Splitting a BTA

[rherron]

Any recommendations on getting my LARGE BTA to split.
I have another tank I would like to add one to and I'd rather not go and buy one if I don't have to.

[AzSnake]

Originally posted by rherron
Any recommendations on getting my LARGE BTA to split.
I have another tank I would like to add one to and I'd rather not go and buy one if I don't have to.
Yea I’d love to know if there was some way you could encourage this. I added one to my tank about 1.5 years ago. it was about the size of a racket ball, possibly smaller. Its crown is about 14 inches across now and it's close to 12 inches tall, if not taller. It's starting to DOMINATE my tank. It's almost at the surface of the water.
Although you may want to post the question in the Anemone section.

[Blindmelonbob]

Feed it frequently...like every other day. Worked for me.

[AzSnake]

Originally posted by Blindmelonbob
Feed it frequently...like every other day. Worked for me.
I have feed mine a whole shrimp twice a week for nearly 1 year. Hasn't happened yet. Still hoping, meanwhile it just keeps getting bigger. I have a Ricorida that has gone from the size of a quarter and now is the size of a baseball, has 3 mouths, and has had them for about a year also. I can make these bad boys huge but I just can't seem to get them to split. I don't have the problem with normal shroom, yellow polyps, zoos or common brown polyps.;)

[Airborne Ranger]

just cut it in half ;) just kidding

[AzSnake]

Originally posted by Airborne Ranger
just cut it in half ;) just kidding
I know I could frag my ric but I really don't like to artifically manipulate my livestock by cutting them. I would die if something happened and I lost the whole animal.

[breedingroom]

my rbta split.........I followed advice to not feed for like a week , and then heavily feed for a few days. Worked like a charm, and it was my first anemone ever.

[fick]

while i havent tried it, the advice above is what's comonly given in the anemone forum -- stop feeding it. they allegedly split when stressed, and not feeding stresses them out.

[AzSnake]

Originally posted by fick
while i havent tried it, the advice above is what's comonly given in the anemone forum -- stop feeding it. they allegedly split when stressed, and not feeding stresses them out.
Yea I have seen it many times before. I just have to watch how much I feed my fish because my clown is an absolute sow and drags back tons of food for herself to her home. Not realizing that she is feeding the BTA.

[R33f3r]

Feeding it ALOT every other day will generally get them to split. I used to feed my GBTA's about 3 silversides throughout a day and had them split about once a month. They key IMO, is just heavy, heavy feeds.

[romunov]

Once they reach critical mass, they split. And they need food to get there... :D

[mc-cro]

How do you keep one from splitting. I just noticed mine split again. Thats twice in like a month. I now have 4 in my tank!!!
I never feed them, I think the last time I fed directly was over 3yrs ago, and they split almost every fall. This last one has split 3 times since September. It sucks because they are almost impossible to get out.

[fish100]

I've also heard (besides the feeding regimen changes) that a large water change induce e. quadricolor to reproduce asexually.

Maybe some trace element they are looking for becomes available following a water change?

[mc-cro]

I dunno, I only do water changes every couple of months

[romunov]

How many fish do you have? Big crustacean and worm population?

[mc-cro]

have 8 fish in a 72g, my crustacean and worm and pods are through the roof, and I do feed heavily, just not directly to the BTA's. The biggest thing they may ever get is a piece of mysis or something

[wasp]

Can be cut in half with a sharp knife fairly safely. I do it & sell them helps pay for my hobby, there is a pic of this in my gallery.
I do sometimes lose one of the halves, but have never lost both halves.

[ridetheducati]

Heavy feeding and large water change.

To encourage my BTA to split I would feed silversides and shrimp every day for 7-10 days. At the end of the feeding period, conduct a large (30-40%) water change. It seems to work for me.

[salttess]

I also asked this question on the anemone board. I found out not all anemones split. Mine is the type that does not.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/salttess/DCP_0618.jpg


It is so big it takes up the whole center portion of my 230gal. tank when it is fully expanded.

[mc-cro]

very nice, but man that takes up alot of real estate

[km133688]

wasp, can you give us your procedures for cutting BTAs. You know, equipement list, workspace layout, step by step, any special facts you have learned.

Thanks

[wasp]

OK well I'm no expert, but to me the secret is not the actual cutting, but providing an optimum environment for a couple of weeks afterwards for the anemone to recover. As long as they do not get infected, they will recover.
So what I do, is first get the anemone in prime condition by heavy feeding for a month or two, then make sure it is "empty" by not feeding at all for a week or so.
Then I take the anemone out of the tank, put on a chopping board and with a sharp knife cut right down the middle, through the middle of the mouth. The two halves are then put into a clean tank with nothing else except some rock, and water taken from the tank the anemone was in. There is a very slow current, and normal lighting. A soon as the two halves get a grip the current is turned up to what they seem comfortable with. All being well they will be joined up in one or two weeks, and eating in around a month.
Others may know more than me, I've just got this method by trial and error. If anyone can add any better ideas I would be interested to hear it.

[Brad524]

MC-CRO

If you ever want to get rid of one of the splits let me know:D

[Russ Braaten]

I have heard of people encouraging a split bu slicing them a little. I think it was something like slicing a part of the foot or maybe nicking the head. As you see I have no idea. hahahaha

I would like to know what you all feed your BTA's to get the to grow like that. Another question, silversides? Are they just anchovies or frozen bait fish?

Russ

[z28cam]

Mine split they same day i did a bigger then usual water change. Usually change out 5 gallons a week. Did a 20 gallon and 8 hours later I had two RBTA's :)

[z28cam]

Originally posted by Russ Braaten
I have heard of people encouraging a split bu slicing them a little. I think it was something like slicing a part of the foot or maybe nicking the head. As you see I have no idea. hahahaha

I would like to know what you all feed your BTA's to get the to grow like that. Another question, silversides? Are they just anchovies or frozen bait fish?

Russ

I would not encourage "slicing" if the foot becomes damaged they can die.

[Russ Braaten]

Like I said, I have no idea. hahahaha