Would like some amemone info

Kevin34 · Feb 20, 2009

I really want to get a bubble tip for my true percs. preferably a rose bubble tip. Anything special I should know about these? I never really looked into their care too much. I know they need to be spot fed and need high lighting but thats about it. I have 2 250w MH lights over my tank so I think my lighting is fine. How big can they get? do they ship well if I were to order one online? how long should I acclimate it for? are they known for eating fish like carpet anemones are? and is it true that rose bubble tips tend to stay up where as other anemones move around a lot until they find a spot they like? any info is greatly appreciated. thanks:bigsmile:

cherokee_dude · Feb 20, 2009

IME with RBTA's They do sometimes move a but and do not all bubble up (See how mine are happy, yet not bubbly below).
Mine have grown to about 5" in diameter each and extend tentacles another 4-5".
They are also known to ship fairly well (Course that depends on weather and shipping temps)

Lighting seems fine.

I would think up to 1/2 hour acclimation (Remember to discard water transported with the animal)

Not known for eating fish like a carpet, but are known to sting smaller fish that try to hang out like the clowns do. They develop a specialized slime to handle the interaction.
Most fish will stay away however, I have a Firefish and a Mandarin that have never been stung.

Kevin34 · Feb 20, 2009

so rbta dont bubble up like other bta do?

cee · Feb 20, 2009

I don't believe RBTAs are an anemone that perculas live in in the wild. In the wild, for RBTA:

Entacmaea quadricolor (bulb-tentacle, BTA, or corn)
A. akindynos
A. allardi
A. bicinctus
A. chrysopterus
A. clarkii
A. ephippium
A. frenatus
A. latezonatus
A. mccullochi
A. melanopus
A. omanensis
A. rubrocinctus
A. tricinctus
P. biaculeatus

That being said, captive environments produce results that aren't necessarily "natural" some times.

Dave

cherokee_dude · Feb 20, 2009

Not all BTA's bubble up. Not sure if I can link to other places (Mods, feel free to delete if it's not cool) But, if you checked out karensroseanemones you may find answers to a lot of your Q's. She cares for the most RBTA's i've ever seen.
HTH

cee · Feb 20, 2009

Here's a list of "natural" hosts for perculas:

Heteractis magnifica
Stichodactyla gigantea

I did keep a pair in Heteractis crispa once, but that is not a natural pairing. HTH.

Dave

cparka23 · Feb 20, 2009

I used to have green bubble tip anemones for my gold stripe maroon. Honestly, they don't require special care except for one thing. If you have powerheads in the tank, you'll need to provide some kind of screen to keep the anemone from being mangled. This seems to happen way to often, because people don't anticipate that their BTAs would ever move.

As for the other things, I'd say good lighting but not necessarily high lighting. Spot feeding could be optional. My maroon carried meaty food back to the anemone, so I rarely target fed the anemone. I've seen captive rose BTAs get as big as salad plates, but it kind of depends on how often the anemone splits. Some don't split often, if ever.

Lastly, if your clowns are wild-caught, you might not see them host in a BTA. The captive-bred/raised clowns will give you a better chance.

Kevin34 · Feb 20, 2009

my clowns are wild caught. so no one has seen percs host a bta? and I have koralia powerheads. would I need to cover those? they dont really have any huge intake hole.

cee · Feb 20, 2009

Kevin34 said:
my clowns are wild caught. so no one has seen percs host a bta? and I have koralia powerheads. would I need to cover those? they dont really have any huge intake hole.

Not in the oceans, but I bet they have in captive environments.

Spiderwoman · Feb 20, 2009

My wild caught Salomon Island Percs started hosting a RBTA about 2 weeks after I put the anemone in the tank. In another tank I have a mated pair of female false and male true Percs and they don't pay any attention to the huge RBTA that is in there. The female actually has killed half of a large frogspawn that is in their corner. She has tried to host it.

Saltysteele · Feb 20, 2009

i've got a pair of ora b&w's that i taught to host my rbta

they had been hosting the return pipe in the upper corner

oh:

gflat65 · Feb 20, 2009

If you can move the Koralia's out of the range of the rock, you may be okay. I never lost an anemone from their self imposed buzz cuts, but I've heard others have. Korali'as might make a big magnet for them (they love self abuse

). I've never had one bubble forever. Some come in and bubble, then quit. Some never bubble. Some bubble only from time to time. Usually, once they find a spot, they stick to it, unless an external stimulus (lighting changes, etc.) or cloning gets them moving. I found them to be a weed. With a tank crash and everythign else dying, they multiplied as a response and I ended up with 8 at one time from 2 (in a week). I only ever lost one coral to anemone stings (hydnaphora...). I've heard RBTA's generally have a worse sting than GBTA's.

Some clowns don't host in anemones, to the dismay of the reefer. I've heard a number of stories where the reefer bought an anemone, tu they would have nothign to do with it...

Kevin34 · Feb 20, 2009

right now my clowns are hosting a powerhead and its pretty boring just watching them swim around it all day. are GBTA more "bubbly" than rbta? the main reason I want a bta is because of their bubbly look but I dont really like the regular brown ones. would much rather have a green or rose.

slipondajimmy · Feb 21, 2009

My clowns have never found a real home in my tank. For a short while one of them really liked a big brown paly colony I had but then moved out. Frankly I do not think the 2 really like each other. One likes to stay in the rock, and the other likes to make sure it stays in the rock.

wareagle35031 · Feb 21, 2009

My false percs are hosting a lta, and have been for sometime. It is an amazing thing to watch the symbolic relationship they have, and to see clownfish eggs under the anemone. Captive breed clowns will not always host, or host what they would in the wild, so I would get the anemone I wanted and hope for the best.

chefbone · Mar 2, 2009

I have 2 black and white misbar oca, only had my lta for a week and he hasn't found a spot he likes in the tank yet. Clowns have fluttered their tails at it but haven't gone into it yet.