how to make rbta tentacles bubble

[d0ughb0y]

when I first got my rbta (about 9 months ago), all the tentacles were bubbled up nicely. but ever since I put it in my tank, all the tentacles are just elongated. it has probably quadrupled in size already, maybe more, but I have not seen it bubble up again. I feed silversides every 2-3 days. that is what the previous owner fed to the rbta. It has not moved at all from the rock I set it, so can't say it is not happy with light or flow. any ideas? maybe try to feed more?

thanks.

[Arati]

That is the million dollar question...

Noone really knows. Alot of people have theorys.

I have an rbta that is 1/2 bubbled and 1/2 not bubbled for the last year or so...

[dalston]

Where's traveller with that link when you need him? :D

But seriously, I agree with Arati, there are so many theorys but nothing has been proven. What we do know however is that it is not an indictor of good or bad health.

[romanr]

I know, my RBTA is fed regularly, growing nicely and under 400W 20K MH. No bubbles. I watched a documentary once that said in the wild they are bubbled except when they are hungry so they will elongate their tentacles to feed. I think all bets are off in an aquarium situation. But there are a number of possible reasons.
Feeding, light intensity, light spectrum, flow, hosting or not, if hosting what kind of clown, temperature, water parameters, flow, attachement site. Just to name a few!

[occlowns]

I have had my rbta for about 2 months now and he has always bubbled up I feed mine 1 small raw shrimp from king soopers everyday because I was tring to get it to split but it just keeps getting bigger now about the size of a volleyball.

[dirtStar]

^^^^^nice ^^^^^

[jmahfouz]

I havehad my GBTA s for over a year and it has kept its bulbs I hope for the same with my new RBTA

[t4zalews]

i had my RBTA for about a year with no bubbles...then when I upgraded from 2x150w to a 400w the anemone started to bubble more. from my experience only change in lighting has produced bubbles. same with a green bta I had

[Urchinhead]

FWIW I have found with my rose that she would be stringy when hungry and due to high flow. Now that I have started a wave motion in my tank instead of the random reef crest mode on my vortechs and started feeding her regularly again (I had stopped because she had split) she has gone back to bubbles.

I realize that correlation doesn't equal causation but you many want to try a different flow pattern and/or increasing the feeding amount. Per Karen at Karen's Rose Anemone's (who was an absolute saint for helping me with rescuing my most recent RBTA who I took on as a project from my LFS) the best way to feed is to feed until satiation which means to keep giving pieces of food until she spits it out.

[t4zalews]

^^^ ive noticed also how high flow will decrease chances of bubbles

[iamwhatiam52]

Anyone have one with and one without bubbles in the same tank?

This could shed light on the high flow theory.

[d0ughb0y]

I have had my rbta for about 2 months now and he has always bubbled up I feed mine 1 small raw shrimp from king soopers everyday because I was tring to get it to split but it just keeps getting bigger now about the size of a volleyball.

what temp is your water?

[Drumbee23]

at my work, are one tank is a 144 gal nem tank. there is about 10 bubble tips in there...it seems to go thru differnt "stages" at some points in the day some are bulbed and some arent. some stimes none of them are bulbed up.(could be a lighting change) now the health of about half of them isnt the best, they came in to the store bleeched out and we have been feeding them regularly to try and bring them back, the rest of the nems are in good health, along with the 2 carpets. i dont think its a flow issue that causes the bulbing/not bulbing. what i have noticed in a tank that i take care of for my girlfriend, is that when the temp got on the high side(83ish) the BTA bulbed like crazy. but around 79 it was stringy. i have also seen them stringy prior to feeding and then the rest of the day they are bulbed. im thinking its a lighting thing. could be spectrems, could just be the light cycle. i think its just one of those mystries of a bubbletip.

