RBTA and Activated Carbon Question

[drjett]

Hey ARC!

Sorry this is long but please read and provide feedback.

I have a problem. I had a beautiful RBTA that was huge and splitting and everything what looking good. It was acting normal, meaning hosting a pair of clowns expanding and contracting depending on what the lights (radion xr30w x2) were doing.

Then I did 2 things and everything has gone down hill from there.

1) added another pair of clowns and a GBTA. These 2 juvenile midnight clowns were adopted by the pair (snowflake) and formed a harem. After the first day there was no aggression. The GBTA was on the other side of the tank and after a couple of day moved close to the RBTA (the could not touch each other). After about a week and the GBTA didn't move again I decided to put it into a different aquiarium. I wasn't comfortable with the GBTA proximity to the RBTA

2) Shortly after I added the additional clowns I started running GFO and the ROX .8 Carbon from BRS. I started using this to help battle green hair algae.

The results with the water clarity and chemistry is great BUT my RBTA looks awful. It very quickly lost all of it's tentacles and looks all white (bleached). The RBTA still "acts" normal. When the lights are our is shrinks up and expands when the lights are on. The clowns still nest in it at night even though it looks really weird since there are not tentacles. Also one thing to add, the RBTA has "nubs" that looks as if they are the start of some new tentacles but the are florescent green (like the GBTA that was in there).

So I am trying to figure our what is going on with the RBTA. Does the activated carbon have some sort of adverse effect on the RBTA? Did the GBTA and the RBTA have some sort of fight and the tentacle loss is a result of that?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I will try to post pictures this afternoon.

 

[crew]

Yo Dave,

My guess would be it reacted to the drop in nutrients in the water column in some negative fashion. If it looks to be recovering, I wouldn't worry about it too much. GFO can be kind of finicky. Did you put it in a reactor or is it just in a bag? Did you rinse the carbon before you put it in the tank? There are a few things that could have happened with either material that could have agitated the RBTA.

 

[drjett]

Crew;1058358 wrote: Yo Dave,

Did you put it in a reactor or is it just in a bag? Did you rinse the carbon before you put it in the tank?

Thanks Crawford for the comment,

I am running the GFO and carbon in a reactors. I used the rinsing process as prescribed by BRS youtube channel.

<!-- gcu-updated ame -->https://youtu.be/HnwDNKd5oUY<!-- gcu-updated /ame --> (I think this is the correct video)

Basically, fill up your cartridges and let it run into a bucket till the water coming out is clear.

 

[crew]

I was hoping you hadn't done the rinsing steps. I have no idea what could have happened. Got to love this hobby!

 

[FutureInterest]

I always found that rbta were sensitive to low potassium levels and would react adversely before any of my other tank inhabitants would show symptoms. Might be something worth checking as either the carbon or the granulated rust has likely depleted some key nutrient from the water. G'luck.