Rainbow BTA's?

[madducks42]

So after a not so great experience with a sebae anemone I'm debating between getting another one from a different LFS (assuming it's healthier than the last one), buying one online and hoping it's healthy (probably from LA or Vivid Aquariums), or just sucking it up and getting a bubble tip.

While browsing through ads online I've come across several BTA's labeled as "Rainbow" BTA's. I haven't been able to find much about them though. They're just regular BTA's that have 2-3 colors right? Are they from a specific part of the world or does that color variation just happen randomly? Is their care any different from other BTA's? If you have one I'd love to see a picture of it!


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[jah hoeva]

All bubble tip anemones are the same species and require the same care. There are just different color morphs out there, some with designer names that can get real pricey.

[madducks42]

That's what I figured but thanks for confirming. The prices for rainbow BTA's have been all over the map because sellers base their price on how good they think their colors are. I'm a little wary of buying a $150 BTA that I haven't seen though.


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[Jamie1210]

That's what I figured but thanks for confirming. The prices for rainbow BTA's have been all over the map because sellers base their price on how good they think their colors are. I'm a little wary of buying a $150 BTA that I haven't seen though.


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Also, be aware that the colors morph like crazy under different lights. What was essentially a brown bta under my t5s turned into a sunburst under my husband's chinese leds

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[madducks42]

Also, be aware that the colors morph like crazy under different lights. What was essentially a brown bta under my t5s turned into a sunburst under my husband's chinese leds

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Yeah some of the sellers state what type of lights they took the pictures under and then also show the anemone under regular white lights which I appreciate. I think there is a LFS about 2 hours away from me that sells them. I'm probably going to do a trip out there so I can see them in person. And avoid the hassle of shipping.

[GT350pwns]

I bought mine off of diver's den about 2 years ago. It was advertised as an orange bta. But, it's taken on a "rainbow bta" color morph under my g3 radion.

As for buying experience, I can recommend LA/DD 120%. I've made multiple purchases from them and have only ever had one fish show up sick/dying and they were very quick to rectify the problem. My anemone, however, showed up in great health and stuck right to a rock after acclimation.

[Lance M.]

I was reading a thread somewhere you need led's to maintain all the rainbow colors over time (I am not sure how accurate that is) and as Jamie mentioned they will change color with different light set ups.

One of my gbta's was green with tan base when I purchased it from lfs, it is now green with purple base under my T5's. One of my rbta's was a translucent pink under leds at lfs, but in my tank it is opaque pink. My other rbta from DD is a deep red with green accent at base of tentacles, held its red color so far except when I received it it had no signs of green.

[MuShu]

I second Diver's Den for a bta. I got mine last week and it came in really healthy. No open mouth, fully inflated, and attached right away. The colors are much prettier under my LEDs (Current Orbit Marine, so not even radions) than in the pictures.

[aznflyfisherman]

If you have a petco near your area, you can probably ask them to order for you and will be cheaper than 150 or see if someone in your area sells them. 150 is pretty high for a bta, unless its one of the ones that's harder to fine IMO.

[madducks42]

Picked up a rainbow BTA from the LFS today. Pretty happy with it : )

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170806/353622801d13f127340f0e3d9c3d842b.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170806/ef2ab6d1574e393db58b5936468f7738.jpg


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[Lance M.]

Very nice. Looks healthy.

[becky302]

Beautiful!

[madducks42]

Still looking really good. Unfortunately it decided that it wanted to stick out of two holes instead of settling on one. It's driving me insane, lol. It also limits how much it can extend but I'm assuming it will move rather than damage itself so I'm leaving it alone even though it irks me every time I look at it. Stupid stubborn anemones.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170807/08c9703779520d1992a4bff47861b651.jpg


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[Lance M.]

Let it do what it wants.

It may feel safe like that. They typically like to have their foot protected, although some will do weird things.

[madducks42]

Let it do what it wants.

It may feel safe like that. They typically like to have their foot protected, although some will do weird things.

I'm not messing with it at all. It rearranged itself a little bit so now it's mostly poking out of one hole from the rock. Ideally I'd like it to stay in that spot so I'm leaving it alone and hoping it stays there. We're debating changing the powerheads in our tank because we don't have many low flow areas which is becoming a pain for some of the coral that don't like to get thrashed around like torch coral. But my main concern with changing up the powerheads is that it will affect the flow and possibly make the anemones move from their current locations. Both the condy and the BTA are exactly where I'd like them to be. So now I'm faced with the dilemma of making the tank better for coral or possibly risk the wrath of the anemones moving all around the tank to find their new happy spot, lol.

[chitown tom]

Be careful with the addition of new power heads. That might make the nem dislodge and start to float which could lead to a bad ending.

Cover up the new power head once installed to ensure you protect the nem if it lets go.

When I build my nem only tank I designed it without any power heads.
I have a DC pump and I craned up the flow to get good movement.

Only danger is one going over the overflow now.

[schnebbles]

Someone on ebay has the rainbow - price seemed reasonable. I almost ordered one. Still might.

[madducks42]

Someone on ebay has the rainbow - price seemed reasonable. I almost ordered one. Still might.

I purchased this one from Aqua Dreams which is based out of western Massachusetts. They also advertise them on eBay which is how I learned about their store. Really impressed by everything they had in stock and very happy with this rainbow BTA.