hmm. i've never tot they were that difficult to deal with. I even have a Red that i hardly ever feed. it's still doing fine, as i recall. somehow i epoxied it facing the back of the tank, so i can only see the skirting n some other parts of it. lol.
Maybe their lightings were too intense? the couple of blastos i had that were bleaching are now recovering after i removed them from the top.
Im using 4x39W T5 btw. my tank is 3x2x2.