How long has it taken for your bubble tips to inflate and look happy? I got mine Wed last week and I see a few tips every now and again but never seems to inflate and puff up? Just wondering if it is an acclimation deal or is it not well.
Bubble tip ??
- Thread starter NewMelee
- Start date
- Tagged users None
kesslerkid01
Active Member
mine took two days to acclimate then it has been fine sense had for over a year now
Rbt about 4 hrs
customcolor
The coRal nuT
they dont always show there bubble tips..today i saw ours with bubbles during the day for the first time in my wifes nano
revhtree
Owner Administrator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Reef Squad
Partner Member 2024
Excellence Award
RGB
Photo of the Month
Article Contributor
R2R TV Featured
Hospitality Award
Article Administrator
Black Friday Sponsor
Industry Professional
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- May 8, 2006
- Messages
- 49,234
- Reaction score
- 98,071
I havent seen any bubble tips on mine and I have had it for several months. 
I did put a screw driver through it though. 
I did put a screw driver through it though. Are you questioning the action of inflation of the animal or the formation of bubble-like tips??
If it hasn't inflated and puffed up to look like a normal nem in several days then it is likely irritated by something (1,001 possibilities for why that could be happening).
If it has inflated, but has long stringy tentacles instead of round bubbly tips then it is likely related (but not limited to) the lighting. This is the most common cause (by far) but not the only cause. If I shade my lighting a bit my bubble tip nems will have long stringy tentacles. If I remove any shading, or intensify lighting by other means then they will usually develop more bubble like tips. I have a 180 with several bubble nems. The ones near the top have very nice bubble tips and the ones lower in the tank or in shaded areas have stringy tentacles. None of them have moved in over a year so even if they aren't getting enough light to make them form "bubble-like" tentacles it doesn't seem to bother them enough to encourage them to move and get more light.
Jeremy
If it hasn't inflated and puffed up to look like a normal nem in several days then it is likely irritated by something (1,001 possibilities for why that could be happening).
If it has inflated, but has long stringy tentacles instead of round bubbly tips then it is likely related (but not limited to) the lighting. This is the most common cause (by far) but not the only cause. If I shade my lighting a bit my bubble tip nems will have long stringy tentacles. If I remove any shading, or intensify lighting by other means then they will usually develop more bubble like tips. I have a 180 with several bubble nems. The ones near the top have very nice bubble tips and the ones lower in the tank or in shaded areas have stringy tentacles. None of them have moved in over a year so even if they aren't getting enough light to make them form "bubble-like" tentacles it doesn't seem to bother them enough to encourage them to move and get more light.
Jeremy
jcJokr
Community Member
Yeah I had one that acted like that and then it just eventually was nothing. Some say you can try to coach it out with food, squirt some mysis down on it. When I did that, mine seemed to try and come back but I think it was to far gone by the time I fed it.
Sounds unhappy, unhealthy, or significantly stressed for some reason. Can you post water params and maybe a pic of the tank (not just a pic of the nem - a good view of the tank to judge overall health and water quality)? Getting a look at the tank can help rule out many issues. A pic says a thousand words.
Do you have any other nems?? Is this a really newly set up tank?? What was the acclimation process?? How much light is it receiving??
As I was beginning reefing I had gone through this with a few nems and couldn't figure out what the problem was. Now that I look back on it, the cause was clearly poor water quality and/or fluctuation of major water params (salinity, alk, temp, etc...)
Jeremy
Jhildebrand
Well-Known Member
This particular nem opened up right away - even in the bag i packed it in on the way to your house. It ate three times a week. Every so often it would deflate but only for about a day max. It was under a 250W halide about 14".
just moved it from my display to my frag, looked like my clown was picking at it??
Anyway I am going to take a full test on my water right now and I'll let you all know.
Like John said it was open in the bag too, that is kinda why I am confused. Everything in my tank looks ok. My LPS is great and my SPS is coming around that's to my new skimmer so....
PS John everything else is looking great, no blame intended at all the problem is in my tank for sure. It looked good when it came. Got that rail working yet?
Anyway I am going to take a full test on my water right now and I'll let you all know.
Like John said it was open in the bag too, that is kinda why I am confused. Everything in my tank looks ok. My LPS is great and my SPS is coming around that's to my new skimmer so....
PS John everything else is looking great, no blame intended at all the problem is in my tank for sure. It looked good when it came. Got that rail working yet?
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
How is that skimmer working? That is the infamous Club RBTA. They are indestructable. I am sure it will come around!
Eric
Eric
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
That seems kind of Low on your Alk. I will let others chime in though. I tend to run my ALK around 10ish.
Eric
Eric
Skimmer is working good with a feed pump from my old one and just a Quiet one 4000 pump, thinking I might get a Quiet on 400HH (pressure pump) for it and call it good. That way I can keep it all in sump and no re plumbing.
Fishcrazy06
Reefing Addict
I'll have a mag9.5 for sale realllll soon!
Eric
Eric
Yeah, alk does seem a little low but before you make any adjustments be sure to confirm that your getting an accurate reading. Alk levels are a singnificant factor in the health of a tank and making changes when they aren't warrented (from inaccurate test results) can be quite detrimental. IMO, 6.7dkh is bordering on an fine line that can lead to mass chaos if its allowed to slip down a bit more. However, many people that run a low nutrient system through bacterial proliferation often run a steady alk somewhere between 6.5 and 8 dkh. Regardless, if your other animals are looking healthy, then the alk level is sufficient and I wouldn't be looking towards that sole factor to be the cause of your problems - Unless Johns params are very different from yours. If John maintains an alk much higher than yours then the nem may be a bit upset from the drastic change in conditions. It sounds like you got some other items from John as well and if they are doing OK then again I wouldn't look solely to your alk level as being the problem. In addition, I would suspect stony corals would be much more susceptible to changes in alk levels and a nem would be less affected unless the alk was so low that it was significantly affecting your pH.
