Anemone size and splitting

[mr.lordacan]

Hi all, don’t mind the GHA, it’s an ongoing battle.
I got a bta in December 2022 and was lucky that it stayed where I placed it. However, you can tell by the photos it’s gotten quite large. I’m growing concerned about its proximity to my bubble coral and wondering at what point they tend to split or if it’s got more growing to do before it reaches the point of splitting. How big can I expect this to get? I know there’s not one exact size or answer here, but I’m wondering what others experiences have been with these anemones. It’s getting quite close and wondering if I need to move the bubble coral?

thanks in advance for any thoughts/input!

 

[j.falk]

Not all BTAs will split. If they are healthy and happy they'll just keep getting bigger and bigger. Anemones split when they are stressed/not happy.

 

[Nick Steele]

Yeah there’s a LFS that has a 20 yr old bta that is probably 24” wide if not bigger. Guy told me they’ve only had 1 split and it was when they moved locations and it sat in a holding tank for a day

 

[mr.lordacan]

Oh man, lol. Okay, I better start looking for an alternative place for my bubble coral! I was under the impression all anemones split.

 

[D-Nak]

Not all anemones split. Carpet anemones, for example, do not split.

Some BTAs split, others do not. Some reproduce asexually, others do not. The problem is that males and females of those that reproduce sexually look identical, so there's no way to tell them apart, unless the eggs can be seen (which makes the anemone female).

I have a BTA that used to reproduce by splitting regularly. I moved it to another tank and it stopped splitting and keeps getting bigger and bigger. Just goes to show that these anemones have a "mind" of their own.

 

[mr.lordacan]

~3 week update, they split about an hour ago!

 

[exnisstech]

Now you have 2 to worry about I went from 3 to almost 40 a few years ago.

 

[exnisstech]

~3 week update, they split about an hour ago!

Do you feed them? Just curious mine seemed to split when I target fed them. I also didn't have super bright lights. For the last couple of years I've been hitting them with a lot of light (350 - 400 par) and no direct feeding and they rarely split.

 

[Keko21]

Mine split at about 4inches, the second one moved over to a different color BTA and assassinated it lol. They do what they do lol

 

[Cthulukelele]

BTAs are an enigma. Had one that split all the time. Then had it grow to 8-10:inches across no splitting in same parameters. Just seems random. Lots of theories in the community but nothing super concrete.

 

[mr.lordacan]

Do you feed them? Just curious mine seemed to split when I target fed them. I also didn't have super bright lights. For the last couple of years I've been hitting them with a lot of light (350 - 400 par) and no direct feeding and they rarely split.

I was feeding a little mysis shrimp 1x/week. It’s always stayed in the same spot I originally placed it, which is the on the higher side of my aquarium. It should be getting ~150PAR at most. I use current usa orbit marine LEDs, so I’m actually surprised at how well it’s grown out in a matter of ~6 months. I’m upgrading to AI prime 16s in July, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping they don’t start moving around lol

 

[BillsReef10]

I just got a black widow and a cc inferno so hoping for the splitting to occur naturally as well

 

[mr.lordacan]

Hi All, I guess 3 month update since my anemone split.

one of the 2 anemones just split again yesterday. In that process, a small tiny piece got separated, which you can see in the photo. I thought it would just die off since it didn’t have a mouth. However as of this afternoon it’s actually looking like it might pull through? Is it possible for anemone to split and a portion to regrow an entire mouth, or will this in fact die off? It does seem to be actively moving..

Meanwhile, the other half of the original split is large and in charge. I’m guessing that may split soon… but I guess my main question is did I just get one or two new anemones? Lol

 

[areohen]

I just got a black widow and a cc inferno so hoping for the splitting to occur naturally as well

In my experience, black widow nems do not play nice with any other nem. I've heard other reefers with the same experience. Of course you will have one person that says otherwise. Just keep a close eye on both

 

[BillsReef10]

In my experience, black widow nems do not play nice with any other nem. I've heard other reefers with the same experience. Of course you will have one person that says otherwise. Just keep a close eye on both

So far so good, got them in same tank but separate mushroom boxes so I plan on keeping it that way until I get some splits

 

[hobie61]

Following.

Any decent ways to remove the rBTAs from rocks and caves? Mine have split several times and now becoming a nuisance. I 've had to move a couple corals because of the size. I've tried ice cubes, the PVC pipe method on their caves, with no real luck. All are healthy. My clown goes from one to another at certain locations. Its a 35 gal. tank.

Thanks much for reviewing and your advice.

 

[Spare time]

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