Propagating a Bubble Tip Anemone - video added

[Mr Cob]

So.. I fragged one of my new RBTA's lastnight. I took some video of the session as well..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbT2G040gGk

(it's the bottom right anem, the one with the long tentacles)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8115905436_017de857a8_z.jpg


(below is the other piece of her)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8115906006_2c35457c0d_z.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Supplies: towels, sharp knife/scalpel, flat container, dipping container, holding container, disinfectant coral dip

1) Add BTA to flat container with about a half inch or less of water (I like to keep anemone in water at all times to limit stress)
2) Locate nem's mouth and clear tentacles away from mouth so that the mouth is exposed and the foot of the anemone is under it.
3) Place pointed end into the mouth while pressing down firmly and quickly slice from the mouth outward until you are completely through the anemone. Use your fingers to guide the anemone. You must be quick and firm in order to get a clean precise cut. (I use a s30v blade that has been freshly sharpened, dull cheap blades can cause bad cuts leading to infection and the eventual death of the anemone)
4) Finish the cut by locating the other side of the mouth and repeat step 3 so that you have two even halfs.
5) Place anemone into the dipping container along with tank water and dip for 5-7 minutes. This is done to help the anemone heal and to prevent any infections.
6) Place anemone in holding container with tank water and a rock for the anemone to attach to. 10 minutes.
7) Place anemone back into main display or holding system. Leave pumps off for a few hours to give it time to attach. Leave main lights off until the next day.

Video documenting these steps will be shared at some point.

[rrasco]

How exactly do you frag a nem?

[Big_Pun]

How exactly do you frag a nem?

wait for vid don't spoil it!! it's a really easy process but risky

[Mr Cob]

How exactly do you frag a nem?

I added the steps above.

[Louis-210]

Nice, cant wait to see the video.

[koa25]

Is that my rbta? I wouldn't have given it to you if i knew you were going to slice it apart you monster!!! Ha ha. Interesting. Very cool.

[Mr Cob]

Is that my rbta?

Actually, I just picked it up from Lucky. I picked up two from him. But you can see the one I traded with you in the pic Mike.. it's in the first pic with the one I fragged, it's the shorter polyped one. They are together and look like one.

[Bill S]

I've done this with mine before. The problem I've had is that I get about a 50% mortality rate (about half the time, one half will not make it). This is likely because it's stressful just getting them to the cutting board. As it takes so long for them to recover, I've instead settled on the "natural" method, that has, so far, a 100% success rate.

[allan]

I like Bill's approach. I'd be a bit nervous about slicing one in half. You're a stronger man than I, rob.

I got my BTA from Teeb, and right away it split when I put it in the tank. I'm thinking that just the act of causing the bta some stress will induce a split.

[edshas2]

Ive seen a video on this on reefcentral, the guy there just cut it all the way thru in half with one quick motion, he said you gotta avoid sawing as you will injure anemone, I bought a GBTA not to long ago that is pretty big. He keeps moving to the top of my tank no matter where i put it so its super easy to catch. Ive been thinking of doing this also just dont havent had the time.

[Mr Cob]

yeah I agree...sawing will destroy it. One single slice can work but I prefer the two slices from the mouth out to ensure I don't miss the mouth. If she gets too slimey and you miss the mouth then it's a for sure failure on the half without a mouth.

Bill..I've seen a few people doing this with 100% success rate. Mine look great as well and both are at in the open with attached feet. Perhaps you didn't dip for infections? I'm not expecting any losses based on the research I have done and how they look right now.

[jwalk034]

Rob you actually have both of my rbtas that I cut from one haha. Weird how you ended up with both of them. They healed great for me. Bet they could handle another split. They are already bigger than the original was. Good luck man!

[Mr Cob]

haha, yeah I got the second one from Jeremy. Right now..with the split I just did there are 8 RBTA's in my 29g BioCube. The 30g Nuvo I'm setting up for them could not cycle any faster.

A couple pics of the successful cut..

On the right:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8466/8117351386_e7bc976493_c.jpg

And here is the other half (both have a strong foot-hold and showing good signs)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8117341585_f2691f5f7d_c.jpg


And a group shot.. (glad everyone is staying put, this is the only section without lots of coral)
SO...lineage... from the left the first one is from Aaron, above that one is from Lucky, then to the right is from Josh, to the right of that one is from Mike and bottom far right is one half of the new one I made, top right is the other half and the top center one is also from Josh.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8117342229_05714b88a4_c.jpg

4 of the 7 showing in this pic are propagated rose bubble tip anemones. There is an eighth that I got from louie...not in pic.

[jwalk034]

Looking good!

[Mr Cob]

thanks dude

[Bill S]

That is SO cool. I'm trying to remember where it was that I saw a whole tank of RBTAs - a zoo or museum somewhere. The entire tank - probably 75 gallons - the whole floor and much of the walls were covered in RBTAs. Maybe 50 or 100 anemones. All the same.

[Zack]

Believe that is in the ocean pyramid at Galveston

[Big_Pun]

LA Fishguys has a cool series on a rose nem tank its about 7-8 episodes


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GgTZXCWCRc

[reefreak]

I can't wait till I find a 14g biocube man this looks great rob!

[Mr Cob]

thx for the comments

I just uploaded the video to YouTube..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbT2G040gGk

[hobogato]

nicely done rob

[Flyride95]

Looks great! Good job.

[Mr Cob]

thanks guys!

[Big_Pun]

very cool!

[Texreefer]

It was probably this tank.. Think I found this on reef central one time
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/itili/IMG_2560.jpg

[rrasco]

I've seen that picture before. I actually have a 40B I have contemplated doing that with.

Crazy video Rob.

[LuckySingh]

Gud job Rob.....very neatly done👍

[Mr Cob]

It has been 3 days since the fragging and they are looking great.. I can no longer see torn flesh.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8126428185_f4c28d283d_c.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8050/8126428585_970d166fa6_c.jpg




http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8126462705_1a817d2754_c.jpg

[Zack]

Looks great Rob. Can we see an FTS?

[Mr Cob]

hey Zack... FTS in my build threads below, in my sig. The RBTA's are currently in the 29g BioCube but soon will be moved to the 30g Nuvo BTA tank.

Here are the two I fragged in this thread...they are pretty much healed now.


I touched this one right before the pic so it would close and I could capture the cut area that is now healed:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/8133290791_02b6f957e1_z.jpg




http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8468/8133317630_280ae6b636_z.jpg

[Mr Cob]

So the RBTA's in the video are doing great in my 29g BioCube.

I came across another BTA that has neon tips. It was super large so I thought it would be a good specimen for trying a quad propagation.

Here it is after dipping:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8209707064_699cd02114_z.jpg