What do we think is the true key to anemone success?
- Thread starter laezur
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I'd be happy for mine to split so that one would come around the front of the rockwork. The one in my main picture is beautiful, and you can see it somewhat through one of the arches - but its settled at the back and I barely see the bugger. Couple that with it hosting my clowns and I never see them either lol!It's like it knew I was talking smack... it split last night and now I have double trouble
It is a very curious phenomenon. I’ve noticed the same thing with my Magnifica and wondered why the tentacles seem to be long and stringy. I’ve thought maybe low nutrients might make it bubble more.
I’ve also thought that maybe it’s the flow pattern. A rocking back and forth/ or wave action flow might help with bubbling. One directional, intense flow may elongate the tentacles.
Wish I knew.
I’ve also thought that maybe it’s the flow pattern. A rocking back and forth/ or wave action flow might help with bubbling. One directional, intense flow may elongate the tentacles.
Wish I knew.
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If I could create a chemical that you squirt on a BTA to make it bubble, I'd be a rich man.
I think the reason why we don't know why BTAs have bubble tips and sometimes don't is because it's a combination of factors that cause it to occur.
If it's light related--more specifically that surface area is the cause--wouldn't longer tentacles actually have more surface area to provide zoox with energy?
If it's flow related, why do my BTAs in isolation containers and minimal flow have the same tentacle length as my other BTAs in the DT with lots of flow?
If it's chemical related, which chemical is causing it, and why? I suspect if it is chemical related, it's not the big three--Alk, CA, Mg--but a trace element or something that the anemone itself creates and expels (allelopathy). This doesn't explain why we see BTAs that are bubbled on only a portion of their oral disk though.
Could it be a predatory response? Longer tentacles allow the BTA to capture more prey. Does the BTA sense prey and therefore extend its tentacles in hopes of capturing a meal? If this is the case, then a system without any fish and invertebrates (in other words, no prey) will have BTAs with bubbled tips. And for most of our systems with fish and inverts, it could explain why most BTAs have long tentacles.
I'm sure the list could go on and on. It's a great discussion topic, but I don't think we can come to any definitive conclusions.
I think the reason why we don't know why BTAs have bubble tips and sometimes don't is because it's a combination of factors that cause it to occur.
If it's light related--more specifically that surface area is the cause--wouldn't longer tentacles actually have more surface area to provide zoox with energy?
If it's flow related, why do my BTAs in isolation containers and minimal flow have the same tentacle length as my other BTAs in the DT with lots of flow?
If it's chemical related, which chemical is causing it, and why? I suspect if it is chemical related, it's not the big three--Alk, CA, Mg--but a trace element or something that the anemone itself creates and expels (allelopathy). This doesn't explain why we see BTAs that are bubbled on only a portion of their oral disk though.
Could it be a predatory response? Longer tentacles allow the BTA to capture more prey. Does the BTA sense prey and therefore extend its tentacles in hopes of capturing a meal? If this is the case, then a system without any fish and invertebrates (in other words, no prey) will have BTAs with bubbled tips. And for most of our systems with fish and inverts, it could explain why most BTAs have long tentacles.
I'm sure the list could go on and on. It's a great discussion topic, but I don't think we can come to any definitive conclusions.
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This has been my experience as well
It does seem that non-bubbled BTA’s is a rare occurrence in the ocean. Most videos and pictures I’ve seen from divers show at least some level of bubbling. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Do you have a Reef Club in your area? I got my RTB, off of a fellow hobbyist. If I feed them Silversides, they are happiest, but keep splitting.
Not anymore. It went under about 5 years ago. People got out of the hobby.
I have a RBTA coming in today that I ordered from out of state. It was delayed in transit by a day so hopefully it'll come in okay. As long as it's Zooxanthellae isn't spilling out of it's mouth...had one of those come in from LiveAquaria a few years ago and they told me it was "fine" and to leave it in my tank. NOPE!
