bubble tip anemones and coloration

[CoralShop]

I have seen so many variations of seemingly similar anemones and was wondering if this could be caused by the light. Obviously i'm aware of the countless different types and variations but my question is, how does different light affect the color of an anemone?
Is it the same as any other coral, or does it maintain the same color but just appear to look different under different lighting?

 

[glxtrix]

Light does play a role, but water quality will really make your nems colors shine. Though, same goes for all corals too.

 

[markl]

glxtrix;590520 wrote: light does play a role, but water quality will really make your nems colors shine. Though, same goes for all corals too.

+ 1

 

[jamescook]

also flow can really change a nem. It's all the environmental factors really. Mine are always splitting and look different in each tank.
this is a piece of the same nem. first shot is in an 24g aquapod with stock pc lighting and moderate flow.
second is in the DT with all kinds of light and lots of flow.
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[acroholic]

Corals will not necessarily die if they bleach. They can, and do, recover in many cases.

 

[enderg60]

I recently got a RBTA and left it in my frag tank for a bit under a old pulsrite bulb and low flow. It lost all its bubbles, not really a big deal to me but it did.

As soon as I put it in the display under brighter lights and more flow, it bubbled right up!

 

[CoralShop]

jamescook;590678 wrote: also flow can really change a nem. It's all the environmental factors really. Mine are always splitting and look different in each tank.
this is a piece of the same nem. first shot is in an 24g aquapod with stock pc lighting and moderate flow.
second is in the DT with all kinds of light and lots of flow.

Thanks for the pictures!
I appreciate the info everyone.

Yeah i've had a coral bleach entirely and then extend polyps a few days later...

 

[jaredloo]

The bubbles are funny. I'm not sure why in some tanks the tentacles get long, and in others they are bubbly. They are supposed to be bubbles. I suspected lighting at one point, because I had one under PC's and it was long. Then I moved it under 250 HQI's and they were bubbles. Well. That same anemone split. I gave the 2nd to my father in law who runs 400W MH's. What do you know, they went long again.

It's funny. I think just make sure your tank is healthy, and I would suggest MH's for Bubble tips.

 

[acroholic]

I have two RBTAs in the same tank, about 2 inches rom each other, under a 250 watt Radium. One is long tentacled and one is bubbled....go figure? Pretty much the same conditions.

How about size correlating to whether they bubble or not? I usually see larger RBTAs go long tentacled, but the smaller ones usually bubble.

 

[jennm]

I've kept BTA in a tank we maintain for just over 10 years now. Tips are long. In November 2000 it was one small brown BTA, and over the last 10 years we've removed 7 clones, and left 2 in the tank. For 8 of those 10 years they were under 2 x 65W PC. In 2008 we upgraded to 4 x 25W T5HO.

These things are HUGE, they take up a lot of real estate in the 54g CT they occupy.

Here's a picture we took in 2008 right after we upgraded the tank (changed the tank completely for a new one) and added T5HO.
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[jaredloo]

Bubbles have got to be related to lighting. Notice in the pic above the side that is close to the light has bubble tips.

 

[jennm]

I can counter that theory I have 2 unrelated BTA in the same tank at the shop. They are under normal output T5s. One is bubbled, the other is not.

I also have a rather large RBTA in a 12-g on the counter. It has easily quadrupled in size since we switched to LED lighting in its tank, its tentacles are long. Its colour is much deeper than it used to be too. I wish the darned thing would split, it's outgrowing its living quarters.

In the attached pic (bad cell phone pic, sorry)... the one on the right is bubbled. It was brought in about a month ago, pale, it had shrunk significantly since I sold it originally (not fed maybe?) We started feeding it heavily to help it regain its size/colour - it split shortly after that. Even though it's small it's still twice the size it was when it was brought in and its colour is slowly returning.

The one on the left was part of a shipment we received in August. It was smaller than it is now, and very bubbled when it arrived. It does have a few bubbles now, but mostly the tentacles are long.

I'm sure there are variables that determine whether it bubbles or not, but I'm just not sure what they might be.

Jenn
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[ichthyoid]

I bought a GBTA from Jenn and she had it under 'regular output' T-5's, if I remember correctly. I now have it under a combination of 32 watt PC and a 12 watt Panorama LED. It has since begun turning darker, which I hope is a good thing. It still has bubbles, and is now a golden brownish-green. Very interesting color, to me. Seems to be happy, and does not move around at all from where I originally put it.

FWIW- the baby percula clowns I bought from Shrimpy Brains (Amy) have totally ignored the Bubble Tip (as well as the hammer and frogspawn too). Maybe they will take an interest when they get a little bigger. Right now, all they want to do is EAT!

 

[CoralShop]

I've herd that long vs. short tentacles is related to how often the fish is fed, (if its hungry they get long to try and catch food)
What do yall think about that theory?

 

[jennm]

The ones here at the shop we feed regularly - substantial meaty foods (krill, silversides etc.) The ones in the customer's tank are never target fed... the clowns feed them bits of mostly flakes (yep, they just don't like using frozen foods..) No difference there either in my observation.

Jenn

 

[CoralShop]

Ahh good to know. I have a 6x T5/LED fixture. Surely thats enough light!

 

[jeffmuse]

Good posts, I really wish I knew why they bubbled. I have 3 bta's in my system and all of them have the long tentacles. One of the bta's I got from a buddy and it was always of the long tentacle variety, but the other two had always been bubbled until I got them... after a week or two they had the long tentacles.

I run a 250 watt metal halide, have good flow, and great parameters. I really think that if you keep the bubble tips under higher light they tend to be less bubbled. Just my theory.

 

[bruce 1]

I just bought a 14 gal biocube (used) Can you keep a GBTA under the PC lights?

 

[ichthyoid]

JeffMuse;591749 wrote: Good posts, I really wish I knew why they bubbled. I have 3 bta's in my system and all of them have the long tentacles. One of the bta's I got from a buddy and it was always of the long tentacle variety, but the other two had always been bubbled until I got them... after a week or two they had the long tentacles.

I run a 250 watt metal halide, have good flow, and great parameters. I really think that if you keep the bubble tips under higher light they tend to be less bubbled. Just my theory.

Jenn's RBTA is under less light than my GBTA (less than 1/2). Mine has bubbles, and hers does not.