[d0ughb0y]

I found this in liveaquaria. I just changed my light from 150w to 250w. I will try to feed everyday and see what happens. :)

The Rose Bubble Tip Anemone is a less common form of the Bubble Tip Anemone which is often referred to as the Four-colored, Bulb Tentacle, Bulb Tip, or Bulb Anemone. At rest, the enlarged tip at the end of the tentacles is a rose to red color.
The Bubble Tip Anemone is usually found in coral rubble, or in solid reefs. Its pedal disc is usually attached deep within dead coral. It stretches its tentacles to become sweeper tentacles when hungry. That is, the tentacles become elongated to capture a meal, then the tentacles shorten and the bubble tips return.

Handle this invertebrate, and all Anemones, with care. They can sting other Anemones, as well as Corals.

In order for the Rose Bubble Tip Anemone to keep its bright coloration and bulb tips, it needs strong illumination supplied by metal halides, or intense florescent lighting of at least 6 watts per gallon. They require an aquarium of at least 30 gallons, as they can grow up to 12" across in the aquarium. These anemones will typically remain compact and will gain bulb tips under intense lighting. If the lighting is insufficient, they will expand their bodies to great lengths to make the most of the available light. It should be kept with a Clownfish for best results. At times, the tentacles may appear stringy; this may be due to insufficient light or the need for food.

Its diet should include chopped fish, shrimp, or worms if a clownfish is not present.

[Drumbee23]

i would not feed everyday, 2 0r 3 times a week at the most. it must be a feeding think that makes them not bulb. now that i think of it a co worker had a bubbletip in his tank at home and he said it was always long tenticled, he broght it in and its currently in the 144 and it seems to bulb up occasionaly.

some of you who dont regularly spot feed your BTA how do they look? bulbed, stringy

has anyone experienced bulbing after feeding?

[d0ughb0y]

I feed every other day now and it is stringy. I have not fed it till it will not take any more yet. liveaquaria says temp range 74-78. I keep mine at 78.5, you say at 83 it was bubbling up? I'll try to slowly raise my temp.

[Drumbee23]

yeh just be careful. i wouldnt reccomend it to anyonedont go above 81 or 82 fish and coral might not like that too much if you go raising the temp too much....that was during the summer and there was no way to bring it down. one day it spiked up to 86. the nem lived up untill about 4weeks ago. then when we added a new light and we were acclimating it to the light it decided to move up higher on the rocks and got sucked up into the koralia, no more bta. its ok tho she got a long tentical and her clowns actualy go near that.

i really think its a food thing. but its just to hard to say

[albano]

My RBTA is about 3 yrs old, is now about 24" across...has not had bubbles for the past 2 years...about 3 months ago, I switched to LEDs and a different 'style' of bubbles is developing ...It's lucky to be feed 3 X a month, never moves and keeps growing
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/files/3/2/2/7/450_tank_002.jpg
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/gallery/files/2/2/3/6/p5181086.jpg

[NyReefNoob]

< trying to get him to feed it so it will split ;)
my 2 rbta's dont bubble but my 5 gbta's all have bubbles

[SPARTAN VI]

I've had my RBTA(/s) for about 2 years. It was bubbley for a few months after introducing it to my system, but has been looking like an LTA ever since.

Then..
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/SPARTANVI/rbta7.jpg

The only time my RBTA's bubble up now is when they're stressed. I've had one get sucked into my overflow and a bit chewed up, pop back out and bubble up. Also had a tank crash a few months ago subsequently causing my 3 RBTAs to bleach and bubble up as well. So as far as I'm concerned, my BTA's only bubble when they're stressed.

Using 150-w MH.

[SPARTAN VI]

I've had my RBTA(/s) for about 2 years. It was bubbley for a few months after introducing it to my system, but has been looking like an LTA ever since.

Then..
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/SPARTANVI/rbta7.jpg

The only time my RBTA's bubble up now is when they're stressed. I've had one get sucked into my overflow and a bit chewed up, pop back out and bubble up. Also had a tank crash a few months ago subsequently causing my 3 RBTAs to bleach and bubble up as well. So as far as I'm concerned, my BTA's only bubble when they're stressed.

Most recently after crash:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w226/SPARTANVI/Nano%20Reef/clownfish_101409.jpg

Using 150-w MH, temp 77-78F, MJ-1200 for flow.

