RBTA Problems
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Read here.
http://reefhobbyistmagazine.com/downloads/pdf/version14.pdf
Entacmaea quadricolor, commonly known as
bubble tip anemones, are often on the shortlist of
aquarium owners’ ‘must haves’ of invertebrates.
Bubble tip anemones come in a variety of colors and
color combinations (green, red/rose, pink, orange,
yellow, white, flame tip, etc.) and, when paired with a
clownfish or two, are one of the most delightful and
memorable aquarium images for hobbyists and nonhobbyists alike.
Unlike other clownfish-hosting anemone species, bubble tip
anemones tend to be fairly hardy in captivity and are quite suitable
for most intermediate and advanced hobbyists with appropriate
aquarium setups. Once established, they have been known to
survive extreme physical abuse such as botched removal attempts
from live rock. These animals often survive even when the impatient
aquarist has torn or damaged the specimen. Ouch!
Bubble tip anemones normally propagate on their own in home
aquaria by splitting themselves in half when the specimen has
achieved an adequate size. Although it’s difficult to identify the
exact causes that induce self propagation, certain factors seem to
encourage a split, specifically stress. Many aquarists have noticed
that after performing large water changes or when introducing a
mature specimen into a new tank, an individual anemone may split
into two clones. In my own experience, I have observed that rapid
environmental changes do tend to induce splits.
At work, I have a 15-gallon aquarium which does not receive the
same amount of diligence and care as my home display. There’s
no sump, no aquarium controller, no auto top-off and only a hangon-the-back skimmer. Due to my busy work schedule, I often
let the water level in the aquarium drop three to four inches over
the course of a week. When the water level gets too low, I take
my gallon jugs to the water cooler, fill them up and dump them
all back into the tank at once. This process of evaporation and
top-off results in a .02 to .03 salinity swing each week as well as
a temporary change in temperature of a few degrees. While I
certainly do not advocate emulating my ‘lazy man’s approach to
office tank husbandry’, I have noticed that this little 15-gallon tank
is a bubble tip anemone producing factory. From a single individual
rose anemone introduced a year and a half ago, I have produced over 20 clones. Clones of the same individual reproduce much
more slowly (about 1/5 the rate) in my more established and stable
170-gallon display tank.
A more direct propagation method that can be performed by the
skilled and daring aquarist is the manual division of bubble tip
anemones. As mentioned before, E. quadricolor is a relatively
hardy anemone species and many aquarists have successfully
propagated these anemones by cutting them with a pair of sharp
scissors, a scalpel or a razor blade. But before everyone goes out
and starts chopping up their anemones, I want to stress that the
process is certainly not fool proof, and should only be attempted
by aquarists who have a good handle on their tank parameters,
have healthy and established specimens to cut, and can provide an
appropriate healing environment for the split halves.
There are three primary areas of concern when attempting manual
propagation of E. quadricolor. The first is proper selection and
preparation of the anemone to be divided. The second is the cutting
itself. The last is reintroduction of the clones into the aquarium and
the healing process.
Selection and Preparation
It is important to choose an anemone that is sufficiently large
enough to be cut, and healthy enough to survive the process.
I like to choose anemones that are at least four inches across
and have been established in the system for at least six months.
I ensure that the individual has sticky tentacles, feeds well and
opens during the day. Once I have selected an individual, I
refrain from feeding the anemone for several days to allow it to
clear out its stomach. The most difficult step of this process is
removing the anemone from the live rock.
Many techniques exist to remove anemones from live rock.
These include using a blunt object such as one’s fingernail to
gently peel them off the rock, pointing a powerhead near the
anemone’s foot and shading the rock that an anemone is on
in order to get it to move from its entrenched position. The
technique that I have had the most success with is using a
rounded pair of tweezers to gently scrape and pry the foot
away from the rock. Once you have a decent amount of the
foot lifted, you can gently lift and pull away the remainder of
the anemone. It is critical to go slowly and be very patient.
You definitely want to avoid tearing the foot and wounding the
animal prior to surgery.
Once the anemone has been successfully removed from the
rockwork, I place the individual in a floating or clipped basket
near the top of the tank. The edges of the basket are kept
above the waterline so that the anemone can’t escape. I then
give the individual a week’s rest in the basket to heal from any
wounds or stress incurred during the removal process and to
ensure that it is in optimal condition for the cutting.
