RBTA not "bubbly"

[ConnorG]

So I have had a RBTA for about 5 months in my tank and he appears to be thriving! Grew from the size of a tennis balm to bigger then a soft ball in that time. However his tentacles aren't "bubbly" at all. Just very long and kind of skiny. But still inflated. Any ideas? It's tentacles resemble the anenome from Mr.Saltwaterfish on YouTube but I don't know. When I first got him he was very bubbly and then that slowly went away as e grew. He is under 2 150 watt 14 k mh and 4 14 watt actinics. Flow is 2 1400 gph hydor korilia power heads on a standard 75 gallon. Both on a reef keeper wave maker. I had a slight ammonia/nitrite spike but I don't think that is a contributing factor as he ha been this way for a while.
Ph:8.1
Nitrite/ammonia: .25
Nitrate:10
KH: 8
Here is a picture:

When I first got him:

Now:

THANKS!!

 

[shifty51008]

there has never been a real reason why they loose their bubble tips but it has nothing to do with it not being healthy. their have been alot of therorys from flow, light, to feeding, but what works for one don't always work for others. don't worry about it to much though, as long as it is healthy that is what matters.

 

[rssjsb]

Yeah, the answer is that nobody really knows why this happens in captivity. It may be disappointing to us, but it's no big deal for the anemone. As long as it's growing and has good color, it's fine.

 

[sparky45]

I'd have to say it looks better now then it did when you got it. I have one well 2 now since mine split last week that look just like yours.

 

[TeHGuy]

mine went to long and stretched out too, but its tripled in size since I got it so i assume its happy.

 

[Dukester]

I'd have to say it looks better now then it did when you got it. I have one well 2 now since mine split last week that look just like yours.

I totally agree, I have a total of 8 bta's of different types and the only time I ever see them bubbled up is when they are new, or they split and are moving around, or when there at the LFS. I always assume that when they go long and stringy they are fully expanded and happy. Its personal preference I guess but I really like the look of your picture as it is now. Good Job!!

 

[kretzkiller]

My rbta has seemed to go back and forth between bubbly and non bubbly. Not really sure what triggers it.

 

[brettinteriors]

Personally, my rbta bubbles up with more flow and intense light

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[papania]

I've had mine for 2 years and it's never lost it's bubbles.

 

[garygb]

The only thing that I've found insures my RBTAs bubble is to have relatively new T-5 bulbs. Under MH they don't consistently, under PCs they don't either, under new T-5s they stay bubbled for a few months.

Lighting seems to be at least one variable that influences bubbling. Short of conducting an experiment factors such as Kelvin, PAR, etc., is purely anecdotal.