What Makes it Bubble? Bubble OR Stringy Bubble Tip Anemone Tank RBTA Saltwater Coral Reef Aquarium

This video is about how to get your bubble tip anemone to have bubble bulb tip ends.

Disclaimers:
- There is no real evidence to support why anemones do and do not bubble. No one has said to have the definitive answer as to why bubble tip anemone bubble or not.
**I do not claim to know the exact reason either.
- What will be in this video is my experience and theory as to why they bubble in my tank.

With that said, I have had bubble tip anemones in multiple different tanks, and they have bubbled in every tank I put them in.

Side note - I have taken anemones from other tanks where they were stringy, and put them in my tank and their tentacles start to bubble up overnight.

4 examples of stringy to bubble:
- Rainbow RBTA
- Sunburst
- Green GBTA
- Sherman

Retailer and Hobbyist Suggestions:
- High Lighting Intensity
- Light Spectrum
- Feed
- Flow: Moderate to Strong
- Hosting Clownfish
- Temperature
- Water Quality
- Dosing / Stable Parameters

Light Intensity - I agree with the vast majority, that there is a better chance of having your bubble tip anemone bubble with higher light intensity, as low light intensity may cause bubble tip anemones to lengthen their tentacles to increase surface area in order to get more light.
**However, I do not believe high light will automatically create bubble tip ends.
- I have seen bubble tip anemones in high intensity metal halide lighting and not bubble up.
- This tank has moderate lighting, using 1 Aquaillumination AI Prime 16 HD and 2 LEDENET add on supplements, which create a par of 175 - 200 for the anemones at the top.
- As a reference to show that low light intensity doesn’t automatically mean stingy ends, there is a pic of a bubble tip anemone in my son’s low light tank that is bubbling.

Lighting Spectrum - I do think there is some relevance here.
- A properly balanced spectrum is key for health of all tank inhabitants, not just anemones.
**This does not mean you have to have white light in your tank to create a healthy tank.
- I run my SaltyPops program for the Aquaillumination AI Prime 16HD on this tank.
- My SaltyPops program follows the normal sequences of daylight, similar to an old bulb tank. Opens with morning Blue, then Daylight White, and ends with Evening Blue.
- The example of my son’s tank. This anemone is in low light, with 1 bar being white and 1 blue. This anemone sits directly under the white.

Hungry / Feeding - the theory is that long stringy tentacles are a sign that the anemone is hungry and needs to be feed.
- Some of the anemones you are seeing in this video have been in the system for a year and rarely have been feed.
- I feed every 2 - 6 weeks, I put a small amount of PE Mysis in the tank for the fish and intentionally let a few pieces fall on the anemones. The rest of the time the fish in the tank only get pellets, so there is not a lot of indirect feeding that occurs.
- In previous systems, I have intentionally feed PE Mysis or pieces of raw shrimp, but my experience is the hosting clownfish in many cases took the food away from the anemone.

Flow - Suggestion is Moderate to Strong Flow.
- I personally don’t see this as a huge factor. If the anemone didn’t like the flow it was in, it would move.
- I have had bubble tip anemones in moderate flow and low flow and have been successful in having them bubble in both conditions.
- Current tank being shown is a Fluval Flex 15 gallon with nothing more than the stock circulation pump that came with the system setup. No added Wavemaker or anything to increase flow.

Clownfish Hosting - I am not convinced that this is the key, as I have seen clownfish host stringy anemones.
- However, I have had hosting clownfish in all my bubble tip anemones and all mine bubble.
- My overall take on the effects of a hosting clown fish is that they aid a lot in the health of a bubble tip anemone due to the symbiotic relationship they have.

Temperature - People theorizes warmer tanks aid in bubble creation.
- I run my tanks warmer, 79 - 80 degrees.
- The tank in this video runs 80- 81 degrees.

Water Quality - This is important for all aquarium inhabitants.
- I run canister filter or AIO, no sumps or refugium ever, I don’t like the trickle noise.
**Side Note - sumps and refugiums are great and are seen as the best in the hobby.
- My filtration is maintained regularly and kept clean at all times.
- I run a heavy cleanup crew which also helps keep the tank clean.

Dosing - As part of a reef tank, I dose for what the other inhabitants of the Reeftank need.
- In this anemone tank, I dose for the anemones.
- My dosing in this tank:
- Kent’s Coral-Vite
- 1 x per week, 1/2 tsp
- Live Phytoplankton
- 2 x per week, 20ml each

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