Cutting
Cutting is probably the easiest of the propagation steps,
although it is certainly not for the squeamish. I personally prefer
to use a clean kitchen cutting board and a simple straight edge
razor. Others use sharp scissors or scalpels, but whatever
tool is used, the goal is to achieve a clean, straight cut that
minimizes any unnecessary damage to the animal.
I start by preparing my workspace. First, lay down a large rag
towel because the anemone will lose a lot of fluid during this
process. Find a clean razor and place a fresh bowl of tank
water to the side. Make sure that you have two separate
floating or clipped baskets ready to house the new clones upon
their return to the aquarium.
Next, remove the animal from the holding basket and place it
on the cutting board. Part the tentacles away from the center
of the animal and try to visualize a clean straight line through
the mouth. When cutting, you want to try to avoid catching
any tentacles with your blade. Once I have my cutting line visualized, I start from the center of the anemone and cut outwards,
pressing the razor blade down through the anemone and cutting
to the outside edge. I then repeat the same process for the other
radius. You may find it easier to start from one outside edge and
cut straight through in one stroke. Try to ignore the anemone’s
screams during this process (just kidding!).
The result is two halves of the anemone, split neatly down the
center. Place both halves into the bowl of tank water that you had
prepared and rinse off any excess slime or bits of flesh. Finally,
return the halves to the two separate baskets in the aquarium. Healing
This last stage is the most critical one for the anemones’
survival. Once you return the anemones to their baskets in
the tank, you need to ensure that the aquarium environment
is not only optimized to ensure rapid recovery for the split
anemone halves, but also that your aquarium can handle the
additional stress to the water quality. Split anemones may
shed nematocysts, guts, fl uid, toxins, etc. These are not only
risks to the cut halves, but can also pose problems to other
delicate corals or fi sh in your tank. Once the two halves are
back in the aquarium, I do a few things to maintain good
water quality:
1. I ensure that adequate fl ow is reaching the split
anemones. Without proper fl ow, the wounds can become
infected and lead to the death of one or both halves.
I make sure to use baskets with large holes that allow
good fl ow and point a gentle powerhead at or near
the baskets.
2. I run fresh carbon in my fi lter system to help remove
toxins from the water column.
3. I increase my water change regimen.
4. I refrain from introducing any more new specimens
or fi sh to keep parameters as balanced and stable
as possible.
Having cut many anemones, I’ve noticed that some specimens
seem to heal more quickly than others. All of my RBTAs and the
purple base green tipped anemone that I have cut seem to fully heal
within two weeks. Within a week of being cut, most individuals have
already developed a mouth and will accept food. On an orange
fl ame tip anemone that I cut, however, I noticed that the healing time
was three or four times as long and there were moments when I was
worried about whether or not one of the halves would survive. I am
not sure if this is a characteristic of the individual anemone or if there
were other contributing factors in the environment. It is theorized
that cutting different anemones within the same system can lead to
problems with allelopathy and chemical warfare between healing
and established individuals. Although I haven’t been able to confi rm
exactly why some individuals take better to cutting than others, it’s
probably best to not cut too many individuals in sequence and to
provide adequate time and space between cuttings to allow your
aquarium to regain its water quality. Also, it should go without saying
that you should be comfortable or at least emotionally prepared to
lose the anemone that you cut!
Hopefully, this article has helped to illuminate one successful
approach to E. quadricolor propagation. Although not without its
risks, successful anemone farming can help supply our hobby with
more captive sourced specimens and reduce collection from the
wild, allowing more hobbyists to enjoy the beauty and delight of
keeping bubble tip anemones.
http://reefhobbyistmagazine.com/downloads/pdf/version14.pdf
Entacmaea quadricolor, commonly known as
bubble tip anemones, are often on the shortlist of
aquarium owners’ ‘must haves’ of invertebrates.
Bubble tip anemones come in a variety of colors and
color combinations (green, red/rose, pink, orange,
yellow, white, flame tip, etc.) and, when paired with a
clownfish or two, are one of the most delightful and
memorable aquarium images for hobbyists and nonhobbyists alike.
Unlike other clownfish-hosting anemone species, bubble tip
anemones tend to be fairly hardy in captivity and are quite suitable
for most intermediate and advanced hobbyists with appropriate
aquarium setups. Once established, they have been known to
survive extreme physical abuse such as botched removal attempts
from live rock. These animals often survive even when the impatient
aquarist has torn or damaged the specimen. Ouch!
