Pruning Anemones
- Thread starter Taconic
- Start date
patriots81
New member
do not "prune" it. if you want to split it, you can ask coral hind for help.
Coral Hind
New member
No you can not successfully "prune" an anemone, but lateral division is absolutely possible.
Your best bet is to move the coral. If you do not have room then corals need to be thinned or the anemone moved to another tank.
Your best bet is to move the coral. If you do not have room then corals need to be thinned or the anemone moved to another tank.
I would not suggest the rubber band. In fact, it is possible to kill the anemone by cutting it in half. Whatever you do, do not put it back in the main tank after cutting it. It will release mucous and other stuff and can kill everything in your tank. You will have to put it in a different tank (20 gallon or so) with adequate lighting for a few days to a couple weeks.
Look on youtube for videos of it being done, they are there.
Look on youtube for videos of it being done, they are there.
Coral Hind
New member
No you can't snip off pieces or use rubberbands. I am not sure where NirvanaFan got his info but this is from my experience of cloning BTA, LTA, malu and crispa for the last seven years.
Propagating them is very easy and as long as the specimen is healthy, acclimated and well fed it almost always survives. A clean sharp scalpel and a complete radial cut from the mouth outwards ensuring you have an even portion of the actinopharynx on each part. Cut the animal entirely in half. You can cut them into 1/3's or 1/4's but there are more chances of infection as it takes longer for them to heal. So I keep it simple and do mainly 1/2's. Once cut simply rinse them in a bowl of tank water and return to the original tank they came out of.
The clowns are arguably a nuisance and a hinderance to
propagation efforts as they bother the anemones and prevent them from closing and healing faster.
Propagating them is very easy and as long as the specimen is healthy, acclimated and well fed it almost always survives. A clean sharp scalpel and a complete radial cut from the mouth outwards ensuring you have an even portion of the actinopharynx on each part. Cut the animal entirely in half. You can cut them into 1/3's or 1/4's but there are more chances of infection as it takes longer for them to heal. So I keep it simple and do mainly 1/2's. Once cut simply rinse them in a bowl of tank water and return to the original tank they came out of.
The clowns are arguably a nuisance and a hinderance to
propagation efforts as they bother the anemones and prevent them from closing and healing faster.
Coral Hind
New member
Maybe pics will help.
Before
After cutting
Both of them back in the tank.
Before
After cutting
Both of them back in the tank.
Coral Hind
New member
It was a sebae. I know the pictures were not the best but she took the good camera with her to the beach that day.
Where did I say anything different than you Coral Hind? Many people have nuked their tanks by cutting an anemone, then dumping it in their display.
Coral Hind
New member
It does not have to go into another tank for a couple of weeks as you mentioned. A simple rinse in a bucket or bowl is all it needs before placing it back where it came from. I cut on average ten at a time and I have never had any issues with that method.
patriots81
New member
so putting them back into the tank safe to do?
Coral Hind
New member
It sure is. Just setup a "snot bath" so after you cut them you can place them in a bowl or bucket if doing one or just a few, or a Rubbermaid tub if doing a lot. Plunk the newly cut "frags" into the bath and let them hang out for 30 minutes, then you put them back into the tank.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
Please stop promoting people to cut anemones in half. If you know what your doing thats great, but really shouldn't be attempted by everybody. Its amazing that if you mention putting 2 tangs in a 55 gallon tank, you get attacked. Teach people to cut nems in half and nothing.
People do have great success cutting anemones. I actually want to start to do it. I have read up EXTENSIVELY (probably close to a hundred hours). I have acquired an anemone to start with as well.
While it may work for you, putting them back into a reef is not a good idea. Ideally, anemones should be kept in species tanks with just other fish. Corals and other anemones aren't good for them. After the cut, Allelopathy will irritate the anemone more, they have more of a chance to wander, and if they host clowns, the clowns can irritate them more and cause them to die. While it may be possible to do this. I would not suggest it.
The OP also never stated what kind of anemone he has. What if he has a ritteri? Would you suggest he cut it then? There are certain species that I would not suggest manually trying to propagate (ritteri being one of them). Please don't blindly tell people to cut their anemones and tell them to put them back in their tank. Your first post said to rinse them in the water, which to me means shake them around a bit, then put them back in your tank.
While it may work for you, putting them back into a reef is not a good idea. Ideally, anemones should be kept in species tanks with just other fish. Corals and other anemones aren't good for them. After the cut, Allelopathy will irritate the anemone more, they have more of a chance to wander, and if they host clowns, the clowns can irritate them more and cause them to die. While it may be possible to do this. I would not suggest it.
The OP also never stated what kind of anemone he has. What if he has a ritteri? Would you suggest he cut it then? There are certain species that I would not suggest manually trying to propagate (ritteri being one of them). Please don't blindly tell people to cut their anemones and tell them to put them back in their tank. Your first post said to rinse them in the water, which to me means shake them around a bit, then put them back in your tank.
Coral Hind
New member
Your right, nothing should happen because as you said I am teaching them. Your odds of cutting a healthy BTA and it surviving are extremely better then the odds of putting two similar tangs together and them being peaceful with one another.
We as hobbiest need to wake up and educate ourselves and learn to sustain the hobby ourselves. If we don't we will only import more anemones and deplete the oceans. The bans on imported livestock gets tougher every year with countries limiting even what they are collecting and exporting. Seven years ago I only knew of three pleople cloning anemones. Daniel Knop, Anthony Calfo and Myself. At the time a RBTA was selling for almost 4x what they are now. Thanks to Calfo and others spreading the techniques of lateral dissection the amount of available aquacultured anemones has grown to the point were almost anyone is able to now afford a RBTA.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
there is a big difference between someone with experience and someone who has been in the hobby for 1 year doing this. Most people new to the hobby have a hard enough time keeping Anemones alive. I am all for captive cloning and breeding of marine life. People should be somewhat seasoned in the hobby to even attemp to have an anemone little lone clone one. Its pretty contradicting to claim to be doing the ocean a favor when your promoting the cloning of Nems by people with a year of experience.
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