RBTA keeps splitting

[Stickboy97]

So I'm earning the hard way, like so many others, that RBTAs love to split, move & kill SPS. I think it is their mission to make my tank a nem only tank!

I recently sold off 5 nems out of the 12 I had in my tank... and wouldn't you know it, 2 of the remaining split & I'm almost back to where I started!!!

Any input or advice? If I were to give them their own island of rocks, do you think they would stay put? I have some very colorful nems, one (or 5) is of a tri-color w/speckled color. I love it but man, its killing a lot in my tank!

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Placing them on a rock by itself, is always a 50/50, they may stay there until something change in your tank. The best thing is see where they like in your tank and try to get them to stay there by moving your other corals around them. In my 110g tank I pretty much made the right side the bta area and even then some will start to wonder off and I have to put it back in the area.

I guess try to figure out why your btas are splitting so much, I have about 10 btas and only had one split in over two years and it was due to a water change, I believe. Are all your parameters good and are they stable?

 

[Stickboy97]

I recently had an ALK spike (2 weeks ago) but it back to normal now. Would that stress them into splitting?

 

[avery155]

Do you feed them regularly? If you feed them they seem to split often, except mine which refuses to split.

 

[ca1ore]

That's what they mostly do. Borderline pest anemone IMO.

 

[Stickboy97]

I rarely feed them, they may catch some of the food I put in the water, but I almost never directly feed them.

 

[Anemone]

I recently had an ALK spike (2 weeks ago) but it back to normal now. Would that stress them into splitting?

It could. Any environmental parameter change could induce splitting (water change, temp spike, lighting change, water quality change).

I won't do RBTAs in my main tank anymore, despite my screen name - I had a 65 gallon mixed reef tank once upon a time. Several hundred splits later I had a RBTA species tank. Loved the tank and all, but wanted to be able to try different things.

Kevin

 

[rvareef]

id say anything that spikes could cause them to move

 

[ComforablyNumb]

I started with 2 .. ended with 13 in 2 years. I dont think its always stress that causes them to split. These things are almost like pests as the poster above noted. When mine splits, one half stays in the place, the other wanders. These things are extraordinarily tough .. you can drop one on the floor, leave it there for 30 minutes, put it back in the tank and it shakes it off like a hangover.

I cant even give them away as the local market has collapsed. So I was forced to cull 10 of them. Nice looking nems .. and practically bulletproof.

 

[paal]

Same here.
SPS tank and started with a single large BTA about 14 months ago.
I've given away a few, but no one wants any more. I flushed 10-12 last weekend. I only kept 2.

They are beautiful but they simply multiply too fast and can be a pain to remove.

Thinking of getting rid of the last two as well; replacing them a different, more predictable anemone. (suggestions?)