Bubble tip anemones normally propagate on their own in home
aquaria by splitting themselves in half when the specimen has
achieved an adequate size. Although it’s difficult to identify the
exact causes that induce self propagation, certain factors seem to
encourage a split, specifically stress. Many aquarists have noticed
that after performing large water changes or when introducing a
mature specimen into a new tank, an individual anemone may split
into two clones. In my own experience, I have observed that rapid
environmental changes do tend to induce splits.
At work, I have a 15-gallon aquarium which does not receive the
same amount of diligence and care as my home display. There’s
no sump, no aquarium controller, no auto top-off and only a hangon-the-back skimmer. Due to my busy work schedule, I often
let the water level in the aquarium drop three to four inches over
the course of a week. When the water level gets too low, I take
my gallon jugs to the water cooler, fill them up and dump them
all back into the tank at once. This process of evaporation and
top-off results in a .02 to .03 salinity swing each week as well as
a temporary change in temperature of a few degrees. While I
certainly do not advocate emulating my ‘lazy man’s approach to
office tank husbandry’, I have noticed that this little 15-gallon tank
is a bubble tip anemone producing factory. From a single individual
rose anemone introduced a year and a half ago, I have produced over 20 clones. Clones of the same individual reproduce much
more slowly (about 1/5 the rate) in my more established and stable
170-gallon display tank.
A more direct propagation method that can be performed by the
skilled and daring aquarist is the manual division of bubble tip
anemones. As mentioned before, E. quadricolor is a relatively
hardy anemone species and many aquarists have successfully
propagated these anemones by cutting them with a pair of sharp
scissors, a scalpel or a razor blade. But before everyone goes out
and starts chopping up their anemones, I want to stress that the
process is certainly not fool proof, and should only be attempted
by aquarists who have a good handle on their tank parameters,
have healthy and established specimens to cut, and can provide an
appropriate healing environment for the split halves.
There are three primary areas of concern when attempting manual
propagation of E. quadricolor. The first is proper selection and
preparation of the anemone to be divided. The second is the cutting
itself. The last is reintroduction of the clones into the aquarium and
the healing process.
Selection and Preparation
It is important to choose an anemone that is sufficiently large
enough to be cut, and healthy enough to survive the process.
I like to choose anemones that are at least four inches across
and have been established in the system for at least six months.
I ensure that the individual has sticky tentacles, feeds well and
opens during the day. Once I have selected an individual, I
refrain from feeding the anemone for several days to allow it to
clear out its stomach. The most difficult step of this process is
removing the anemone from the live rock.
Many techniques exist to remove anemones from live rock.
These include using a blunt object such as one’s fingernail to
gently peel them off the rock, pointing a powerhead near the
anemone’s foot and shading the rock that an anemone is on
in order to get it to move from its entrenched position. The
technique that I have had the most success with is using a
rounded pair of tweezers to gently scrape and pry the foot
away from the rock. Once you have a decent amount of the
foot lifted, you can gently lift and pull away the remainder of
the anemone. It is critical to go slowly and be very patient.
You definitely want to avoid tearing the foot and wounding the
animal prior to surgery.
Once the anemone has been successfully removed from the
rockwork, I place the individual in a floating or clipped basket
near the top of the tank. The edges of the basket are kept
above the waterline so that the anemone can’t escape. I then
give the individual a week’s rest in the basket to heal from any
wounds or stress incurred during the removal process and to
ensure that it is in optimal condition for the cutting.
Cutting
Cutting is probably the easiest of the propagation steps,
although it is certainly not for the squeamish. I personally prefer
to use a clean kitchen cutting board and a simple straight edge
razor. Others use sharp scissors or scalpels, but whatever
tool is used, the goal is to achieve a clean, straight cut that
minimizes any unnecessary damage to the animal.
I start by preparing my workspace. First, lay down a large rag
towel because the anemone will lose a lot of fluid during this
process. Find a clean razor and place a fresh bowl of tank
water to the side. Make sure that you have two separate
floating or clipped baskets ready to house the new clones upon
their return to the aquarium.
Next, remove the animal from the holding basket and place it
on the cutting board. Part the tentacles away from the center
of the animal and try to visualize a clean straight line through
the mouth. When cutting, you want to try to avoid catching
any tentacles with your blade. Once I have my cutting line visualized, I start from the center of the anemone and cut outwards,
pressing the razor blade down through the anemone and cutting
to the outside edge. I then repeat the same process for the other
radius. You may find it easier to start from one outside edge and
cut straight through in one stroke. Try to ignore the anemone’s
screams during this process (just kidding!).
