

Try looking around for a better used led on Craigslist, Ebay or on the For Sale Forum here at R2R.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but to do this hobby right, it takes a reasonable budget. But good used equipment can be a good source of hardware. There are always people getting out of the hobby, frustrated, and willing to sell stuff fairly cheap.

Look for something like the attached. It has 55 leds and is 165 watts (a bit better than 3 watts per led). It's only $90 new at Amazon. With a light like this, you can keep almost any coral or anemone.
Amazon product

I ended up finding a vipar 165 that I am going to go get after class. Getting it for $70!!
Seller bought and it did not fit their tank, it will overhang my tank by an inch on each side but I am willing to live with that, how should I go about setting up this light?

 

[Tkendrick06]

For everyone wanting pics under white light.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I ended up finding a vipar 165 that I am going to go get after class. Getting it for $70!!
Seller bought and it did not fit their tank, it will overhang my tank by an inch on each side but I am willing to live with that, how should I go about setting up this light?

I really hate to say it, but even with the better photo in white light, I can't ID our anemone. I'm 99% sure it's not a Bubble Tip and 95% sure it's not a Rock Flower. I don't think I've ever seen one that looks like that.

The Vipar is a good led fixture and $70 is a good price. Congrats!

I'm going to assume (I know, bad idea) that your fixture does NOT have any timer ability to change lighting. And that you only have 2 channels, blue and white (maybe with some other colors added into the white?) So, first thing is, wit this more powerful light, don't start out with it too bright. I'd say 60% blue and 20% white. Then over time, say once a week, bump the power up on each channel by 10% (70/30, 80/40 ect.). Actually, with a shallow tank, 80/40 may be as high as you'll want to go.

You are welcome for the replies. I started in this hobby about 25 years ago. There was FAR less helpful hardware and things have come a long, long way. But when I started, like you, I was on a tight budget and really didn't know what I was doing. Now it's all pretty much second nature. I even worked for an led manufacturer as a website answer guy for a few years! At one point I had well over 600g of saltwater in the house (4 tanks and 2 big sump/refugiums). Now I'm happy with a 40g aio that has corals, anemones, lots of inverts, but no fish! If you have questions, feel free to ask me here or in a private message.