Bulb / Bubble Anemones are pretty much the ideal choice for
the aquarist who would like to observe one of aquaria's
most fascinating symbiotic relationships. This Anemone in
particular is widely known for its propensity for easily
hosting a wide variety of clownfish (and some damsels). Its
ability to host many different species of anemonefishes
offers the aquarist a huge variety of choices in
establishing this interesting symbiotic partnership. There
is no shortage of compatibility charts online, but in our
experience, nearly any readily available anemonefish that
wants a host is likely to take up refuge in a Bubbletip.
Bubble Anemones come in a huge variety of color morphs and
sizes from brown and green and one inch across, to
brilliant flame yellow, orange and iridescent pink and more
that a foot across. This is what makes the “Watermelon”
variant of this species so unique, in that their coloration
is generally green with extraordinary rose tips, and some
will have even wilder orange and yellow tips. Rose bulbs in
generally come from a variety of different tropical
locations ranging from the west central Pacific to the Red
Sea, though we've found this color form has a more
localized distribution. From its initial classification in
1828, it has been recombined with synonymous species more
than 60 times
There is a reason we call this species “Ideal.” It is
almost certainly the most hardy and adaptable of all the
commonly available host anemones. While there are a few
anemones that may be more aquarium hardy, these species are
usually not hosts, and some even fall into the category of
pests (think aiptasia)! Bubble nems do extremely well in
captivity, as everything that makes them happy is well
within the ability of the vast majority of most aquarists.
The primary keys to keeping them successfully are gentle
random flow, regular meals and good, consistent water
quality. Water quality demands are inline with all the
other tropical reef animals that are commonly kept.
Temperature should be around 78 and not fluctuate too much,
specific gravity from 1.023 to 1.028, with a low nutrient
loads.
