Best way to get RBTA to split?

[AdamNC]

I've had my RBTA for about 4-5 months now and has grown about another good 1-2inches since getting it but no attempt on it splitting. I bought it at about 3-4 inches and is easily at the 6 inch mark, possibly a little more. Besides taking a knife to it is there a way to get it to split without damaging it? My Maroon Clown abuses it enough heh.

 

[Azedenkae]

Nope. Well I am sure there are chemicals that can induce splitting, but no idea what.

Stabbing it is the best way. As in you don't cut it in half. Just stab in multiple places. Dropping a rock on it should work too.

 

[footyreefer]

Nope. Well I am sure there are chemicals that can induce splitting, but no idea what.

Stabbing it is the best way. As in you don't cut it in half. Just stab in multiple places. Dropping a rock on it should work too.

Hope you are kidding...

 

[Azedenkae]

Hope you are kidding...

He asked for the best way to induce splitting. That is the best way. Whether or not it should be done is a different matter.

 

[footyreefer]

He asked for the best way to induce splitting. That is the best way. Whether or not it should be done is a different matter.

"Stabbing" an anemone should not even be considered. Let alone dropping a rock on one. What people are starting to do to these animals to make a quick buck is completely inhumane. I understand you don't do this to your anemones but bringing it up is just as bad as actually doing it, because there will be people who read about it and try it themselves, harming the anemone more than its worth. Sorry for the rant but wanted to get the point across that doing those things are NOT ok.

 

[Azedenkae]

"Stabbing" an anemone should not even be considered. Let alone dropping a rock on one. What people are starting to do to these animals to make a quick buck is completely inhumane. I understand you don't do this to your anemones but bringing it up is just as bad as actually doing it, because there will be people who read about it and try it themselves, harming the anemone more than its worth. Sorry for the rant but wanted to get the point across that doing those things are NOT ok.

Sometimes it is for other reasons. It could be that the anemone is growing larger than the tank can comfortably hold, or whatever. The OP didn't say but either way I don't judge.

We (hobbyists in general) regularly kill our aquarium inhabitants purposefully for whatever reason, and since it has gotten to that point a long time ago, I don't judge anymore.

To each their own.

 

[AdamNC]

It's in a 29 gallon like in my sig. I was just curious because I read a lot where peoples split for one reason or another and was wondering why mine might not be splitting or if it's just happy being one with his clown.

In case it wasn't obvious, it's pictured in my avatar with a 2 in Maroon Clown.

<------------

 

[Azedenkae]

Ah, cool. Yeah it probably is just happy as is. In a way, it is better to be large either, so that it can withstand the smothering of the Clown. I saw a lot of threads where people said they got small anemones and those anemones get smothered to death. If you don't really care either way, then leaving it as is is probably better.

 

[AdamNC]

Yea something about a 5 in clown and a 3 in anemone just doesn't make much sense. I made sure to get the comparisons correct. At the size the anemone is at it could comfortably host 2 clowns the size of mine.

 

[jwoyshnar]

If it's large enough and ready (which from your description yours isn't yet) use a completely different type of salt and do a large water change

 

[ThRoewer]

"Stabbing" an anemone should not even be considered. Let alone dropping a rock on one. What people are starting to do to these animals to make a quick buck is completely inhumane. I understand you don't do this to your anemones but bringing it up is just as bad as actually doing it, because there will be people who read about it and try it themselves, harming the anemone more than its worth. Sorry for the rant but wanted to get the point across that doing those things are NOT ok.

There are actually some YouTube videos that show guys cutting their anemones in half to make a quick buck.
I'm actually concerned that many of the mini RBTA you see in stores are the result of such practices.
I remember the times when BTAs in stores were cheap and large. $40 bought you a 5 to 6'' specimen.

 

[Azedenkae]

There are actually some YouTube videos that show guys cutting their anemones in half to make a quick buck.
I'm actually concerned that many of the mini RBTA you see in stores are the result of such practices.
I remember the times when BTAs in stores were cheap and large. $40 bought you a 5 to 6'' specimen.