[Urchinhead]

Anyone have one with and one without bubbles in the same tank?

This could shed light on the high flow theory.

I did briefly when mine split. I didn't remember this until reviewing photos of both after you posted this. One of two clones located themselves in an area of very low flow and moderate light initially (before I manually relocated it) and would bubble. The other located itself close to where the parent was and was stringy. Unfortunately with such a small sample population I can't say for sure if this (flow) was the cause or not.

[Urchinhead]

i would not feed everyday, 2 0r 3 times a week at the most. it must be a feeding think that makes them not bulb. now that i think of it a co worker had a bubbletip in his tank at home and he said it was always long tenticled, he broght it in and its currently in the 144 and it seems to bulb up occasionaly.

some of you who dont regularly spot feed your BTA how do they look? bulbed, stringy

has anyone experienced bulbing after feeding?

I believe its the inverse per my own research. Feed and it bubbles. Don't feed and its stringy. I find this to be true both with my own anemone and from what others have observed. This is post flow change in my tank as well.

I am getting PAR readings of 360+/- where my anemone is located so its not a low light issue. With the gentler wave motion she no longer does the string tentacles unless she is hungry. Post feeding she goes back to bubble. I feed about 1-2 times per week and she picks up spillover pellets from feeding the fish in the tank.

FWIW I have found that by aggressively feeding initially after placing the anemone where *YOU* want it as opposed to where *IT* wants to be can cause a higher likelihood if it staying there because it associates the location as a good food source location. Of course I have also seen and heard about some anemone's being dumber than my couch and locating themselves in places where they simply starve and die due to lack of food/light.

[d0ughb0y]

for those with bubbly rbta, when you feed, do the tentacles become stringy during feeding time or do they stay bubbly?

[eznet2u]

I have both a Gbta and a Rbta less than 4" apart. They both get fed the same time and the same amount.
The Gbta has bubbles. the Rbta does not. They recently changed places on the rock. Kinda like a dosey-doe.

One OT note...They both started off the same size...they both get fed the same thing, same amount...The Gbta is 4 times the size.

[jmahfouz]

My GBTA has retained its bubble tips for well over a year hope4fully my RBTA does the same
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/jmahfouz/P1030563.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/jmahfouz/P1000587.jpg

[romanr]

What we need is a Marine Biology graduate student looking for a thesis experiment. I would think that this would be easily discovered with the right experimental conditions. I know food is not it for me. I feed every other day and the nem keeps growing but no bubbles.

[romanr]

Here's a quote from a scholarly article that might be slightly related. I'm going to keep checking google schoolar and post findings here.

On a coral reef at Eilat, northern Red Sea, individuals of the sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor that possessed endemic anemonefish Amphiprion bicinctus expanded their tentacles significantly more frequently than did those lacking anemonefish. When anemonefish were experimentally removed, sea anemone hosts contracted partially. Within 1–4 h in most cases, individuals of the butterflyfish Chaetodon fasciatus arrived and attacked the sea anemones, causing them to contract completely into reef holes. Upon the experimental return of anemonefish, the anemone hosts re-expanded. The long-term growth rate and survival of the sea anemones depended on the size and number of their anemonefish. Over several years, sea anemones possessing small or no fish exhibited negative growth (shrinkage) and eventually disappeared, while those with at least one large fish survived and grew. We conclude that host sea anemones sense the presence of symbiotic anemonefish via chemical and/or mechanical cues, and react by altering their expansion behavior. Host sea anemones that lack anemonefish large enough to defend them against predation may remain contracted in reef holes, unable to feed or expose their tentacles for photosynthesis, resulting in their shrinkage and eventual death.

[romanr]

Another research quote.

http://home.att.net/~raul/bubble.JPG

[BonsaiNut]

LOL

Longest thread about nothing that I have ever read :) No one knows why BTA tentacles bubble. No one knows why sometimes they bubble, sometimes they don't and sometimes they bubble again. No one knows why a single BTA can have some tentacles with, and some tentacles without bubbles. No one knows why, in a colony of BTA clones in the wild, some anemones will have bubbles and some won't - in the same environment, with the same access to the same food and water flow.