What other livestock did you get from John and how is it reacting?? From my experience, a nem is much quicker to respond to a decreased water quality then most corals.
What kit are you using to measure alk??
What are you using to measure salinity??
My first guess at why this nem is irritated (without seeing your tank) would be excessive nutrients/poor water quality. A cycled tank should never have any detectable ammonia unless there is a massive die off or some significant event occurring. That leads me to think the test was either misinterpreted or gave a false reading. If your other animals are doing fine then you don't have any ammonia.
What kits are you using to test N and P?? Nitrate hobby grade tests are often incredibly inaccurate and phosphate tests are often misinterpreted due to a very faint color difference between very high P and undetectable P. Photometers are truly one of the most realistic (hobby grade testers) for getting realtively accurate results (however even they are susceptible to user error and other variables that can affect readings). IMO the most effective means of measuring your nutrient levels (N and P) is simply visualiation of the tank inhabitants and the amount of algae growth. If you have browned corals (excess zooxanthellae growth) and anything more than a little algea growth then you have excess nutrients regardless of what any test kit will tell you. Test readings can be skewed by the action of algea and zoox quickly uptaking the nutrients from the water column. The next question is - Are the water parmams causing poor enough water quality to have a nem react so negatively? Tough to say without a visualization.
My apologies for the long post. I'm trying to cover a lot of possibilities of what could be wrong and trying to explain my logic at the same time. Like I said initially there could be 1,001 variables causing this.
My suggestions:
1) Stop moving the nem. Even if your frag tank is plumbed into your main tank and exposed to the same water, then it will still likely be exposed to another variation in lighting conditions thus causing it to photoacclimate and expend energy doing so. If the frag tank is it's own separte entity and has different water params then that's yet another stressor but if it's already there then just leave it there becuase moving it back will cause more stress.
2) Let's hear what John maintains his params at. If they are very different from yours then it may be that the nem is slow to acclimate to your tank conditions. It may or may not come around (considering this is a clone of the indestructable FVRC RBTA I think it'll be just fine).
3) Give yourself a good evaluation of the water quality. I think visualization with attention to what signs excessive nutrients exhibit is better than any test kit.
Do you have any other nems or have you tried adding any nems in the past??
How long has the tank been set up??
Keep us posted and we'll keep trying to help.
Jeremy
What other livestock did you get from John and how is it reacting?? From my experience, a nem is much quicker to respond to a decreased water quality then most corals.
What kit are you using to measure alk??
What are you using to measure salinity??
My first guess at why this nem is irritated (without seeing your tank) would be excessive nutrients/poor water quality. A cycled tank should never have any detectable ammonia unless there is a massive die off or some significant event occurring. That leads me to think the test was either misinterpreted or gave a false reading. If your other animals are doing fine then you don't have any ammonia.
What kits are you using to test N and P?? Nitrate hobby grade tests are often incredibly inaccurate and phosphate tests are often misinterpreted due to a very faint color difference between very high P and undetectable P. Photometers are truly one of the most realistic (hobby grade testers) for getting realtively accurate results (however even they are susceptible to user error and other variables that can affect readings). IMO the most effective means of measuring your nutrient levels (N and P) is simply visualiation of the tank inhabitants and the amount of algae growth. If you have browned corals (excess zooxanthellae growth) and anything more than a little algea growth then you have excess nutrients regardless of what any test kit will tell you. Test readings can be skewed by the action of algea and zoox quickly uptaking the nutrients from the water column. The next question is - Are the water parmams causing poor enough water quality to have a nem react so negatively? Tough to say without a visualization.
My apologies for the long post. I'm trying to cover a lot of possibilities of what could be wrong and trying to explain my logic at the same time. Like I said initially there could be 1,001 variables causing this.
My suggestions:
1) Stop moving the nem. Even if your frag tank is plumbed into your main tank and exposed to the same water, then it will still likely be exposed to another variation in lighting conditions thus causing it to photoacclimate and expend energy doing so. If the frag tank is it's own separte entity and has different water params then that's yet another stressor but if it's already there then just leave it there becuase moving it back will cause more stress.
2) Let's hear what John maintains his params at. If they are very different from yours then it may be that the nem is slow to acclimate to your tank conditions. It may or may not come around (considering this is a clone of the indestructable FVRC RBTA I think it'll be just fine).
3) Give yourself a good evaluation of the water quality. I think visualization with attention to what signs excessive nutrients exhibit is better than any test kit.
Do you have any other nems or have you tried adding any nems in the past??
How long has the tank been set up??
Keep us posted and we'll keep trying to help.
Jeremy
The tank is only a few (3ish) months old, but all rock and some of the sand is from my old tank. I had almost no cycle. I do have 2 rock anemones that are just fine. The reason I moved it that last time was that it looked as though my clown was picking at it. I do have some hair algae but it's really not too bad. I would take a pic but I have no idea what my wife has done with our camera.
It has swollen but no tips at all so far.
I guess time will tell
It has swollen but no tips at all so far.
I guess time will tell
