Ever watched a BTA split longitudinally?

monicaswizzle

Premium Member
OK--This doesn't seem believable. I just got this 6 inch BTA today (via FedEx) and I swear it is doing a longitudinal split into two roughly equal parts. Read my post on "is this normal" for a description on what it is doing, but succinctly, it is gyrating like a wild thing and more and more it really looks like it is developing two "feet" and starting to split the oral disc.

Has anyone ever watched this? What does it look like? (Lots of rolling around and free floating alternated with anchoring and standing on "side"????) How long does it take?

No way am I going to bed until I have some idea what is really happening!

If it is a split, I realize that it may not be a good thing, it could be a stress response, but all of the tissue looks so damn healthy--it just seems to be slowly pulling apart.

?????
 
OK, now I "know" it is true. There is a huge "rip" in the oral disc that WAS NOT there when I first saw this BTA. The tissue along the edge is "sealed" and has tiny little tentecles there that look new as oppossed to mostly deflated. And the pedal disc is looking more and more like two orange sections laying next to each other with the long axis in common.

I wish I had a camera!
 
The one detailed description I have of BTA splitting says they split across the mouth first and then finally split through the foot. This one (if it is splitting) is going the other way. The mouth is still one piece (it has these bright white lines coming off of it, but they were there when I got it and maybe "normal"). The foot is pretty clearly becoming two feet and now the outer edges of the oral disc are spliting in towards the middle.

Totally cool!
 
Do you suppose I could have 500 responses to my post and they all be me? Where is everyone? Get out of bed you lazy reefers and read my post!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to flame you all, but I sure wish someone that has seen this was up and telling me if I am crazy or what.
 
Let it do what it does best...too little is known about how they split to tell you if there's a problem with it happening this way.
 
Three hours later

Three hours later

Well, I am glad someone was awake and "finally" looked at these posts. I decided that I was driving myself nuts by looking at the BTA non-stop and constantly trying to figure out if it "really is splitting". These animals are so amazingly "plastic" in their ability to modify shape. One minute I would be convinced that the "rip" was unmistakable and at least 2 inches long and the next minute I would be saying "could it possibly just have inflated and deflated in a really odd way"? Without anyone to talk to and no idea how long this may take, I decided to go to bed and see if a few hours of sleep would allow things to progress to "unmistakable".

So, it is now about three hours later. And? Well, I still am not sure, but it seems more than ever like I am going to have two BTA. The foot is starting to act like two feet--sitting on two different rocks and "pulling" in opposite directions. The "rip" in the oral disc is about 1 1/2 inches in length, but it still "goes away" every now and then when the BTA inflates and deflates and flexes in just a certain way and suddenly what was clear as day is "where did it go"? But, mostly it looks clearly like it is splitting all the time (90%) now and when I went to bed it was clearly splitting about 10% of the time and the rest I was scratching my head and wondering if I could have imagined it.

I'll keep anyone who happens to wake up and read this posted once it sorts out some more.

PS--I turned the MH light on. The BTA promptly turned itself uside down on the rock rubble that it is still creeping around in. Now it has gone back (upright) to the corner that is mostly sand with some rubble, which also happens to be slightly shaded by a powerhead. It is sitting (upright) on a piece of rock and looking for all the world like the most healthy and beautiful BTA that just happens to have two feet and an inch-plus rip on one side of the oral disc.
 
A Rant and an "Update"

A Rant and an "Update"

RANT:

OK Folks, I have never been so disappointed in a group of people that I thought of as "friends" (or virtually friends) in my life! Sigh! No one (hardly) is even reading my posts, much less responding to them. Usually I, or worse yet, one of YOU, post some inane question in the middle of the night like "Are you sure I can't keep clams without electricity? We get pretty good sunlight here at the north pole for half the year." And before I can even finish reading the post (dial up) 40 people have responded and patiently (or not) explained that success is unlikely but they would love to hear how it turns out. Now I am posting about a "major" biological event and no one is even reading the posts.

To "cool my jets" I have made it a rule that I can only check for responses once an hour. To pass the time I am doing dishes and other housework in the meantime. For the first time ever my wife will probably feel like the SW tank is actually contributing to my productivity at home as opposed to being the reason why I never "pull my own weight". But after that hour of dishpan hands, by gum, I expect you guys to have gotten out of bed, read the damn post and said something, anything at all, in response. Here are some samples for those too hung over to be original--"Way cool", "Liar!", "This happened to me once--everything in your tank is going to die and you will be the only person to have made this inexcusable mistake". You know the drill, say something, don't let it bother you if you know nothing about the topic at hand or didn't bother to read what I actually posted--that never seemed to be a problem in the past.

END of RANT (for now). UPDATE:

Since I turned on the MH (about an hour ago), the BTA has "retreated" to the darkest corner of the tank and is "resting". It is still looking healthy and somewhat inflated, but it is too "scrunched" up for me to get a good look at the division, if one is really happening. Maybe this is part of the process? Maybe it is in cahoots with all you reefers and trying to drive me over the edge (oops, no more rant)? I don't know. Maybe someday someone who does, or thinks they might, will read these posts and favor me with a response.

In the meantime, it has been a while since I scrubbed the floor . . .

Love you all (really!), please don't petition the moderators to remove my posts from the forum. You know that you aren't reading them anyway, how can they hurt you?

Talk to myself again at 9. What with dial up and my tendency to ramble, that will be about two minutes after this is added to the thread. :rollface: :mad2: :rollface: :mad2:
 
If there were pictures, there would be responses ... verbal descriptions of anemone behavior is hard to follow .... good luck with the nem!!!!
 
Sorry for not replying sooner, but I actually believe in sleep.

1. Have no clue of what is going on because I am a visual person and prefer to see what is happening rather than read a narrative that may or may not cover all the information necessary to assess a situation.

2. I did not realize that simply because someone posts to a thread that everyone who logs into RC is required to not only read it, but also post a response.

3. There is no one absolute splitting method. If you look through the gallery (and a couple of the threads that have posted in the last few days), you will see plenty of pics where the foot begins the process of pulling the BTA apart - not necessarily preceded by a splitting mouth.

Good luck and hope the BTA stays healthy!
 
The Gallery--good idea. Thanks! I don't go there much because:

1) I am not a visual person (at least not exclusively or probably even primarily)

2) I don't have a camera, so I can't "participate" there

And, the biggie, I have dial up so it is so painfully slow.

But, you are right that looking at pictures of the process will likely give me a much better idea if that is what is going on or not.

Sorry if my excitement impinged upon your nap, at least I didn't call on the phone.
 
Thank you Victor! That Melv is incrediable, eh?

The pictures were very helpful and his descriptions and timelines even more so. It has increased my confidence that my BTA is at least "thinking" of splitting. (Melv seems to imply that they can reverse course mid-split, which might help explain why what is crystal clear one minute is not so clear the next re my BTA). The main thing that I still wonder is if the VERY high level of active movement is part of the split process or is a compounding issue due to just arriving in my tank, something being "wrong" or not ideal for the BTA, etc. My BTA literally behaved as if it "couldn't sit still" for hours last night, but has settled down a fair amount since the MH lights came on.

Thanks again! There is so much great info "out there" if we just know where to find it.
 
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