RBTA Split twice

[tanjoubi_suit]

My RBTA split twice last night. It looks like the anemone split into two, then one of the halves split again for some reason. This was very unexpected. Should I worry about the secondary splitting or is my guy alright?



http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy349/tanjoubi_suit/Fish/AnemoneSplit.jpg

You can see the white spot area of rock that he usually covers up. I now have one medium and two little anemones instead of one larger one. Also, if everything is ok, will any of the splits wander off or do you think they will stay put for the most part?

[msmith619]

Congrats on the splits! They often stay together in contact with each other but, may still wander. They all should do well. Most say don't target feed the splits for a week or two. They look very healthy to me.
You are now a proud member of the marine successfull propogation club!

[tanjoubi_suit]

Yay! Happy to be accepted into the propagation club! I am glad you mentioned about spot feeding. I had meant to ask if I should do anything different with that. I was currently only spot feeding once or twice a week, but it would get plenty of mysis shrimp which I feed almost daily. I take one cube and thaw it, then drop it in front of a powerhead. This disperses it really well in the water column and means that quite a few end up on the anemone. Should this suffice for a while to allow the anemone to recover from the split?

[Third Coast Tropical]

thats cool...consider yourself lucky.......

[ErikH]

That's at LEAST a 120 dollar pay off! Congrats!

[Big_Pun]

i would take one if you decide to sell, now that i have a bigger tank

[Bill S]

I've had my RBTA split many, many times. Many of the ones that MAAST members have, started 5 years ago, with mine.

Every once in a while, the split results in 3 pieces. The smallest ones tend to be a bit weak, and sometimes they don't make it. These things are wierd. Sometimes they roam all over the tank for a while, sometimes they don't. I have 2 that just sit right next to each other, and host the same pair of clowns.

Just keep an eye on them while they wander, and don't feed them until you can see a distinct, healed mouth. 10-14 days, usually.

[tanjoubi_suit]

Thank you for your first hand experience and advice bstreep. I will keep an eye on the two smaller ones, though both seem to be pretty much the same size. Hopefully they will thrive and continue to do well.

Stangchris, as of right now, I am wanting to keep them. My aquarium is still fairly young (less than a year) and I like having the extra life in there. However, if they start outgrowing the space I have for them, I will send you a PM and you can have first dibs.

[cpreefguy]

Congrats on the split, and excellent looking anemone!

[tanjoubi_suit]

Update: I now have a fourth (!!!) tiny anemone. This last one is only about 10 tentacles or so. Taking from bstreeps experience, I would say this is the runt of the litter so to speak and I don't see how well it could do. It is also so deep in the rock that some of the arms are coming out the side of the rock. The parent has moved about 4" from the original spot it has occupied since it first took up residence in my tank and still larger than when I first got it. I hope it stays healthy and all this splitting doesn't weaken it.

http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy349/tanjoubi_suit/Fish/Split4.jpg

You can see it kinda in the middle of this image. It almost looks like it is part of the lower left split, but it is a new one all together. If you look close you can see the tips just barely sticking out of the rockwork to the right of it.

[cpreefguy]

Wow, that's awesome! Good luck with them all. I wish mine would just split into quarters by themselves, it'd save me the trouble of doing it with a knife! :D

[Big_Pun]

thank you ill be waiting, good luck