RBTA or Sunburst ID

[NateDawg]

This was gifted to me months ago from a best friend who is no longer with us. This guy was pretty faded when I first got him, so I believe he is now in his best color after "nursing" him back to health under my metal halides. She had a mix of RBTAs and Sunbursts in the tank, she told me it was a Sunburst, but looked more like an RBTA to me back then. It has since split. What do you guys think?

This is the "edited" picture, I used the Camera+ app, and said it was a picture of a sunset, thought it looked nice like this.

This is more or less what it actually looks like, not exactly though.

And just wondering, do these guys sill go for 3-5 hundred?

Thanks!

 

[bradleym]

They are definitely not normal RBTAs. Sunburst is not an officially described name, but it typically means an anemone containing red, green, and either orange and/or yellow.

Those are very beautiful BTAs you have, but I would not personally expect someone to pay over $200 for them. Others may disagree, JMO.

 

[Dukester]

I have a rbta with the exact same coloring, its fairly common imo, usually sunburst or flametip variants follow through with a yellow tip tentiicle. Very nice looking nem too btw

 

[loglew]

I still wonder if this a sunburst or a RBTA.

 

[this is me]

These are just regular RBTAs under blue LED condition and/or after photo editing. I wouldn't pay more than 60bucks for them regardless of the name.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Those are very beautiful BTAs you have, but I would not personally expect someone to pay over $200 for them. Others may disagree, JMO.

Going price around here for BTA clones is about $50 cash and carry - for nice looking ones. That's still a nice price for something that just "happens" in your tank Retail charges more (sometimes a LOT more) for BTA's so you might be able to talk a retailer into taking a BTA clone for trade for store credit. If they think they can sell it for $150 they might give you $75 in livestock (not hardgoods) store credit. Mind you - $150 for ANY anemone in Southern California is a LOT of money...

 

[bradleym]

Going price around here for BTA clones is about $50 cash and carry - for nice looking ones. That's still a nice price for something that just "happens" in your tank Retail charges more (sometimes a LOT more) for BTA's so you might be able to talk a retailer into taking a BTA clone for trade for store credit. If they think they can sell it for $150 they might give you $75 in livestock (not hardgoods) store credit. Mind you - $150 for ANY anemone in Southern California is a LOT of money...

Oh, to be in your situation... We should work out a remote shopper arrangement.

In the Midwest GBTAs go for $10-$20. RBTAs for $30-$50. And anything with multiple colors will go up from there. And this is all from tank to tank. So for a good looking nem like that, I would expect to pay $75 or more. But some places are even worse than STL. So I imagine selling it online could garner a higher return.

 

[tkeracer619]

Not a true RBTA but that is what the are called anyways. Was sold as a RBTA 4 years ago by the wholesaler Sea Dwelling Creatures. They are all over the place now.

loglew. It could be. The sunbursts lineage should be pretty easy to follow so find out where it came from and you should be good to go. IMO its just another awesome variety of bta but the yellow tips definitely makes you wonder.

This is my sunburst with RBTAs and GBTAs for contrast.

And a poor image of my sunburst.

 

[fingerwrinkles]

If it helps, most of the time the sunburst / flame designation seems to be given to RBTAs which have fairly distinctive yellowing on the tip or upper portion of the tentacles. Ideally this coloration should be apparent under "typical" (i.e. MH / T5 / PC) lighting and not just under the blue end of the spectrum (actinics or blue LEDs).

For those RBTAs which have the greens and oranges mixed into the oral disc and tentacles, they seem to be called something along the lines of "rainbow" RBTAs.

As for what constitutes an RBTA (or Rose Bubble Tip Anemone), any BTA that has some distinctive hue of red (ranging from a very light brownish red through a very bright pinkish orange) would seem to qualify to be an "RBTA".

As noted above, the going price really varies greatly from location to location and even at the same store from time to time based upon demand and availability.

 

[NateDawg]

Thanks guys, I love the helpful community on this forum. I remebering when I was just starting the hobby and read that RBTA's are rare and that is why they are expensive online and at stores. Heck, I see more RBTAs than GBTAs! Thanks for the info everyone, and those are beautiful pieces Loglew and Tkeracer.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Thanks guys, I love the helpful community on this forum. I remebering when I was just starting the hobby and read that RBTA's are rare and that is why they are expensive online and at stores. Heck, I see more RBTAs than GBTAs! Thanks for the info everyone, and those are beautiful pieces Loglew and Tkeracer.

The good news is they reproduce so quickly that now that people have gotten better at understanding how to care for them they are much more readily available. 10 years ago people were having a hard time even telling one anemone species from another. Now the challenge will be to figure out how to get the other species to sexually reproduce

 

[Dukester]

kinda late on the reply but heres a picture of mine,