Although just to note, since we're on that topic, sometimes it is unintentional lol. XD

Working at a LFS, sometimes there are so many nems in a tank that one would crawl into a powerhead without us knowing. We had a RBTA that did that and then we had four to sell. >_>

 

[footyreefer]

There are actually some YouTube videos that show guys cutting their anemones in half to make a quick buck.
I'm actually concerned that many of the mini RBTA you see in stores are the result of such practices.
I remember the times when BTAs in stores were cheap and large. $40 bought you a 5 to 6'' specimen.

BRS has a video on cutting the anemone. While it may work I see more wrong than good..

 

[FraggledRock]

Nope. Well I am sure there are chemicals that can induce splitting, but no idea what.

Stabbing it is the best way. As in you don't cut it in half. Just stab in multiple places. Dropping a rock on it should work too.

:hammer: :lolspin: :idea: :fun2: :debi::mtool:

how about putting it in a blender, thats much faster!

 

[jayball]

For those that are opposed to cutting BTA's, are you also opposed to fragging your coral?

They are known for tearing themselves in half, and much like coral they have no CNS.

 

[FraggledRock]

For those that are opposed to cutting BTA's, are you also opposed to fragging your coral?

They are known for tearing themselves in half, and much like coral they have no CNS.

putting a rock on an anenome may potentially kill it.

"stabbing" it in the wrong place will KILL it.

stabbing it multiple times may stress it to death..

fragging a coral is not "Just stab in multiple places"

 

[D-Nak]

Some BTAs don't split, period. You may have one that never splits. Did you receive a known clone? If so, the odds of it splitting on its own are high.

Many agree that stressing the nem causes it to split -- to what extent you're willing to go is up to you. The least stress would be something like a water change as mentioned, while the most stressful is stabbing it or dropping a rock on it as also previously mentioned. However, if you plan to do that, you're better off cutting it in half with a sharp razor blade. Clean cuts heal quicker than one caused by a rock or other relatively blunt object.

If you do decide to force propagate, are you able to keep the two halves away from the clown while they heal? These new, smaller nems need to withstand the abuse of the maroon clown.

 

[Tsancho82]

I agree with jwoyshnar. Hold out on a water change or two and do a large water change (50% or more) with a new salt. I've seen this work on multiple occasions. It's not guaranteed but it does some times work.

 

[ThRoewer]

For those that are opposed to cutting BTA's, are you also opposed to fragging your coral?

They are known for tearing themselves in half, and much like coral they have no CNS.

I don't think cutting an anemone in half to make two is in general something to object against. It is for sure better than taking them from the reef.
Keep in mind that for every anemone that is taken from the reef you also loose a pair of clownfish in the wild.

But with cutting anemone you cut a single poly in half and you always risk infection and loss. And so far - to my knowledge - it is only done (successfully) with Entacmaea quadricolor (BTA) which are the lesser threatened species in the wild.
I don't know if this propagation method could also work for the other important host anemones Heteractis crispa (12 clownfish species), H. magnifica (12), Stichodactyla mertensii (12), S. gigantean (7) and S. haddoni (6). I myself would be very hesitant to cut one of those in half. With those I would rather try to artificially induce spawning.
But for sustainability we need to find a way to propagate these in captivity too.

Fragging a coral is a bit of a different thing as you don't cut a single polyp in half but separate a polyp cluster.

In any way I think fragging is in general a good thing as it allows to easily propagate corals in captivity and therefore limits the need for harvesting corals from the reefs.
And it is hard if not impossible to match the light and current flow for a large wild coral to what it had adapted to on the reef. But the fragments can much easier adapt to a new location and grow accordingly.
I tried to keep corals in the 90s but it was always hit and miss. I only got a few to survive and grow. But now I have so far not lost a single fragment and all are growing.

 

[AdamNC]

Did you receive a known clone?

As far as I know it is not a clone. It came to my lfs (who deals in about 99% saltwater) in good health and fully circular.