rose bubble tip HELP!

[fishfreak65]

I have a rose bubble tip that I have had for at least a year. It has done really well my maroon clown has taken care of it and has even split one time. Latley it seems to not be doing so well. It is staying very small and not even extending very many tentacles. It will stil eat, but I have to break it up into small pieces or it won't close up all the way over the food and will lose it. It just seems to keep getting smaller but still has good color to it. Any thoughts??

[leebca]

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

You posted this in the Fish Care, Health and Disease Forum. I moved this post into the Reef Aquariums Forum where someone with the info will help, I'm sure.

But you might want to provide more information about your aquarium, such as lighting, water parameters, other inhabitants, size, etc., etc. in order to get the best help.

[Ninong]

What is your salinity?

What lighting do you have over this tank?

Check out this article by Dr. Ron Shimek on the husbandry of host sea anemones.

[fishfreak65]

last checked last week by a store it was .028 they also said it my nitrites were high, so I did a 15 gallon water change and my hydrometer said .022 although when the store said 0.28 my hydrometer said 0.24 so ?? I have a 40 watt bulb at 20,000 k and a 40 watt bulb at 10,000 k. This is more than I had in the past when it was doing well

[wozza]

Hi fishfreak,
80W is not enough to keep an RBTA alive for a long period of time IMO 150w minium is needed for a RBTA, also depending on your system size a 15gal water change is not gonna do much to dilute you high nitrites...assuming you ment nitrItes and not nitrAtes.

what size tank do you have?
What do you feed your RBTA and how often?

james

[fishfreak65]

I have a 55 gallon. I have had the rose bubble for over a year and possibly going on two years it has done great even (much to my dismay) got a hold of my pacific blue tang and consumed it. It was about the size of a 50cent piece. So it had no problem eating big peices of meat, so I just don't understand why it is staying so small now. I fed it 2-3 times a week and most of the time I would put 4-5 five pieces of krill in and the clown would take it and feed the rose. It did take a bigger piece of krill tonight. I have been trying to feed it every other day since I have had to give it such small pieces latley.

[kevinpo]

IMO the long term lack of proper lighting is causing the anemone to starve and eat itself. The anemone has tried to compensate by eating all the food offered but more intense lighting is really required for these animals to survive long term. VHO's, PC's, HO T-5's, and metal halide lighting will all work depending on the tank depth. Generally HO fluorescent lighting works well if the anemone is 12-18" from the bulb and metal halide 175, 250, and 400 watts for more than 18".

HTH,
Kevin

[Ninong]

last checked last week by a store it was .028

Did the store use a refractometer to measure your specific gravity? If so, 1.028 is a little on the high side unless you are keeping a Red Sea biotope tank. Try to keep your specific gravity around 1.025-1.026.

they also said it my nitrites were high

That would be a major cause of concern. Did they tell you what the measurement was? Anything above about 0.1 ppm NO2 is a problem. Is this store using real test kits? Just wondering. I can't imagine a store making the comment "your nitrites are high" without telling you exactly what the reading was. Sounds like maybe they either don't know what they're doing or they're using some cheapy worthless test kits. Maybe both???

so I did a 15 gallon water change and my hydrometer said .022 although when the store said 0.28 my hydrometer said 0.24 so ??

I suspect your hydrometer isn't all that reliable. Is it one of those swing-arm things? You should consider getting a refractometer. They're only about $45 and very accurate.

I have a 40 watt bulb at 20,000 k and a 40 watt bulb at 10,000 k. This is more than I had in the past when it was doing well

Your lighting is totally inadequate for this animal. And it wasn't doing well in the past under even less lighting. It's just that it takes a long time for the ill effects to become obvious.

Check out the article by Dr. Ron Shimek that I linked in my previous post.

Good luck!

