Bubble tip not well

[rick82]

Hi for the past week or so my bubble tip has been looking rather unwell. Im not sure what to do, wether to take it out or leave it a while to see if it perks up.
This is what it look like now

And this it what it was like about 2 months ago

It did bleach quite a bit after about a month of getting it but its never looked like this.
Is it dying?

Thanks

 

[issihavok]

what size is your tank and what kind of lighting is in there? also have you checked your water levels? I know anemones can be very picky/ sensitive to rapid water changes.

 

[joy13]

Check your lights and your flow, then go from there.

 

[rick82]

Its 185L tank. I am running two 14000k 33w day tubes was thinking about this today though and maybe the tubes are not giving the right uv off anymore. apparenty they only last for 6 months?
I had the water fully tested today PH was a bit low which i am buffering over the next 5 days. And the po4 is quite high at 0.50 mg/l which is odd as the po4 usually is 0. only thing i can think may have raised this is that i have been using flake food for the past 2 weeks or the water which i changed last week might of had a high level of po4 in it?

 

[joy13]

Do you have t8 lights or LED's I am thinking it is a light issue.

 

[issihavok]

hmmm how high in the tank is your anemone sounds like your tanks around 60+ gallons you might need more lighting bubble tips require intense lighting. any pics to show how he's coming along would be nice.

 

[rick82]

Update on the BTA. Seems a little better, still not taking any food though.

Sorry for the blurry picture. Can't get a clearer picture zoomed at this angle.

He is just under halway up in the tank on a rock he was on the sand so moved him up on a rock so he was closer to the light.

I have t5's in there but still thinking it might be the tubes which are no good anymore.
Funny thing is i went to my LFS and asked him about the lights and he said "Bubbles do alright without insense light compared to other types of anemone" I did find this a little strange but he does own the shop and has a huge stock of marine fish and anemones so he must know what he talking about?... Surely?

 

[Gti_Leo]

thats not enough light for BTA, that is probably the reason it isn't doing well.

 

[all4wheels2]

I'm thinking your tank is about a 50 gallon tank, give or take. Two 33 watt lights makes 66 total watts, divided by 50 gallons is only 1.3 watts of light per gallon. That's no where near enough for an anemone That's considered low lighting, anemones need moderate to high lighting.

 

[rick82]

I have been looking at buying a metal halide for a while now and one has come up at an affordable price. Is it possible to have too much light beacause its 2 x 250 watt halide's?

 

[all4wheels2]

I have been looking at buying a metal halide for a while now and one has come up at an affordable price. Is it possible to have too much light beacause its 2 x 250 watt halide's?

Not for an anemone. For corals yes. I would put it lower in the tank if you're worried about it. Or remove a bulb.

 

[rick82]

The tank is 185L. though i measured the actual water from the sand to the top of water line and took into account the Rock and filters and worked it out at about 100 litres, 21 gallons.
Now this would give me aproximatley 3.1w/litre of water. Is this still a bit low and the reason the BTA is not doing well?
Do i take into account the amount of actual water, or the the volume of the tank itself?

 

[Rutrag]

We use watts per gallon as a general guide, but we're not illuminating volume pet se. It's got more to do with lumens per square foot. (I believe that is lux. Someone correct my terminology.) you need the right spectrum at the right intensity reaching the animal for the right photoperiod. Anemones need intensity, and I don't think you have enough. I can't recall how deep your tank is, but as the tank gets deeper, you lose intensity.