Green Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)

The Green Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) is the green color form of the hobby's most dependable host anemone. Its tentacles range from olive to bright green, often with a fluorescent glow under blue actinic lighting, and the tips swell into the rounded bulbs bubble tips are known for. It is the most common and most affordable way to give a clownfish pair a home of its own, and it is hardier than most anemones once settled in a stable reef. Browse the rest of our corals, anemones, and clams and our saltwater livestock and supplies.

Each anemone is an individual. The exact shade and how much it glows depend on the animal and your lighting, so expect some variation from the photo.

Care Guide

• Established tank only: six months or more of stable salinity, temperature, and alkalinity. A new tank is the most common reason anemones fail.
• Tank size: 30 gallons or larger, with space for it to grow up to a foot across without touching your corals.
• Lighting: moderate to high reef lighting. Its symbiotic zooxanthellae turn light into food, and too little light shows up as a pale, shrinking anemone.
• Flow: moderate and varied, enough to sway the tentacles without blasting them.
• Placement: offer rockwork with crevices and let it choose. It anchors its foot deep in a hole and may wander before it settles.
• Feeding: target feed small meaty foods like mysis or chopped shrimp once or twice a week. Small pieces, not whole silversides, and remove anything it spits out.
• Safety: guard every pump, powerhead, and overflow intake before adding it.
• Water: 76 to 80°F, salinity 1.024 to 1.026, pH 8.1 to 8.4, zero copper. Drip acclimate slowly.

Specifications

Compatibility

Pair it with clownfish and let them find each other. The Maroon Goldstripe Clownfish is a textbook bubble tip host, and captive-bred Ocellaris Clownfish and True Percula Clownfish frequently adopt one as well. Hosting is common but never guaranteed.

Keep open space between it and your corals, because it stings what it touches and may walk into them while it settles. Skip butterflyfish, large angelfish, and puffers, which pick at anemones, and avoid mixing different anemone species in a small system. Want a bigger statement bubble tip? Look at the Snowflake Bulb Anemone. Want one that stays put? The Rock Flower Anemone is the calmer choice.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• Hikari Bio-Pure Frozen Mysis Shrimp, a simple weekly target feed
• SFBB Freeze Dried Mysis Shrimp, rehydrate before feeding
• Niche3D Urchin Pump Guard for VorTech MP10, if you run an MP10, to keep the anemone out of the pump
• Red Sea Coral Pro Salt for stable reef water changes
• Saltwater Refractometer to keep salinity locked in

FAQ

Is a green bubble tip a good first anemone?
It is the one we would pick, as long as the tank is truly established. Bubble tips are hardier than carpet or long tentacle anemones, and green is one of the sturdiest color forms.

Will clownfish host in it?
Usually. Maroon and clarkii clowns take to it fast, and captive-bred ocellaris and percula often do too. Some clowns take weeks, and a few never host.

Why is it glowing under blue light?
Many green bubble tips carry fluorescent proteins that light up under actinic LEDs. It is natural and a sign of good color, not a dye.

It keeps moving. Is something wrong?
A few days of wandering after it goes in is normal. Constant walking usually means it does not like its light or flow, or your water is unstable, so test and adjust.

How often should I feed it?
Once or twice a week with small meaty pieces is plenty. Light does most of the work, and overfeeding just fouls the water.