[fishfreak65]

So it takes over a year to show ill effects?? I was feeling good that I had kept an anemone alive for so long and that it had even split! The store used a little gadget that they looked into like a telescope and I thought of getting one but the one they had was over two hundred dollars.
Okay so if the lights aren't enough than how do the companys like marine glo get away with saying that the light is suitable for anemones and coral. Isn't there a law saying that yoiu can't false advertise? I had saltwater many years ago but didn't do well so I quit then after my son lost his kidneys and had to go through dialysis I tried again because he loved it so much hoped it would give him hope for a future. I have been trying to upgrade but some of the things you need are sooo pricey. So perhaps I should go fish only! Thanks for all of your comments very helpful and very much appreciated!

[Ninong]

The store used a little gadget that they looked into like a telescope and I thought of getting one but the one they had was over two hundred dollars.

That was a refractometer. You can get decent ones for as little as $45 online. They are accurate -- hydrometers are not.

Okay so if the lights aren't enough than how do the companys like marine glo get away with saying that the light is suitable for anemones and coral. Isn't there a law saying that yoiu can't false advertise?

There all sorts of laws concerning advertising, some are federal and some are state. For example, the FDA has guidelines regulating what you can and cannot say about drugs for human consumption. Unfortunately, they don't regulate what you can say about herbal supplements and some of those make outrageous claims and can even be harmful but they don't come under the laws regulating drugs.

Don't you just love those stupid "Head-On" commercials on TV? They make no claims whatsoever for their product! None! They don't even tell you what it's for. Maybe it's a new form of birth control? Maybe it's a deodorant? Maybe it's a mosquito repellent? All they tell you is that you should apply it directly to your head. It's one of those magic herbal concoctions that's supposed to relieve headaches and stress but they make no such claims because that would be false advertising because they have no scientific evidence to support such claims. Evidently a lot of people are buying the product anyway and rubbing it on their forehead just as a lot of people buy magic potions for their reef aquarium without any idea whatsoever what the ingredients are or how the product is supposed to work.

Another example would be the federal truth-in-lending laws that regulate how you disclose finance charges. Before that law came out forcing everyone to use A.P.R.'s (annual percentage rates), you had a whole mishmash of misleading ads touting ad on rates, discount rates, etc. Now everybody is forced to use A.P.R.'s and forced to disclose additional fees, etc.

Anyway, as far as I know, there are no laws that regulate the claims made by the manufacturers of the products sold to aquarists. Unless you want to sue them under your state's redhibitory defects law, assuming your state has a redhibitory defects law. A redhibitory defect is an existing defect that makes the product unsuitable for the purpose it is being sold for. In other words, if it's a camera, you would expect it to take pictures. If it doesn't take pictures, return it and get a full refund -- IF your state has a redhibitory defects law.

Nobody is going to sue a manufacturer just because they made outrageous claims about their magic reef potions -- or about their fluorescent lamps.

Thanks for all of your comments very helpful and very much appreciated!

Read the article I linked in my first post. The one by Dr. Ron Shimek on the care of anemones.

[rayjay]

Mention of Dr Shimek brings to mind back when he was still on RC, there was a thread on anemones and light.
Dr Shimek told the poster that by supplimenting extra feeding, the low light he had would be a non factor, but he prefers to have good lighting and feeding of the anemones as well.
In my case, I started my first tank in Jan 94 with NO fluorescent lighting and have never had anything but over my tanks. The very first purchase I made after the cycle was a Sebae anemone and clownfish.
They stayed in that tank for a year and a half until I set up a 90g tank that I moved them to.
My sebae anemone is doing just fine in my 65g these days, along with clams and corals, and still, it is lit with NO fluorescent lighting.

Also, I hate to see hydrometers condemned when in fact, it is only some hydrometers that are the problem. Namely, the ones sold in the salt water hobby. (and I don't mean "just" the swing arms, floaters too)
I use a certified calibrated hydrometer from Fisher Scientific to calibrate my swing arm ones for every day use.
Once calibrated, all that needs to be done then is rinsing after use and soaking overnight in white vinegar once a week.
When using, check for tiny bubbles on the arm, and take a minimum of 3 readings to be sure you have a correct one.
One swing arm Seatest I use is now 13 yrs old and still reliable. The other was purchased when they made them a little larger and put the scale starting at 0.