Good luck developing hypotheses and testing them :) Otherwise stop posting about how "my anemone develops bubbles when the Packers win the SuperBowl" LOL.

[d0ughb0y]

Here's an update.

I changed my light three days ago from a 150w to a 250w metal halide, and this is the result so far.

first pic is from august, second is from one day after the light change, the third pic is from today, 3 days after the light change.

you can definitely see bubbles starting to form. I have never seen it like this since I put the nem in my tank until now. I did not change feeding or flow or temp. The only change I made is the light.

[BonsaiNut]

The only change I made is the light.

Correlation does not imply causation.

Science 101.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/64uqp.jpg

[Coral Hind]

It is not the lights alone that cause it. I have seen RBTA's in greenhouse tubs that are getting 1200 micromol PAR for most of the day and they do not bubble up.

[d0ughb0y]

Correlation does not imply causation.

Science 101.




the null hypothesis is not proven wrong (cannot be rejected), so it follows your alternative hypothesis cannot be accepted.

as far as I am concerned, I have seen the light (pun intended).

[BonsaiNut]

the null hypothesis is not proven wrong (cannot be rejected), so it follows your alternative hypothesis cannot be accepted.

as far as I am concerned, I have seen the light (pun intended).

I don't have to prove null. I am not offering a hypothesis to prove :)

You are the one suggesting that you have proven something, based on the shakiest of personal observations of one occurrence of an event in an uncontrolled environment with no control.

Why don't you:

(1) Show that you can repeat the event with the same individual.
(2) Show that you can repeat the event with other individuals.
(3) Isolate all individuals from each other, and show that you can repeat the event at will, keeping all other environmental factors fixed.
(4) Keeping the causal factor fixed, adjust other environmental factors without impact to the outcome (i.e. keep light fixed, and change temp, water chemistry, food, etc)

Since other people have tried what you have tried and been unsuccessful, and other people have done other things and been successful, I remain unconvinced.

[d0ughb0y]

you really think you are so smart offering the imported lemons analogy?
I'll let readers decide on that one.
its not like I said friday the 13th caused the rbta to bubble.
your own explanation makes your own hypothesis invalid.

some pessimists who can't get their rbta to bubble just can't accept that others are able to. I am just happy my rbta has bubbled (I am sure you are not happy about that). I am sorry if others are unsuccessful.

[Coral Hind]

doughboy, I am happy you were able to get it to bubble. Please keep us updated if it stays like that. From my own tests the bubbles are caused more by stress events such as damage, splitting or aggression instead of just sustained increases in flow, lights or food.

Changing from 150w, probably old bulbs, to 250w, new bulbs, is a huge change. Hopefully you reduced your photoperiod by about two hours to account for the increase. My guess is that it bubbled up as a defensive state to the light being basically doubled.

Check out this thread of some green house RBTAs. Outside in the sun all day with very strong flow and they are not bubbled at all. It is a good read even if you don't care about the BTA bubble issue.

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=31724&st=25

[d0ughb0y]

thanks coral hind.

here's a top view pic I took today.
the tentacles up against the front and side glass are not bubbled, but most of the rest are. Yes I reduced my light time by 2 hours, and I am using an old 250w bulb another reefer was going to toss out.

I found this link which adds another observation data point that increasing light resulted in bubble tip.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/feature.htm

all these observations means we cannot outright reject the null hypothesis that light is a factor causing bubble, therefore it follows the alternative hypothesis that light is not a factor cannot be accepted. only if one can prove without any doubt that increasing light never result in bubble can we accept that light is not a factor hypothesis.

[SDguy]

I've had a RBTA for two years now. In my reef, it kinda bubbled, but certainly never got stringy. It was fed A LOT, and was under 250W MH. It definitely got less "bubbly" if I missed a feeding. Since then, it's been to hell and back. It (well, one third of it after splitting) now resides in my FOWLR with no clowns. It couldn't be more "bubbly". Lighting is 6 t5's. Water, is, well, less than pristine.

