Rbta hasn't had bubble tips in a while

[Crabs McJones]

I fed it mysis once this week and it at them right up .I'll try the silversides

I wouldn't. If its happy and healthy let it be. Why risk something bad happening?

 

[Zos4me]

I wouldn't - that's a tiny nem. I dunno the guy who recommended this, and I'm not trying to get into it...but...just sayin'. Mysis for the win buddy.

It is pretty small but I have seen it expand much more

 

[Zos4me]

I wouldn't. If its happy and healthy let it be. Why risk something bad happening?

It seems happy so I'll just see what happens and take it from there

 

[Dancingmad]

Well believe it or not it only moved once and only like a inch higher than I put it so not bad

Thats good news. There are so many threads here on controlling their BTAs from wandering. Can't put 'em in a stable unfortunately.

 

[Zos4me]

To be honest I bought the clown first on an impulse and then he seemed lonely and a local fish store had the nem so 2nd impulse buy.I usually do a lot more research before I jump into the fire but seems it will work out
Thanks for everyone's input

 

[Zos4me]

Thats good news. There are so many threads here on controlling their BTAs from wandering. Can't put 'em in a stable unfortunately.

Nothing else in the tank anyway so won't matter where it goes lol

 

[TankLife86]

Don't feed your nems silversides not that it's not good for them, there isn't enough nutrient in them for nems. Go to your supermarket and buy fresh peeled shrimp n cut them in small pieces big enough you think will the nem will swallow. I have 4 nems of different types and here are some pics. Some nems will be stringy and some nems will hold their bubbles,but as the bta ages it will eventually lose its bubble.

 

[jd371]

Well I've only had mine a couple of weeks .I'll try and get a good pic tonifht when I get home.I'm hoping to have a tank like yours someday it's beautiful

Thank you, it will be three years old in August.

May I ask what you run for lights

I'm running 4 Kessil A160's with the Aquatic Life fixture. The Kessil's are set to an 11hr. schedule with a peak at 90% power and 55% color for three hours, the T5 are only on for 7 hrs. starting a couple hours before the kessil's reach peak and couple of hours after.

 

[Coral Passion]

I believe the clown that lives inside it dies and thus its ability to make the bubbles ends. We always give the BTA so much attention but never the balloon blowing clown.

 

[RayT]

Lots of theories out there about the bubble tips. Here are a few solutions I have heard about but never tested. Make sure they are very well illuminated, feed only fish, very gentle flow and keep nitrates 5ppm or less. the last couple of tips I listed are Mike Paletta's tips.

 

[Zos4me]

I'm running pretty much the same schedule
Thanks everyone for all the help

 

[zagviper71]

Here is my .02 cents.. I have 48ish bta in my 180 gallon tank. I have noticed since last year.. lower the flow the more they stayed bubble. But in the group of bta's 80% bubble 20% dont, next day 90/10 next day 70/30. Mine all get large bubbles after feeding raw peeled salad shrimp cut up the size of corn. Some of my love the higher flow but no bubbles.. the ones in medium to low flow are bubbled 24/7.

Let the mystery of the universe continue!!

 

[Zos4me]

Here is my .02 cents.. I have 48ish bta in my 180 gallon tank. I have noticed since last year.. lower the flow the more they stayed bubble. But in the group of bta's 80% bubble 20% dont, next day 90/10 next day 70/30. Mine all get large bubbles after feeding raw peeled salad shrimp cut up the size of corn. Some of my love the higher flow but no bubbles.. the ones in medium to low flow are bubbled 24/7.

Let the mystery of the universe continue!!

That is one bad butt tank.Did you get all those clowns at one time or breed them and did you buy all those or just keep letting them do their thng
Thanks for sharing that made my day

 

[Coral Passion]

I believe you could probably come to a logical conclusion on why they sometimes have bubble tips and sometimes don't by using logic to answer this question.

Why do they produce bubble tips?

Once this question is answered you can logically concluded the reason for why dont need to produce a bubble tip.

Feel free to give your opinion to question and I will share my thoughts aswell.

 

[Coral Passion]

Why do BTA create bubbles?

The simple answer is to maximise surface area so that more light reaches zooxanthellae and increases the nutrients available to the anemone.

So If we use this as the base assumption then the reason they dont create bubbles is they do not need additional nutrients brought on my increasing the surface area and have additional nutrients produced by the zooxanthellae.

So why do we sometimes see BTA that occasionally have bubble tips and why do larger ones tend to lose their bubbles?

The simple answer is risk vs reward. The anemone has to use energy to produce and maintain the bubbles. The energy needed to maintain the bubbles increases in high flow or as the tentacles gain more mass as it grows. As return in energy diminishes the anemone is less likely to produce bubbles.

Anemone still find ways to increase surface area but use less energy buy extended their tentacles and moving with the flow. Typically this is why you see larger anemone with slim looking tentacles and a increase in flow will normally produce thinner longer looking tentacles.

I believe that the bubbles are the most effective way to increase surface area but anemones have to move to the less effective but more conservative way of extending their tentacles to help maintain nutrient availability.

 

[gg1111]

Very strong light will make a bta loose it's bubbles(it wants to reduce surface area), lower light might get them to bubble, and in my experience t5's for bubbles.