What makes BTA's "bubble"? Food for thought

[TX_REEF]

For one of the first times ever (that I've seen), I'm offering a potential explanation rather than asking this question!

I have a few BTAs between my frag tank and display tank, all progeny of the same parent nem. Both tanks have the nems hosting clowns, lighting is the same (kessil AP9X), flow is similar, and water chemistry is similar; with one meaningful exception! My frag tank N to P ratio is ~100:1 whereas my display is ~70:1.

The frag tank nems are displaying the iconic bubbling tentacles, whereas the display nems are more classic, "vanilla" elongated tentacles. Just thought this was interesting as I've been playing with my N and P levels a bit lately!

Frag
DkH: 8.3
P: 0.24
N: 25

Display
DkH: 7.9
P: 0.28
N: 20

 

[exnisstech]

Good luck figuring this out with positive reason why some do and some don't. I don't think anyone has ever had more than a theory and I've never seen proof of a certain condition that will always cause them to bubble. At one point I thought it was lighting, then I thought flow. I finally came to the conclusion that nems will do what they want when they want.
When I kept them I had them in the same tank sitting next to one another under the same light and flow and some would bubble and some would not. I gave up trying to figure it out.
All clones and it wasn't always the same ones that bubbled. I don't do ratios but this tank ran NO3 20-30 and PO4 0.3 - 0.5

 

[Miami Reef]

I doubt decreasing PO4 by 0.08 ppm will make it turn bubbly, but it can’t hurt to try.

I think there are a lot of unexplained factors. The one in the frag tank is fully exposed, while the one in the display is a bit sunken in. The one with bubbles is attached to the glass as well.

 

[Miami Reef]

All clones and it wasn't always the same ones that bubbled. I don't do ratios but this tank ran NO3 20-30 and PO4 0.3 - 0.5

Very interesting how clones in the same tank conditions exhibit different characteristics. Very cool!

 

[TX_REEF]

I doubt decreasing PO4 by 0.08 ppm will make it turn bubbly, but it can’t hurt to try.

I think there are a lot of unexplained factors. The one in the frag tank is fully exposed, while the one in the display is a bit sunken in. The one with bubbles is attached to the glass as well.

so in the display, one is a bit hidden under a rock, and the other one is literally directly at the top of the rockwork directly under the lights. In the frag tank, the nems are bunched together in a corner as far as possible from the light, with one attached to the rock, one attached to the floor, and one attached to the front panel. it does look like one big nem when they're together like that. nems are weird!

 

[TX_REEF]

Good luck figuring this out with positive reason why some do and some don't. I don't think anyone has ever had more than a theory and I've never seen proof of a certain condition that will always cause them to bubble. At one point I thought it was lighting, then I thought flow. I finally came to the conclusion that nems will do what they want when they want.
When I kept them I had them in the same tank sitting next to one another under the same light and flow and some would bubble and some would not. I gave up trying to figure it out.
All clones and it wasn't always the same ones that bubbled. I don't do ratios but this tank ran NO3 20-30 and PO4 0.3 - 0.5

your yellow tang is giving off big time" hey look at me" energy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that its hard to come up with an explanation that explains all observations.

I had a BTA years ago that was bubbled in areas of direct mh light, and not bubbled in those shaded places on the same BTA in the same water.