Anemones Milking

[ade]

I thought that I would ask you all, I have a 120 with around 8-10 bta and 1 tube and 1green haddens carpet. They have been living happy for around 18 months. I came home form work the other day to the tank looking cloudy. At closer inspection a milky liquid was coming out of one of the larger bta. I didnt think much about it but the next day the tank still looked milky and I saw two of the bta were what I call milking. The skimmer went crazy so I turned it off and hoped that all would be well the next day.
Thankfully everthing was none the worse. So here I am looking for answers.
Were they spawning?
Or were they just having a bad day.
Sorry no pics.
Ade

 

[TOURKID]

My guess would def me spawning. Two males id assume

 

[tpdpercula]

Sounds like spawning, hopefully there is a female somewhere in there. Good luck.

 

[ade]

Well not sure if there is m/f in the bunch. I have two different bta in the tank the larger of the bunch all came from the same anemones via splitting. Has anybody experienced this before?

 

[SVXH6]

i would do a waterchange. two spawning and plus turning off the skimmer. i would do one as soon as you can.

 

[ade]

So do you know for sure that it was a spawning?

 

[55semireef]

Because it was releasing sperm through its mouth.

 

[ade]

The only reason why I ask is all my anemones have come from two via splitting. I have never seen this happen before, thus why I ask the ? I have seen my clams and corals do the same thing and after reading found that is what thay do. I have never seen or read anything about anemones spawning.
Has anybody had or seen this happen to an anemone?

 

[55semireef]

Yes, its not unheard of.

 

[raoul]

That's how some people know whether they have a male or female nem. It is not uncommon in bta's, and I've even seen posts about it with other anemone, crispa I think.

Bta's have the ability to clone or reproduce sexually. If I understand correctly, you've got two genetic lines in there. One appears to be male (spawning/sperm) and if you're lucky, the other is female - you could get little baby bta's

Good luck!

 

[GSMguy]

you should let the skimmer go nuts you need to get the Sperm out of the water

 

[ade]

I only turned the skimmer off for the night and ran it wet the next day and ran carbon. I guess that they are happy, they have a pair of TR Clarkies which lay every 2 weeks. It's funny the female will jump from one anemone to the next but the male stays in the original.
I love it.
How long would it tank to spawn new bta's if there is a female in the bunch?