I'm a fan of the idea that multiple factors influence the tentacle shape.

[occlowns]

Mine stay bubbly even when I feed it. I have yet to see it with long tentacles.

[zaraemna]

I know the secret:dance:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii192/zaraemna/Group.jpg

Just kidding, Low flow seems to increas your chances too.

[phender]

I have a completely different experience with light.
I have been keeping anemones for over 30 years. During most of that time most people used a large number of normal output fluorescent bulbs over their tanks. It wasn't until I started seeing BTAs under metal halides that I ever saw one without bubble tips. All of my BTAs always had bubble tips under normal fluorescents. It wasn't until I moved up to CP, metal halides and T5s that they started losing their bubble tips.
In my experience increasing light has been counter productive in attempting to get BTAs to bubble.
This whole thing has been discussed for many years on this board and for every factor someone thinks has caused their BTA to bubble, several people have had the opposite experience.
Remember experimentation can not prove a hypothesis correct, it can only prove it wrong. No matter how many times you show that more lighting causes bubbles, it only takes one person to show it doesn't to disprove your hypothesis.
I have a feeling that it my have to do with the light's spectrum rather than intensity. I am not talking about 10k vs. 14k. I am talking about the amount of red, yellow, orange, etc., that the bulbs produce.

Someday I will have to go back to the shop lights to see if I can get the bubbles to return.

[BonsaiNut]

some pessimists who can't get their rbta to bubble just can't accept that others are able to. I am just happy my rbta has bubbled (I am sure you are not happy about that). I am sorry if others are unsuccessful.

Personally I don't care whether an anemone's tentacles bubble or not. I just care that an anemone is healthy. Since bubbling does not appear to be in any way related to anemone health, I am happy that you like your anemone's "new look".

You mistake my point as being ego-based, or jealousy, or whatever. I am not arguing that your anemones tentacles have bubbled. I'm just arguing that you have not the slightest clue why :)

If you are happy, great! I am happy for you. Just don't post stuff like "how to make rbta tentacles bubble" when you don't know how or why, that's all :)

[intermision]

Mine has bubbles starting when the light comes on, but when I feed it they go away. Maybe there is no rhyme or reason to it.

[Hoodrich]

I hope mine will bubble up. I just got it today.

[EMUReef]

to be honest i think its just what some BTA's do.

I have 5 small ones all on the same rock and 2 are long thin tenticals while the other three not a mere 2 inches away that have bubbles.

[ctlegacy]

Anyone have one with and one without bubbles in the same tank?

This could shed light on the high flow theory.

I have 4 bubbles. One that is purple w/green tips (half bubbled, half not),
http://i2legacy.ipower.com/tank/130.jpg
one rose bubble (no bubbles, all stretched out),
http://i2legacy.ipower.com/tank/129.jpg
one lime green with darker green tips (super bubbled, looks like fish eggs).
http://i2legacy.ipower.com/tank/110.jpg
and one pink with green tips (fluctuates between bubbled and not)
http://i2legacy.ipower.com/tank/172.jpg
All are under 400w 20k MH bulbs. So I don't think it has anything to do with lighting. All of them are hosted, so I don't think that is it either, and lastly all are overfed (trying to get them to split) so I'm not sure it's a food thing either.

[ctlegacy]

Finally read all the way through the thread. This is an interesting one. I don't really think that ANYONE has a right or wrong answer here.

I really just think it is the luck of the draw unfortunately. I don't care if they bubble or not as long as my clowns keep poking in and out of them. That's why I got them. It fascinates me to watch them interact, and that is what I think it's all about.

[jackiechandc]

From my past experience, the clown fish hosting theory is valid. I had a RBTA and a couple of clowns in my old 120G. For about a year, the clowns completely ignored the RBTA and the RBTA has the nicest bubbles (only feed it occasionally). One day the clowns decided to host in the anemone and within a few weeks, the bubbles were gone:( Didn't change anything else, except for the clowns decide to take an interest in the RBTA.
Wei

[WDLV]

There are many theories. Mine has to do with lighting and flow.