This was my thought process. The behavior has to be an adaptation or intentional one rather than something just random. I don't think it is some factor that we can grossly observe otherwise we would have figured that out by now. I also don't think, like you said, it's one of the easily/routinely testable chemicals. I really think it is something on a molecular level and highly suspicious of local oxygen concentrations in the water that is immediately surrounding the tissue of the anemone. There is some literature out there about anemone fish and E. quadricolor and how the anemone fish oxygenates the anemone at night by performing different maneuvers to improve flow over the tissue of the anemone and ultimately exchange of hypoxic water with more oxygenated water.
This could explain the variability of anecdotes with flow vs. no flow. Some say their bubble-tips stay bubbled in really high flow, some say they get stringy in high flow, some say half of their anemone will bubble and the other half won't. Local oxygen levels could differ with all of these variables. One half of the anemone could be getting really good circulation and plenty of gas exchange while the other half is not getting any. Maybe the bubbling directs flow to certain parts of the anemone's tissue. When we talk about high flow, I think this sometimes differs greatly among reefers. Two people might have the same rate of flow but see two different tentacle morphologies, which could be because the rate of flow is the same but the level of delivery of more oxygenated water is not the same.
Just more food for thought! It would be interesting if someone who had one with the bubble tip morphology could put it in a more anoxic environment and see if it changes morphology to a more stringy one.
I like that people are at least admitting that there is indeed something going on in the anemones environment causing it, rather than saying it’s just genetics and that some anemones just do it and some don’t.
It's pretty obvious it's not entirely genetics, though I'm sure genetics affects the likelihood of a specific strain bubbling. This is an animal that reproduces in our tanks by literally ripping itself in half. There's a good chance that most people with multiple anemones have genetically identical specimens, and despite being genetically identical some bubble and some don't.
Granted that kind of flies in the face of it being environment as well. Either the environmental factors are so subtle as to be unmeasurable or it really just comes down to the dang thing's mood.
I will quickly spit out some of my experiences so it might give insight into my thoughts:
I have had a few different specimens over the years, not including splits. They sometimes bubble and sometimes not.
Different tanks, different lighting, different flow, different feedings.
few hypothesis:
bubbling for more light absorbtion. although as someone mentioned, longer string tentacles may actually have more surface area for that.
longer tentacles to capture more food items. this in theory could be proved out easily by feeding large food items on a very regular basis.
what I have noticed, is that specimens that get disturbed/manhandled by me frequently usually stay bubbled for some time. for example, me harrassing specimens that are stinging corals. or specimens that I am trying to remove from rockwork. Or specimens that have been removed from rockwork. So there is definitely a bubbling response from the animal.
perhaps it is the type of contact, abrupt aggressive handling that generates a response. Not to say that this is the only way to get bubbling, as we all have seen at some point bubbling on its own with no human intervension. In nature and in captive environments.
Plus, a specimen hosting clowns isn't always bubbled due to their constant contact. Maybe the gentle touch of clowns doesn't invoke a response, or maybe something to do with the fishslime.
Unsolved mysteries!
I have had a few different specimens over the years, not including splits. They sometimes bubble and sometimes not.
Different tanks, different lighting, different flow, different feedings.
few hypothesis:
bubbling for more light absorbtion. although as someone mentioned, longer string tentacles may actually have more surface area for that.
longer tentacles to capture more food items. this in theory could be proved out easily by feeding large food items on a very regular basis.
what I have noticed, is that specimens that get disturbed/manhandled by me frequently usually stay bubbled for some time. for example, me harrassing specimens that are stinging corals. or specimens that I am trying to remove from rockwork. Or specimens that have been removed from rockwork. So there is definitely a bubbling response from the animal.
perhaps it is the type of contact, abrupt aggressive handling that generates a response. Not to say that this is the only way to get bubbling, as we all have seen at some point bubbling on its own with no human intervension. In nature and in captive environments.
Plus, a specimen hosting clowns isn't always bubbled due to their constant contact. Maybe the gentle touch of clowns doesn't invoke a response, or maybe something to do with the fishslime.
Unsolved mysteries!
The same for literally any coral. Bubble tip anemones are the easiest things to keep. I can throw an anemone into a brand new tank and boom its fine. Its not the anemone that is the issue, its the keeper.
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