Dwarf bubble tips?

[WilliamP.Qualls]

I feel extremely stupid for asking about this but it’s got me stumped. I bought what I assumed was a normal rose bubble tip and added it to my tank. I’ve had him for nearly 8 months with 0 issues. He’s split once and eats every other week. My issue is, the thing hasn’t grown a lick. When I asked the lfs owner who sold him to me he stated that it was a “dwarf variant” that it wouldn’t get any bigger than an inch or two across before it would split (which has been pretty accurate). Anyone else ever heard of this?

[Gmerek2]

I had one that stayed smaller. It was beautifull. But sensitive and didn’t propagate well so I got rid of it. I mean it’s possible mine could have stayed small because it wasn’t doing as well as the others. Could be hog wash though let’s see what others say. Just make sure it’s not a mojano. I have seen some pretty ones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BonsaiNut]

Originally Posted by Gmerek2

Just make sure it’s not a mojano. I have seen some pretty ones

I agree. There are definitely some smaller BTA's out there, but I have NEVER seen one that doesn't grow more than one or two inches.

[WilliamP.Qualls]

This was in April, not too long after it was added to the tank:



And this is now. Like I said it has split once but it doesn’t do much in the way of growing regardless of feedings.

[BonsaiNut]

Cool looking anemone, and definitely not a majano.

I got no answers for ya It looks small, almost juvenile, with small tentacles on the rim of the oral disk. It almost LOOKS like it is about to grow bigger...

I have never had one that stayed small like that.

[aznflyfisherman]

What are you feeding it? Try mysis twice a week for a few months n see if it will grow.. I had one that shrunk to smaller then a dime to the point I thought it die, he was small for over a year. Now he’s 6 inches across or more .

[WilliamP.Qualls]

He gets either chopped squid, octopus or shrimp (whatever I feel like thawing out) as well as direct feedings of reef roids, and whole krill. It really depends on what I’m thawing out at the time or how lazy I’m feeling. I’m sure he gets mysis and whatever else I feed the tank every day too.

[D-Nak]

What are your water parameters like, and how often do you do water changes? Do you have other nems in your tank? What kind of chemical filtration do you have/use?

I have several S. gigantea living together. My green ones have stopped growing even though I feed all of the nems frequently. I wasn't doing water changes regularly but have recently started doing so, and am running carbon in a reactor now. I finally see the green gigs showing signs of growth, so I attribute it both to the water changes (some element that they need is being replenished) and the carbon is helping to combat allelopathy.

[WilliamP.Qualls]

Water changes are 15 gal every two weeks. The tank is a 60 cube with a 75 gal sump. I recently added a lta into the tank who has easily doubled in size.

Parameters as of this morning are
Nitrates < 0.2
Ammonia < 0.3
Ph 8 ( usually fluctuates to around 8.4)
Alk 9
Cal 430
Salinity 34
Temp 81°

In the sump I run chemipure Elite, a diy ceramic ring reactor (I guess you could call it that) a fuge with cheato and Caulerpa prolifera, and a reef octopus skimmer from my old 180. A carbon/gfo reactor is in the works, just isn’t on the top of my priority list given that the tank has been great otherwise. I’m always weary about adding stuff to a system that isn’t broken.

[BeachVacationer]

I have one about the size of a quarter. It was about dime size a year ago. But I've never fed it anything.

[laverda]

There are some species of small anemones, however your looks like a BTA. Try raising your nitrates. Mine grow like crazy at 20 NO3. What are you phosphates? Mine are currently 0.4 currently.

[Swayze27]

Any shrimp in the tank? I had a shrimp in my tank that would pester my BTA causing it to never fully expand. The shrimp had to go.

[WilliamP.Qualls]

Update just to keep this mystery going. I skipped a couple of WC and upped the feeding of the nem to every 3 days. It was looking like it was growing but I woke up this morning to two of them. I’m at a total loss. Anyone want some tiny nems? ��

[laverda]

Some anemones split often while others seldom split. It is very common for them to split when moved to a new tank. Splitting is often a sign they are stressed. Some people report increased feeding causes splitting as well. That has not been my experience.