Higher light and lower flow = Bubbles
Lower light and higher flow = elongated tentacles

This is based on observation and the theory that in lagoonal areas where there is more light less flow and more slow moving plankton there is less need for maximizing predatory effort and more effort on maximizing sunlight. Most of the time the bubbled anemones are lighter in color too which I think backs up the idea that they're trying to maximize sunlight reaching their zooxanthellae.

On the other side, I think anemones found on the reef slope tend to be deeper and rely on predatory feeding more. So, they reach out to try to capture more of the faster moving more sparse plankton.

[Kirru]

Anyone have one with and one without bubbles in the same tank?

This could shed light on the high flow theory.

I have three BTAs in one tank. Flow is provided by a Mag7 for return and a Vortech MP40w ES.

Of the three, 1.5 of the nems have bubble tips.

My RBTA has bubbles, part of my newest BTA that has green tips and the rest is purple is half and half right now. Just got it this past saturday.
Finally my last BTA is Green tentacles with a purple foot has no bubble tips, currently. we'll see if anything changes.

[WDLV]

I have about a dozen in two tanks. They tend to bubble more when the powerhead sponge prefilters get clogged and the flow reduces.

[Reeferhead]

There are many theories. Mine has to do with lighting and flow.

Higher light and lower flow = Bubbles
Lower light and higher flow = elongated tentacles

This is based on observation and the theory that in lagoonal areas where there is more light less flow and more slow moving plankton there is less need for maximizing predatory effort and more effort on maximizing sunlight. Most of the time the bubbled anemones are lighter in color too which I think backs up the idea that they're trying to maximize sunlight reaching their zooxanthellae.

On the other side, I think anemones found on the reef slope tend to be deeper and rely on predatory feeding more. So, they reach out to try to capture more of the faster moving more sparse plankton.

I like this theory and it fits my observations as well. I recently noticed this when breaking down my old tank to transfer to a new one. I pulled a bunch of LR out of the tank and moved everything around. My anemone appeared confused for several days moving back and forth between two sides of a single piece of LR. Interestingly enough because of the position of the rock each side shows widely different lighting and flow characteristics. The RBTA only had to move a few inches to experience either:

1. The RBTAs near original spot, high up in the tank with PARs pushing 700-800 but in a rear corner with lower flow. The Vortechs are pushed close to the front of the tank and this rear corner stays fairly calm. The RBTA would always show nice tight bubbles.

2. On the same rock as #1 but a lower spot in the tank under a ledge with PARs around 200-300 but near the front of the tank with strong currents from the Vortechs. The RBTA would always stretch out and elongate its tentacles.

The RBTA switch back and forth for several days between these two spots, waking up in the morning and spending all day at one or the other. My observations were the same each and every time. FWIW

[michealprater]

.

Good luck developing hypotheses and testing them :) Otherwise stop posting about how "my anemone develops bubbles when the Packers win the SuperBowl" LOL.

We may get to find out next weekend!:rollface:

[tubntxawg]

Well, i think it depends on how your flow and lights are set up... my lights are on a rail that moves back and forth, and my flow semi-average to strong flow, it seems to have that bubble like tip... i have RBTA(s)

[abagirka]

when I first got my rbta (about 9 months ago), all the tentacles were bubbled up nicely. but ever since I put it in my tank, all the tentacles are just elongated. it has probably quadrupled in size already, maybe more, but I have not seen it bubble up again. I feed silversides every 2-3 days. that is what the previous owner fed to the rbta. It has not moved at all from the rock I set it, so can't say it is not happy with light or flow. any ideas? maybe try to feed more?

thanks.

Hello to everyone!

I visited this thread a while ago. I had the same question in mind and wanted to test different options to see what makes anemone bubble. I think I have proved to my self what really is needed to these creatures to show all of their beauty.

I purchased Red bubble anemone 6 month ago. It was so cute with red/green bubbles. Then slowly it started to loose its bubbles and became spaghetti like, brownish strange stuff.
I fed it 1-2 a week, clowns are also hosting it. Flow was low and only thing I decided to look in to is the light. I also tried not to feed it at all.

