Do we know what makes bubble tips "bubble"?

[ohio reefer]

Everyone has there own experiences but I bought this bubble tip from a chain store labeled as a condy because it's tenticals were so long that they were stringy.

this is when it started to bubble. And then not even an hour later it looks like this

Does anyone know what may of caused this?

 

[mike007]

That means he is happy with his new home. Some bubble tips will do this and others won't. I don't think anyone knows exactly why.

 

[oscarinw]

There are a lot of theories from lighting to flow to chemistry to appetite... I don't think anyone really knows. Yours is looking good!

 

[TruRacr314x]

I bet you scored a great deal if it was labeled as a condy...

Looks happy to me!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Awesome find!!

 

[joekool]

No one really knows but I bought a green bubble tip and it had it's bubbled tips in the store. It lost its bubbles for a long time. It split once and don't know what happened to the other half though. I do know that when I switched to MH from just fluorescents that the bubbles came back. Maybe it is do to light spectrum or intensity.

 

[ohio reefer]

No one really knows but I bought a green bubble tip and it had it's bubbled tips in the store. It lost its bubbles for a long time. It split once and don't know what happened to the other half though. I do know that when I switched to MH from just fluorescents that the bubbles came back. Maybe it is do to light spectrum or intensity.

That makes sense. It was the opposite for me. The store had it under T8 lights, long tenticals, under my lights short bubbles.

 

[mainereefer]

I have always found they bubble to shade there disc from light....

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

It would be nice to find out!

 

[WDLV]

IME...
Flow, food and light. Less water motion with higher lighting causes maximum surface area (bubbles) to allow light penetration to zooxanthellae because in lower flow, there is less food available and light must be utilized to compensate for lost food metabolism.
High flow with lower light causes polyp extension and elongation to maximize prey capture.

Corals are the same way. In SPS with high flow and low light, polyp extension and density is higher. Skeletal density is higher and growth is slower.
In high light and lower flow, polyp extension and density are lower. Skeletons are more brittle and faster growing as well.

 

[cdness]

They bubble because they want to... No one has a definitive answer as to why so scientifically it is all theories.

 

[socal619]

Mine used to bubble, when I got new lights they got deflated and long. It keeps splitting too. It's split twice in 2 months.

 

[DragKnee]

Mine was bubbled beautifully in the store. Came home and it was bubbled for a couple days, now, no more bubble tips.

 

[WDLV]

Yup. We all have our hypotheses.

Experiment.
Peer review.
Repeat.

Here's what I've found.
High light, low flow...

Low light, high flow.

 

[typicaltony]

I honestly don't know, I had 3 BTAs in one tank and all 3 were different even though they were clones of the same anemone. One would stay bubbly 24/7, one would be long and stringy 24/7, and the other was bi-polar. Same tank with same water parameter and lighting and all 3 were different.

This was taken awhile back, but the bottom left is the bi-polar one... the one in the front middle is the stringy and the one behind it is the bubbly one.

 

[WDLV]

Good example!
From the looks of it, the one at the bottom had strong light and weak flow, despite its being at the bottom. I'm figuring the strongest light was at the front of the tank?
The top front looks like it has stronger flow and (should have) strong light given it's position in the tank. The one in the top rear is blowing in the same direction as the one in front of it. So, I would presume the same flow dynamics and light parameters applied to it as the adjacent BTA. Were the lights on separate timers? Were the pumps on timers?
Where did the perculas hang out? I think food is a factor (related to flow.)

 

[typicaltony]

Good example!
From the looks of it, the one at the bottom had strong light and weak flow, despite its being at the bottom. I'm figuring the strongest light was at the front of the tank?
The top front looks like it has stronger flow and (should have) strong light given it's position in the tank. The one in the top rear is blowing in the same direction as the one in front of it. So, I would presume the same flow dynamics and light parameters applied to it as the adjacent BTA. Were the lights on separate timers? Were the pumps on timers?
Where did the perculas hang out? I think food is a factor (related to flow.)

the blues would come on 30 mins before and off 30 mins after the white n pink. It was 4bulb t5 fixture. powerheads would alternate every 30 secs.

the percs on the other hand would congregate in the corner of the tank never noticing any of the anemones, as far as food all gets the same amount of mysis or pellets.

 

[WDLV]

I don't think the lights would do it given what you describe and I don't think the percs would either. I was wondering if they were pooping on and feeding one and not the others.

You've got me. The only other thing that might be relavent is whether the blues were in the back and the whites/pinks were toward the front. Red stimulates zooxanthellae more and blue stimulates the sunscreen we percieve as color pigments more.

 

[WDLV]

Actually that's a little backward. My view is that the pink would add the most usable zooxanthellae light and the white would do a little of both whereas the blue would only affect color.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It''s water and membranes which cause this. The inflated look comes and goes and is respondent to water conditions and trace elements.