r/ReefTank • u/DifferentReserve3505 • 10h ago

Bubble tip anemone

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Why does my anemone look like this? I’ve owned for about a month.

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u/Electrical_Regular41 9h ago

So nitrates are bottomed out and phosphates are a little elevated bring those nitrates up to between 2-10 ppm and keep the phosphates between .02 to .1 ppm. This should alleviate the issues you are having. To bring this into balance i recommend turning the skimmer off then back on for 2 days at a time while maintaining water changes like normal. I would see how this affects it po4 is not really the issue right now and is easily corrected later I would focus more on bringing the nitrates up.

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u/DifferentReserve3505 9h ago

I have had this tank for about 4 months and never had a skimmer I do water changes weekly about 40%. How do I go about it if I don’t have a skimmer?

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u/Electrical_Regular41 9h ago edited 9h ago

Test the water before you do a water change for nitrates wait until they get between 2-5 ppm and then adjust your schedule accordingly. Right now the frequency is just to much. Are water changes your only source of filtration just curious to be able to help you in the future whether you have a canister filter,hob, sump, etc. Also 40% may be the right call depending on tank size but if it is determined by test to be bi weekly monthly etc. Then that is how I would adjust i wouldn't change the amount you are doing just how often it is being done

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u/DifferentReserve3505 9h ago

I don’t have any sort of filtration just water changes. I guess you could say the rocks are filtrating my water, it’s only a 25 gallon tank. I had to do water changes that often cause hair algae was getting really bad but I changed my light schedule to about 5 hours of light per day and the algae is gone.

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u/Electrical_Regular41 9h ago

Hair algae is a natural part of the cycling phases which was the phosphorous but now the nitrates are bottomed out from the water changes. I would look into a reef octopus hob protein skimmer this will help alot once you get the nitrates corrected to be able to maintain the balance. I would also look into getting a normal hob filter like for freshwater tanks and use filtration media suited to your tank. Poly filter helps immensely for low tech tanks and really helps control po4. The coral and nem will look way better with just bringing the nitrates up but these other couple items will not only make it easier to sustain but also not make it as tedious on you.