My old light was Fluval M36 ( nice but not so nice after all.... let me explain)

I decided to upgrade my lights to Radion Gen3 (which went back to the supplier 2 days after.....reason: well too expensive for just a spot in the middle of the tank and I didn't want to purchase 2 of them for my 90cm fish tank, too complicated and noisy too)
One thing I noticed was that the anemone did start to react while I was setting the radion up)

Then I had to use my Fluval light again (result: anemone went back to spaghetti creature again)

I also tried T5's once (my mate gave to me for a week) It didn't make much difference either, heated up very fast dow)

One month later I had a good tip of a Zoas grower for a light Evergrow IT2080 ProReef V2! It was half of the price of one Radion so I had to try it!
I can truly say, what a difference!!!! WOW, the color!!! Anemone bubbled up in an hour and looks amazing!

Testing all and everything I could think of, I can say that it's definitely the light!
Flow is something the creature will control by it self, if it won't like the spot....it will move. Mine never moved and had foods of all kinds and different times and quantities (all of this made no difference)
Water parameters by the way are not always ideal as well))) But it only proves that the main requirement is proper light with UV and all the blues!

Good luck I hope my tip will help you!

:bounce3:

[Dkuhlmann]

That is a great first post! Welcome to Reef Central.

Good quality lighting is one of the most important items needed for a healthy and happy reef tank for both corals and anemones. Yes it does make a difference!

[ctlegacy]

This is interesting.. Light being the reason they bubble. Let me give you my background.

I've been in the hobby for about 10 years. I have had a 250g for most of that time. I have had the same Rose/watermelon Bubble tip for about 7 years. The biggest it ever got for me was about 16" under 250w MH... It split many times. Some of the splits I kept. Some of them, I traded sold whatever, but I still have the original and 2 of it's splits. One is about 12" the other about 10" and the last about 4"...

The coloring of those anemones used to be a faded orange with green and HUGE thumb size bubbles on the larger 2 and kinda half bubble half stringy on the small.. I will try to find a pic of the anemones "then"...

I moved to south Florida, so I decided to try doing and "outdoor" tank. Direct SUNLIGHT, Florida sunlight, for 6 hours a day. The bubbles went away on completely on the 2 large anemones. And the color....The color is the most healthy looking bubble gum pink I've ever seen on them. They are definitely happy. The open to HUGE during the sun hours and shrink up during the off times (which I light with an AI 26) till bed time. The 3rd smaller anemone has turned the brightest Orange/Green/speckled COMPLETELY BUBBLED...

So if you can make sense of any of that and say that they'd be better with different lighting, let me know. :)

http://i2legacy.ipower.com/tank/IMG_3532.JPG

[ctlegacy]

The smaller is in the lower left side of the tank...

[cabinetman123]

I know this is an old thread but I think I stumbled on how to get stringy ones to bubble up. Mine have always been long and stringy. I started with one a few years ago and it has split a bunch of time and I've never really seen any bubble up. Right now I have 6 of them in my 350. 2 of them were in slots I wanted them to move from so I literally started poking at them with my reef tongs to try to **** them off enough to get them to move. And I mean poke at them. I jabbed at them till I couldn't get them anymore cause they were all retracted into there rock. Well to my delight the 2 I poked at are all bubbled up now. First time ever that they've been bubbled. That's what did it for me. Kinda like an earlier post that said they only bubble when stressed. Do you guys with bubbled up nems have lots of hermits? Do you guys with stringy ones have hardly any hermits? I got a theory is why I ask. I'll do a vid to show my 6 soon. Lights are out now :)

[leo_chen0608]

when I first got my rbta (about 9 months ago), all the tentacles were bubbled up nicely. but ever since I put it in my tank, all the tentacles are just elongated. it has probably quadrupled in size already, maybe more, but I have not seen it bubble up again. I feed silversides every 2-3 days. that is what the previous owner fed to the rbta. It has not moved at all from the rock I set it, so can't say it is not happy with light or flow. any ideas? maybe try to feed more?

thanks.

