Speeding up slow H. magnifica

[Steve Atkins]

I have had a H. magnifica for about 4 years and it arrived already early in the process of splitting (two mouths). Since then it has grown considerably but has still not completely finished its split (now two feet, two disks, joined on section of column).

Until recently I have not bothered feeding it but its clowns have occasionally done so. It has been suggested to me that feeding it will hasten the split. Is this likely? I have already started feeding it but do not want to use surgery.

Another odd thing I have discovered about this anemone is that it seems to like being massaged. A couple of times recently I have run my fingers around its column to check the extent of the join (which can't be seen from outside the tank) and instead of shrinking up like I would have expected it stiffened a little then sort of just sat there lolling in the sensation, a bit like a person getting a back rub. Once, when I noticed it in the process of moving and partly detached, I gently detached it completely and held it in my hand (still under water) while checking the progress of the split. The clowns were pretty upset but the anemone didn’t seem bothered at all and again, just seemed to lie there enjoying the sensation.

Steve

 

[h2joe]

wow that would be amazing if you could post pics please...i have no experience with this so im not sure if increased feeding will help but i would assume it would...but in any case you should post pics

Mark

 

[spshead01]

I would try feeding it regularly. I think that clowns feeding there host anemone is a myth. I have a my H. mag for almost six years and Its hosted three different pairs of clowns since I got it and I've never seen any of them feed it, but I have seen them stealing food from it. I know that alot of people have had success surgically splitting Rbta's but I havent heard of anyone doing this with a H. magnifica.

 

[Steve Atkins]

I don’t have any pictures of the division. I took some pictures of it back in 2005/6 but they don’t really show anything but tentacles, column and clowns. I’ll try to get some next weekend. The anemone is in a tank in an office and I will have to get up above the tank to get a shot showing the two mouths.

The anemone had actually been in the tank for a couple of years before I worked out what it was. I had just ordered an anemone and a couple of clowns for a big office tank I had set up and it was only when a visiting friend pointed out it was a hard to keep anemone that I took the time to research it. Now I want it to finish it’s split so I can take one of them home to my own tank.

I was probably quite lucky actually, as even though the tank was set up to support SPS corals (which it now also does) it was only a few months old when the anemone and its clowns went in and, at the time, had huge areas of caulerpa growth.

Steve

 

[Flighty]

I have never heard of a slow split like that. Yours sounds more like an oddly healed natural split. Any splits I have heard of take at most a few days and they tear from the single mouth rather than first making two. None of the ones I saw in the wild had two mouths, so it can't be that common of a way of splitting. having two mouths isn't unheard of though.

If you really want it to split, you could just go ahead and cut it. My thread about cutting mine is a few pages back.

Magnificas seem (in our limited experience so far) to be very amenable to propagation as long as they are healthy (no small task to get a healthy one though). Expect at least two months for it to heal and be eating well again wether it splits naturally or you do it.

 

[Steve Atkins]

Thanks, I'll dig up your thread but suspect I will give it a bit more time before resorting to a blade. After all, I have waited for several years already.

At the moment it is like a Siamese twin anemone, two complete anemones joined at the hip. Because both halves are now quite large the whole thing can stretch to about 35cm across.

When it arrived it looked injury free and normal apart from having two mouths and a slightly eliptical disk. It also settled immediately in that it exhibited none of the deflation sysmtoms reported and just moved around a bit for a few weeks. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to discover it was considered a delicate specimen.

Looking at your signature details I probably should talk to you some more about fish. I already have a 3 year old Regal and would love to introduce a Copperband to my home tank, but am concerned about getting it to eat prepared food...another thread perhaps.

Steve

 

[Flighty]

35 cm isn't that large for a magnifica (mental math Ouch) at just over a foot across that is actually on the small side for splitting. they can get to about three feet across.

 

[Steve Atkins]

I probably should measure it when taking the picture, that was just a guess. It is certainly not as brightly coloured as the one you chopped.

Steve

 

[tufacody]

Amazing that you've had it for 4 years w/o feeding it?

I have definitely seen my clowns grab food from the open water and tuck it in the anemone. I seem to recall some youtube videos doing this too.

Please post pics!

 

[Steve Atkins]

Because of the way the fish get fed and the fact that the anemone has moved up close to the surface at one end of the tank (despite having 400w MHs above the tank) it probably does manage to get fish food carried to it by the current.

I've seen clowns stuffing food into anemones, including this one, also but I'm not sure if it is to feed or to hide. On the other hand, they have tried to steal food from it when I have fed it recently. I had to keep my hand in there waving about until the anemone got it fully wrapped up.

Steve

 

[Gig 'em]

I think that increasing the feeding of the mag would help it split. Some times increased food quantities will encourage anemones to split because it's saying to the anemone that there is high food supplies. Once my BTA ate a flame angel and split two days later.

 

[Steve Atkins]

The anemone is in a divider tank so I can get pictures from both sides however, due to where it is located at one end of the tank, it was still difficult to get a shot of the whole thing showing both disks except from above with the associated reflection problems.
Left Side - about 30cm across excluding tentacles.

Right Side - fitting itself between return pipe and pump.

Top view - the ridge of tentacles down the middle is where the two disks meet.

Split base â€"œ this split goes right across base but they still arrange themselves as if they had only one base.

Steve

 

[tufacody]

Great looking nem! I wonder if a small bump in flow would help make it split?

 

[Steve Atkins]

At Last

At Last

Well, here we are a couple of years later and I can report that it/they finally completed splitting in August this year. Then, over the following month, one of the pair managed to split again and I now have that third one in my tank. This last one is quite a bit smaller than the other two. I am not sure how this split started as it was almost complete when I first noticed it.

All are doing well except that the one in my tank hasn’t quite decided where it wants to be as my tank has similar lighting but a lot more current then the other one.

Also, the clown hasn't moved into it yet, must be happy with its bubble anemone. I daren't add another clown however, as my current one is not very friendly and is particularly grumpy at the moment as it sorts out with the Regal who is boss now that the old blue tang (R.I.P.) has finally departed.

There are no obvious signs of further splitting for the main pair but I haven’t really looked closely lately.

Steve

 

[garygb]

Very good news. Thanks for the follow up. Good luck with all three of them.