GBTA bubbling tentacles question

[blownz281]

It bubbles all the time and completely when m T5 actinics are on and daylights are off. why is this? when all four bulbs are on during the day it rarely bubbles and if it does not much at all.

[reefman13]

Bubbling when all lights are on is a sign of basically the anemone not being hungry. When it doesn't bubble it is hungry when it is is bubbly it is not hungry.

Now with that being said, that is a controversial topic, and you will get varied answers, but I don't think that I have seen a situation when it has been a sign of sickness, or some thing being wrong.

All in all, nothing to really worry about.

[DetectiveTofu]

Your lucky your anemone even bubbles at all - many people have BTA's with not so bubbly tips!

[Biocubist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12355489#post12355489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blownz281
It bubbles all the time and completely when m T5 actinics are on and daylights are off. why is this? when all four bulbs are on during the day it rarely bubbles and if it does not much at all.

Interesting observation there. I have had my GBTA for sometime and the question of why some BTA are bubbled and others are not intrigues me. Safe to say that it has nothing to do with their over all health, but I do believe that there is something functionaly going on their.

I have this hypothesis that goes like this: When a BTA goes into bubble shape mode it is relying on photosynthesis as its primary mode of nutrient obsorbtion. Having a bubble shaped tip filled with zoozanthelle would maximize total surface area exposed to light. Antinics produce a spectrum of light that penetrates deeper compared to 10k or 14k, thus your BTA switched to bubble mode.

When they go into tenticle mode, perhaps the photosynthesis isnt optimal and they figure that going fishing is a better why of getting nutrition. Catching a fish or food particle is easier if you have a long stringy tenticle rather then a bublble shaped tip.

That being said, the type of algea (zoozanthelle) that it is able to hold will effect when or in what light condition it will go into its bubble mode. This may explain why owners get such varied explanations as to when his or her BTA bubbled up.

Just an observation!

[Biocubist]

Please excuse my horrible grammer, I am at work and I didnt drink my coffee this morning. My hypothesis also makes a prediction: If you want your BTA to bubble, find the algea that works best in your particular lighitng setup. Certain algea produce more carbohydrates under different spectrums of light. I am currently testing out different zoozanthelle under 14k MH lighting.

[RoscoPColtrane]

Biocubist,
That is an interesting theory and I would say it hold true in my experience. I received a GBTA about 4 months ago. It rarely bubbled and I was feeding every week or so. I haven't feed the anemone in two months and put new bulbs in last week. Since the new halides I am seeing bubbles every day.

[jubjub]

yeah mine doesnt bubble at all i even.....i feed it silversides every other day to...ugh

[Javeo]

biocubist, this is my theory also but as you 'published
' it first I shall have to yeild ;). My gbta will bubble the tentacles at the top closer to the light and not the ones closer to the sandbed. Ive also noticed that the prey capture response is slower when i feed at the bubbled site and quicker at the stringy tentacles.
Also my rbta splits all the time and I have noticed that the smaller clones wil bubble alot but when they get bigger the are almost never bubbled, smaller ones can't capture larger food safely so they rely on photosynthesis?

[blownz281]

Wow both of those are great answers and i think that you both are right. As i have always seen small ones bubbled and large... ones rarely are and have stringy tentacles. When i feed him acouple mins later he bubbles. He has been fed 3 times in the two weeks i have had him and when he caught some strat fish food. maybe i will not feed him for like a week or two and see how he reacts. i know for a fact he is healthy as can be for the fact of who i got him from. he is a clone also. i have heard MH lighting makes them bubble like crazy. thanks guys!

[Javeo]

One more observation from today that makes me more sure of the nutrition theory as a bubbling cause. I fed my GBTA in the morning and by the afternoon it had all tentacles bubbled and directed its entire disk towards the light. It had all the protien it needed from the silverside and maximising photosynthesis would give it carbohydrates.

[Noise]

I have found that my BTA will bubble up after feeding sometimes. It certainly seems to have something to do with feeding.

If you want bubbles, you should look under the zoanthid forum about dosing vitamin C in your tank. Some people, including myself, have had their bubble tips develop bubbles while dosing vitamin C. People are dosing vitamin C to help withering zoas and to help them spread and grow. It did have a negative effect on a couple of my sps, but otherwise everything else is looking good.

So I guess this would support the nutrition theory.

[Noise]

I have found that my BTA will bubble up after feeding sometimes. It certainly seems to have something to do with feeding.

If you want bubbles, you should look under the zoanthid forum about dosing vitamin C in your tank. Some people, including myself, have had their bubble tips develop bubbles while dosing vitamin C. People are dosing vitamin C to help withering zoas and to help them spread and grow. It did have a negative effect on a couple of my sps, but otherwise everything else is looking good.

So I guess this would support the nutrition theory.

[sk8rreefgeek]

I was going to post this same exact question. Seemed like when I first got my GBTA (still in the bag) it was all "bubbled" but since, it usually looks like this all day:


http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r41/karlkidd/3thehosting.jpg


Sometimes when just the actinics are on, it bubbles a little, but not like other pics I've seen. So is mine healthy looking? It has pretty much doubled in size in the last month

[blownz281]

Hmm. where do you get that an how do you dose that.

Nah your BTA acts like mine. looks more less the same but mine has alittle more green to it. i'm trying not to feed mine for two weeks to see if that does anything. but my clown grabs to much food and drops it into the anemone so he isn't helping my experiement. seems like they like MH lighting better for bubbling.

[Noise]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1330742


Note that you will have to look for sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate or magnesium ascorbate, as prolonged use of regular vitamin c (ascorbic acid) may cause problems with your pH and/or alkalinity.

[blownz281]

Thanks but don't feel like messing around with all that.

[Pufferpunk]

I have to agree with noise on that one. Since dosing with VC, my RBTA has bubble tips for the 1st time in 4 years!