How is your BTA doing? The same thing happens to my BTA too. It doesn't move at all but it doesn't grow either. When I feed it, it eats very slowly. I've had it for 2 months. I don't know what to do :(

[DanDashO]

I was in the Philippines last year, there were both bubbled and non-bubbled found right next to each other. So even in nature, they do what they want...

[125mph]

I've had my rbta for about 5 years. In those 5 years, i feed him once. The tents are always bubbled. Looks like what he did in the store. He hasn't moved since I placed him in the tank. He latched on a rock so fast I couldn't put him where I wanted.

[oahureefer]

Talk about back from the dead, I was actually looking at this thread yesterday, I have 2 RBTA about 6 inches from each other one full bubbles the other has never bubbled.

[ClownReef®]

Mine stay bubbled 24/7. I believe it's a matter of light intensity. Ill agree with WDLV.

http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l357/dgalicia84/B9B3F468-CD1B-4239-BAD9-CD32A8979AED_zpsqqg3htfc.jpg (http://s328.photobucket.com/user/dgalicia84/media/B9B3F468-CD1B-4239-BAD9-CD32A8979AED_zpsqqg3htfc.jpg.html)

http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l357/dgalicia84/BFB3981A-3422-478A-8B3F-842FAB2A5EF0_zps0pwj3bvt.jpg (http://s328.photobucket.com/user/dgalicia84/media/BFB3981A-3422-478A-8B3F-842FAB2A5EF0_zps0pwj3bvt.jpg.html)

[threelilkids]

I lost mine in the flood cause the lights went out for days, but when I did have one it never bubbled up, I never fed it only let the clowns feed it everyday. I took care of them they took care of the RTA. It split regularly for years, and I traded the babies out. Wish I could find one of the babies now I am looking for another one. The clowns would have eggs and they hatched every month. It was sooooo cool:rollface: but I had no way to save the baby clowns and the fish ate them.:rolleyes: When I lost it, it had split two times, so I lost the main RTA and two babies:mad:, Mary

[Banff]

I have 7 BTAs in my 180. They are all bubbly. I have 2 sets of two clones (4 nems that started out as two that were purchased from separate sources and of markedly different colour than each other). One of those sets of clones set up shop at exactly the same height in the tank (one on each side of a slim rock arch) and the other set of clones did something weird. They split about 4 months ago and immediately moved extremely far away from each other. One moved all the way up to the top of my tank (maybe 6 inches from the surface and I have very intense lighting) while the other one moved to the very bottom of my tank and has its foot wedged between a base rock and the sandbed (tank is 24 inches deep). Both are doing equally well and have grown substantially since the split, both show no signs of moving. The one sitting at 6 inches under the lights is much less deeply colored than the one 24 inches down. Both are bubbled.

If someone had showed me each nem without context and asked me to guess which one was the one in the light, I would have guessed wrongly.

What does all that mean? No idea, but at least it's an example of known clones that have chosen very different lighting levels in the same tank and are both bubbled. Further, they have also chosen different flow levels. The deep-dwelling one chose a low flow side and the high-dwelling one is on my highest pinnacle and taking a lot of flow.

Flow is the return and 2 MP40s on 100% reef crest. Lighting is 3 x 250W MH and 4 T5s running 8 inches from the surface.

Just reinforces my idea that nems in general are particularly obstinate and like to exhibit the "you're not the boss of me" principal as perversely as possible.

[125mph]

I've had my rbta for about 5 years. In those 5 years, i feed him once. The tents are always bubbled. Looks like what he did in the store. He hasn't moved since I placed him in the tank. He latched on a rock so fast I couldn't put him where I wanted.


Just an update... my RBTA has bubbled up every day for the past several years.. Recently, I decided to get more SPS so I increased intensity on my AI Hydra52 LED lights. I moved it by probably 30-50 par (over course of a month)... my RBTA has since stopped getting bubbled and is a lot more stringy tentacles now..