The result is two halves of the anemone, split neatly down the
center. Place both halves into the bowl of tank water that you had
prepared and rinse off any excess slime or bits of flesh. Finally,
return the halves to the two separate baskets in the aquarium. Healing
This last stage is the most critical one for the anemones’
survival. Once you return the anemones to their baskets in
the tank, you need to ensure that the aquarium environment
is not only optimized to ensure rapid recovery for the split
anemone halves, but also that your aquarium can handle the
additional stress to the water quality. Split anemones may
shed nematocysts, guts, fl uid, toxins, etc. These are not only
risks to the cut halves, but can also pose problems to other
delicate corals or fi sh in your tank. Once the two halves are
back in the aquarium, I do a few things to maintain good
water quality:
1. I ensure that adequate fl ow is reaching the split
anemones. Without proper fl ow, the wounds can become
infected and lead to the death of one or both halves.
I make sure to use baskets with large holes that allow
good fl ow and point a gentle powerhead at or near
the baskets.
2. I run fresh carbon in my fi lter system to help remove
toxins from the water column.
3. I increase my water change regimen.
4. I refrain from introducing any more new specimens
or fi sh to keep parameters as balanced and stable
as possible.
Having cut many anemones, I’ve noticed that some specimens
seem to heal more quickly than others. All of my RBTAs and the
purple base green tipped anemone that I have cut seem to fully heal
within two weeks. Within a week of being cut, most individuals have
already developed a mouth and will accept food. On an orange
fl ame tip anemone that I cut, however, I noticed that the healing time
was three or four times as long and there were moments when I was
worried about whether or not one of the halves would survive. I am
not sure if this is a characteristic of the individual anemone or if there
were other contributing factors in the environment. It is theorized
that cutting different anemones within the same system can lead to
problems with allelopathy and chemical warfare between healing
and established individuals. Although I haven’t been able to confi rm
exactly why some individuals take better to cutting than others, it’s
probably best to not cut too many individuals in sequence and to
provide adequate time and space between cuttings to allow your
aquarium to regain its water quality. Also, it should go without saying
that you should be comfortable or at least emotionally prepared to
lose the anemone that you cut!
Hopefully, this article has helped to illuminate one successful
approach to E. quadricolor propagation. Although not without its
risks, successful anemone farming can help supply our hobby with
more captive sourced specimens and reduce collection from the
wild, allowing more hobbyists to enjoy the beauty and delight of
keeping bubble tip anemones.
Last edited:
Drew shark, at least give him READABLE INFO? The best advice I can give you, is just do it yourself! First hand experience is the best to figure out how to do something,night or wrong! you can read 5 different sources and get 5 different answers, but You will only get better the more YOU do it. The hardest part of fragging the nem, will be to get it off the rock it is attached to first without damaging it, If you can get it off stress free you're golden. FYI use scissors, as you can control the cuts better, and make 3 frags from one easier. I will post my video for you to make it a little easier. Happy fragging...
. I would feel too bad doing it. This is honestly new to me about being able to cut nems...very interesting. Good luck and hope little damage is done on your anemone. It's very beautiful!
i would never EVAR! do it unless you know your tank is stable, and it can handle a huge amount of toxic dead anemone juice going into the water column... also, you need more room fragging them in your tank because they might fuse back together... it's rare, but i've seen it happen... so if you cut it up, you're gonna have to put them in different places in your tank...
i recommend that you take that one into a LFS and trade it for a smaller one... call before you go, or shop around for a smaller one... forget all of that drama and risk of damaging more than a rose... or just sell it... simple as that...
good luck...
BTW, ali at amazing aquariums and reefs has some awesome nems right now... a flame tip, some green one with white tips, and a pink/green one with white speckles and purple tips... it's gorgeous... i should've gotten a pic of it... he has two and they're priced reasonable compared to others...
i recommend that you take that one into a LFS and trade it for a smaller one... call before you go, or shop around for a smaller one... forget all of that drama and risk of damaging more than a rose... or just sell it... simple as that...
good luck...
BTW, ali at amazing aquariums and reefs has some awesome nems right now... a flame tip, some green one with white tips, and a pink/green one with white speckles and purple tips... it's gorgeous... i should've gotten a pic of it... he has two and they're priced reasonable compared to others...
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