still no bubbles?

[bandr1002]

not sure if you all remember the day i purchased this it was a while back (four months or so ago). i am not sure y, but i have a bubble tipped anemone that never has bubbles. the day i brought it home it was all bubbled up, and since then (no matter when i feed it) i have never seen it bubble up. but, i am quite certain that he his as happy as can be. i feed silvers and krill twice a week. you can't really tell from the photos, but it has easily trippled in size! thought i would share some pics.

day one......

day four.....

and about four months later...... (today)

 

[cbrownfish]

Very common "shape" for a captive RBTA and it looks good/healthy. Anemones rarely show bubble tips in captivity. My RBTA's will occasionally show some buble tips but not for any length of time.

 

[yvr]

I seem to recall hearing that bubble tip anemones don't show their characteristic bubble tips in an aquarium when they are exposed to intense lighting. I think I read something about it in Reef Aquarium Vol. 2.

 

[BigAl07]

Very true. It's not unusual for one to go "bubble-less" in a tank. A local reefer here in WNC has has luck with his "re-bubbling" by changing the bulbs in his T5 to a more intense (higher PAR) type of bulb and increasing the amount of Actinic bulbs in his set-up. I just learned this over the weekend.

 

[bandr1002]

Very true. It's not unusual for one to go "bubble-less" in a tank. A local reefer here in WNC has has luck with his "re-bubbling" by changing the bulbs in his T5 to a more intense (higher PAR) type of bulb and increasing the amount of Actinic bulbs in his set-up. I just learned this over the weekend.

do you have more detail about that persons lighting situation. how many bulb fixture, and what bulb configuration is he using?

 

[BigAl07]

do you have more detail about that persons lighting situation. how many bulb fixture, and what bulb configuration is he using?

Well as a matter of fact I do.. I just asked him about it over the weekend and he sent me a link (from our local forum) to where he had it documented.

He's running retro light units all on IceCap 660 ballasts with individual reflectors. His current bulb set-up is:

6-Bulb 48" Units all "over-driver" and fan cooled

UVL super Actinic
ATI aquablue special
UVL 75/25 (just like the ATI procolor)
UVL super Actinic
UVL 75/25 (just like the ATI procolor)
UVL super Actinic

Thanks to Chris (yankee) here in Western North Carolina. I gotta say that his coral and his whole tank in general are some of the nicest I've ever seen. Some of his SPS are growing crazy fast and he's a constant source of SPS frags for our LFS!

 

[bandr1002]

i wonder if using the icecaps are the reason he's doing so darn good. i have a tek fixture 6 at 54 watt. and i do not have overdriven ballasts. could you get pics that show how his is looking or no?

 

[BigAl07]

I'm sure "over-driven" has a lot to do with it. Consider he's going from (now realize this is INPUT not output but it should be comparable) from 54W to 80W. That's an increase of intake of 48.1%. Now keep in mind this also reduces bulb life but you know what they say.....

"You gotta pay the conductor if you're gonna ride the train!"


I'll see if I can round up one of his latest pics. I know I can find some older ones but not sure about under THESE bulbs.

A.

 

[BigAl07]

Correction . . .

Only the center 4 bulbs are overdriven. The 2 on the outside are driven by a cheapo ballast.

Here is his most recent FTS

and here is a very recent pic of his RBTA all "bubbled up".

All thanks and credit go to "Chris/yankee"

 

[bandr1002]

that is some amazing color! thanks for the pics. i am still working out the kinks on my light bulb configuration. trying to go with less blue, more of a 12K look. by next week i will be running from front to back (all UVL)

super actinic
actinic white
75/25
aquasun
actinic white
super actinic

 

[BigAl07]

Chris contributes his "Bulb Recovery" and one never losing the bulb to the "Blueness" of his light choice.

 

[BigAl07]

Here is his latest FTS

 

[jski711]

I'm gonna disagree on the blue bulb theory. I have a GBTA that has never had bubbles and im running 4 ati blue plus bulbs, 1 uvl 75/25 and 1 uvl 50/50. maybe the RBTA react differently but i have a very blue tank and no bulbs on mine. I also am not overdriving any bulbs.

 

[bandr1002]

yeah, i heard that you need more light to get em to bulb up. i would figure that more blue would not be as intense as the 10k light.

 

[BigAl07]

yeah, i heard that you need more light to get em to bulb up. i would figure that more blue would not be as intense as the 10k light.

You're not comparing apples to apples there. A good quality (high PAR) 420nm actinic bulb pumps a LOT of energy into the photosynthetic organisms in our tank. Some animals need the "BLUE" light because they come from deeper areas in the ocean which ONLY gets the blue spectrum.

 

[prison police]

I have one that doesnt bubble either. I noticed if its in good flow...it wont bubble. Low flow and it bubbles ....not alot but it does. Maybe check this and notice the flow in your tank. Good luck...PP

 

[bandr1002]

I have one that doesnt bubble either. I noticed if its in good flow...it wont bubble. Low flow and it bubbles ....not alot but it does. Maybe check this and notice the flow in your tank. Good luck...PP

so do you have before and after flow bubble pics? if so i would love to see em