Bubble tip anemones... "Bubbly" vs. "stringy"

[TStud1986]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum and still fairly new to the hobby (only in for a little over a year)...

Just curious to hear peoples experiences and opinions as to their bubble anemones.

Long story short: I had purchased a rainbow bta and it split when shipping (this was awhile ago; they are healthy and thriving). Anyways one is more "bubbled" than the other which is more stringy... They are right next to each other in tank, same height/ same average light exposure, same flow...

So why is one more bubbled than the other?
Is there anything i can do to encourage them to bubble more?

Thanks for any info or advice!
-Tyler

 

[38bill]

The bubble thing is a mystery. I have a BTA that is usually bubbled on only one half and stringy on the other. Doesn't matter which way its facing its just always been like that.

 

[TStud1986]

Thanks for the feed back I'm interested what other people have to say hopefully we can get more people to jump in on this and compare experiences! Thanks again

 

[TStud1986]

Sorry that almost sounded rude after I re - read it... I'm very interested in your experiences as well! How long have you had yours and what variation is it?

I can also say adding in: it almost seems as tho the r.b.t.a that is more directly under the leds is more bubbly than the r.b.t.a that is more under the t5 side.

 

[TStud1986]

Anyone else have any experience or advice?

 

[Mael]

My brother and I purchased 2 Rainbow BTA's a while back that were splits from the same "mother" his was short fat bubble tentacles in his tank and mine has always been long and stringy. Both of us have clown pairs that the nems host, his is closer to the top of the tank since that is where it crawled to......mine seem to bubble a little more when the clowns are hitting it hard and after a feeding.....otherwise I think it is a crap shoot.

 

[alb_56]

Mine will bubble perfectly when they are in low flow but they go stringy when the flow comes back on.

 

[TStud1986]

I've heard theories about the intensity of light being a factor... if they have plenty of light they stay bubbled up, if they need more light they turn stringy and stretch for the light... but as 9 right now I kinda like the crap shoot theory as to which it will be... I just wish I could get mine all super bubbly and cool looking like the show ones you see on websites trying to sell em lol

 

[TStud1986]

And the theory about flow seems to be a strong point too! I need more rock work so I can adjust placements to test these theories lol

 

[joshky]

This is a topic that gets brought up A LOT, and the general consensus is no one knows why they choose to bubble or not bubble.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Based personal experiments and observations I think two main things affect the bubbling of tentacles. 1 is food and 2 is flow.

 

[TStud1986]

This is a topic that gets brought up A LOT, and the general consensus is no one knows why they choose to bubble or not bubble.

That seems to be the general consensus is that there is not one way to tell why they behave the way they do, so was hoping to get a bunch of people to give descriptions of theirs and the different variables they have present to see if we could cross compare and find if there are any certain ones that over lap

 

[TStud1986]

Based personal experiments and observations I think two main things affect the bubbling of tentacles. 1 is food and 2 is flow.

So in your setup what b.t.a's do you/ or have you had? What do you feed for foods? And which flows relate to whether bubbly or stringy?

And thanks both of you for your input

 

[reefgeek25]

i have done experiments on this before with btas. i found that when you dont feed the nem or they are not getting enough food to make them happy they will not bubble up. but if they are feed and kept fat with food they will bubble like crazy. i also found after a while being fed on a regular basis that there colors brighten up alot.

 

[addictedreefer]

I have at least 7 RBTA clones spread throughout a 210 gallon tank. All are very bubbly notwithstanding the fact that certain clones receive dramatically different lighting and flow conditions. This makes me think lighting and flow are not determinative.

There may be something to the feeding theory, as mine always snipe a ton of mysis when I feed the fish and I spot feed table shrimp every other week or so.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Bubble tip anemones... "Bubbly" vs. "stringy"

So in your setup what b.t.a's do you/ or have you had? What do you feed for foods? And which flows relate to whether bubbly or stringy?



And thanks both of you for your input

I feed my 2 RBTAs small pieces of Mysis once a week. The bubbles definitely respond to feedings by inflating. I've noticed when I increase the flow on my MP10 the tentacles become longer and thinner. I've also observed that BTAs at fish stores tend to be more bubbly due to lower flow rate in their tanks than most of us keep in mixed reefs or sps dominant tanks.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

If you watch some diving videos on YouTube you will see that the ocean flow tends to be much calmer in areas where BTAs reside. They don't get as much water movement as Gigs or Mags do in shallower reefs.

 

[raythepilot]

Well I've kept and divided BTA's for a long time and I don't have any firm opinion about why they bubble. I've had the same nem with bubbles on one side and stringy on the other. Two identical clones, one with bubbles and one without both in the same 10 gal. tank.
My experience is also that when they are tightly compact and bubbled the will not accept food. I only feed them when they are fully expanded and stringy.

 

[TStud1986]

Awesome thanks for the replies! It would make sense that in less turbulent water they would be more bubbly and also would make sense that different feeding techniques could cause different results in b.t.a's... has anyone tried a different diet for two of the same nems in one tank? Like on krill the other silver sides or anything?

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Bubble tip anemones... "Bubbly" vs. "stringy"

Awesome thanks for the replies! It would make sense that in less turbulent water they would be more bubbly and also would make sense that different feeding techniques could cause different results in b.t.a's... has anyone tried a different diet for two of the same nems in one tank? Like on krill the other silver sides or anything?

My RBTAs hate krill but love mysis. BTAs don't have a big mouth like gigs and mags so it may be the reason they prefer smaller and softer pieces of mysis.