BTA losing coloring

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mncspradlin

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
45
I've had a pink bta for about a year now. It is home to my cinnamon clown. Recently it has changed color from all brown/pinkisn to clear with bright pink tips. It still looks healthy and the clown is still hosting in it. Does anyone know if it is still OK or what??
 
The main thing that causes a BTA to "bleach" or lose its coloration is lack or sufficient light killing off the symbiotic algae in its tissues. Such a condition if not remedied will eventually cause for the anemones demise. Like HoopsGuru suggested a picture would help diagnose the problem. Also what is your

Salinity Level?
Ph?
Calcium?
Idoine Level?
Temp?
and number of watts per gallon on your lighting fixture - and what spectrum (blue actinic, white) and type of light do you have ... (ex metal halide or standard output flo.)
 
According to the signature 4x65w PC fixture which should be plenty IMO if this is the same tank the anemone is in.

Just for the sake of clarity, when a coral/anemone "bleaches" the zooxanthallae do not die off they are expelled by the coral/anemone but indeed lack of light (and thus lack of food) is a very common cause of this.

A pic is very important. My first concern was that you described it as a "pink" BTA, which normally the only colored variety other than the standard green is a red/maroon hue.
 
Ahh I didnt read the signature. 4.7 watts per gallon should be sufficient for a BTA. Hoops is right it is strange that you describe it as pink, green and red are normally the only two. If the anemone was in fact pink than it had already lost some of its zooxanthallae upon arrival in your aquarium, but to live for one year and start bleaching again is odd. My assumption is that if the anemone is eating, staying inflated and not shy about hosting the clowns its health may be fine.

I would consider PM'ing Fluff, she is an advisor here and helped me save a dying BTA that I had some time ago. She seems to be knowladgable with anemones and might have a better suggestion than I can offer. To me if your nitrates, nitrites and other criticial levels are in check than you should be ok. Do you feed it or add zooplankton of live brine to your tank for your other corals?
 
Thanks for the props macman but I learned most of what I know from others here on these boards. :wink:

What caused your anemone to release it's zooxanthallae is hard to say. Low lighting over time will do it (which doesn't seem to be the case here), as well as stress. Definitely a pic would help a great deal in trying to determine how to help your anemone. I've seen bleached pinkish looking rbt's with the florescent orange tips. Not the prettiest of things but doesn't necessarily spell doom for your anemone either. How long has your clown been with the anemone? How long have you noticed the decline in color? Any chance they may be in the same time frame? Do you feed the anemone? How often?
 
I've seen some beautiful hot pink anemones roaming around tanks in NJ. I'm not so alarmed about that. Hopefully the new color is a happy thing for the anemone and not a sign of distress.

I've got 5 green BTAs. 2 were in 4x65 over 65 and the other 3 are in 2x250 over 120. There is ONE in the 120 that's kept its color, size and health. The other two (from the same origin) hide all day and look awful. The two in the 65 also look awful (also from the same origin) and I've since moved them under the 2x400 over the stock tank. They seem to be doing a little better in there so far but I'm not writing home about their health. What makes 4 anemones out of 5 hide and all but expire when they all live in the same conditions is a complete mystery to me.
 
Our rbta's that were doing so great(dark maroon with orange tips) have done the same thing. Ours went totally white. We have moved them to the 90g with the metal halides and they have started getting their pink tips back and growing again. We bought one and in a month it split then a month later one of them split again. The smallest one dissapeared but the other two have started making a reall comeback. If you give them enough light and light feedings they will repopulate the symbiotic algae and start to color up again.
 
Phyl said:
What makes 4 anemones out of 5 hide and all but expire when they all live in the same conditions is a complete mystery to me.

Out of curiosity, any xenia in the tanks they are/were doing poor in?
 
Yeah hoops. There's some Xenia in the tank. It isn't a mob or anything as I can barely keep it alive. It's healthy, but not spreading. The 65 doesn't have an Xenia in it and the bulbs are all brand new.
 
Sorry such a long time to answer but live goes on around my tank.

My parameters are all great. No Ammonia, no nitrite, 10 nitrate, .05 nitrate, ph 8.0, temp 78, i think that's all.

Just recently found out that my iodine was low. I was losing my xinia and all of my zoes had closed. Been adding lugols 2xweek and now tech-1 weekly. Zoes are all open and xinia not dying back anymore.

My BTA was maroon colored, sorry for the "pink" word. Now it is white with bright pink tips. My maroon clown still hosting and the anemone looks normal except for its coloring. I feed it a medium sized thawed krill soaked in chromoplex once a week as usual. It's not looking sick just lost it's color. It is not losing the pink tips just the body turned whitish.
 
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