RBTA

[allan]

Not sure if this is the right location, but here goes...

My BTA split!!! After a discussion with Pete and Tony I decided to try something out. Pete had indicated that someone he knows feeds his anenome heavily for about two weeks and then stops and the BTA splits. So I thought I would give it a go.

I don't actively feed the BTA rather I let it filter for its food and the skunks do their part... whatever that may be.

So about two weeks ago I started jetting a single dose of mysis/krill/stuff at the anenome once a day, seven days a week. I was going to stop this monday... This morning when I went to feed the fish I noticed the anenome wasn't swelled up at the back of the tank as it usually does, so I went around back to see if it had decided to move.

...and there it was... and there it was... Two very separate and healthy looking halves of my old BTA! Now that I know it's in two I went around to the front and tried viewing from another angle. There are two BTAs separated by about five or six inches. I have a clear view of one whose mouth seems to be closing but not quite yet closed. The picture below is a poor rendition because it's through the sunscreen cover and from behind. When my daughter gets home I'll see if she can't snap a few full monty pics from the front.

Needless to say I am VERY PLEASED! :bigsmile:

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/alaviers/SplitAnenome.jpg

[allan]

Ok, it's taking entirely too long for my daughter to accomplish her assigned task, so I took another photo with my iPhone. Full monty as promised but not zoomed in.

It's in the back near the left but to the right of the left overflow yet semi-clearly depicted. The second one is to the right of the first one and only a few of the tips are actually visible.

It looks as if each of the skunks have picked out one of the BTAs to host, not sure if that's a good omen or not. Kind of seems like they need time to heal.

Oh and BTW, I originally picked this BTA up from the Z28PWR guys. Not sure what its history is, perhaps they can fill in the details... :)

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/alaviers/fullmonty.jpg

[dmweise]

Very nice. I love RBTAs.

[Kristy]

Awesome! That's good to know about the split-inducing theory. I have heard a few ideas about what leads a nem to split, but had never heard that one.

Our RBTA is huge and happy, and has never split. In fact, of our three anenomes, we've only had one split ever over the years, so we might try this and see if it works for us. (I don't have the guts to cut an anenome in half... I can barely work up the nerve to frag zoas off a rock!)

[hobogato]

great allan, and thanks for posting the method as well :wink_smile:

[allan]

Ooh, I know what you mean. I only recently started pulling some orange zoas from a rock that is too close to a line of gsp. I didn't think it would work but apparently the zoas I pulled and placed onto another rock are flourishing on their own.

Pete told me that his friend would feed heavy for two weeks and then shut off the food supply and they would split. I think, and this is just me thinking like an anenome, that it grows due to the extra food and when that food becomes scarce and it's no longer able to support the extra size it does the only thing it can. split.

Of course I don't know if this works or not. It could have been that it was simply time and cooincident provided a positive result. I'll try it again next year sometime with only one of the remaining anenomes and see if that works. I've had the RBTA since around Feb or Mar, and recently changed tanks and provided a bucket full of more light. It was doing great on its own, but when I started feeding it the thing just grew big time.

[allan]

Oh, and yeah, I don't think I would EVER cut an anenome in half. I know it's supposed to work but it seems quite cruel for the sole purpose of multiplying your inhabitants. I don't think I can even do that to mushrooms. I think the best approach is to let it happen as it will.

[Kristy]

I think, and this is just me thinking like an anenome,

Hilarious! :)

[hobogato]

be the anemone..be the anemone, nahnahnahnahnahnah :lauging:


..... I think, and this is just me thinking like an anenome....

[allan]

be the anemone..be the anemone, nahnahnahnahnahnah :lauging:


:)

[allan]

Update.

This morning Number Two (I got creative with the naming of these guys) is in a nice viewable area and seems happy and full, and nice color with the right lights on. Here it is...

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/alaviers/NumberTwo.jpg

Number One is still in its usual spot, hanging out. From the front the tentacles are all full and inflated and waving at me rather gently... however from the back end of the tank I took this picture. I've been watching it like an idiot for the better part of an hour waiting for it to unfold itself. Because I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that it isn't splitting again. The clowns are hanging out in the section to the right, they're leaving the left one vacant.

http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/alaviers/NumberOne.jpg