Anemone split, is it OK?

Texas Reefer · Sep 25, 2014

I got home from work today and my anemone is split in two.
My thoughts:
Its happy, yay!
Its unhappy, boo!
My porcelain crab split it in two?
Why does it look so traumatic? I kind thought it might heal itself as it goes, like a mushroom. Is it dying and should I remove it?
FYI, shortly after I got it, it lost its bubbles and developed long skinny tentacles. It took me a long time to realize I was feeding it COOKED shrimp. I started feeding it pieces of raw table shrimp months ago but it hasn't gotten any nice bubbles back, just weird tumor like bubbles.
Ant thoughts? Thank you!

ygon · Sep 25, 2014

It may have split because of stress of being in a new tank. It will recover in a few weeks, new tentacles will start to develop. I just had two of mine split within days of each other. Look on the bright side now you have two!

Texas Reefer · Sep 25, 2014

So its normal that I can see its insides? That's a relief! This isn't exactly a new tank, its almost a year old now, and the anemone has been in it since March.

ygon · Sep 25, 2014

Yeah that's normal. They usually split themselves through their mouths. Give them time to recover. I wouldn't try to feed it anything for at least a week or until it has a properly formed mouth again.

Texas Reefer · Sep 25, 2014

Great, thank you!

KorD · Sep 25, 2014

I have seen BTA not bubble in peoples tanks after they buy them.. they will inflate their tentacles to make them long, but never bubble again.. Some people say it is do to different water perimeters while others say it also could be lights.. Who really knows.

ygon · Sep 25, 2014

I have seen BTA not bubble in peoples tanks after they buy them.. they will inflate their tentacles to make them long, but never bubble again.. Some people say it is do to different water perimeters while others say it also could be lights.. Who really knows.

In my tank I have about 5 nems right now all clones of each other. The three facing the area with the highest flow have longer tentacles, the two on the side with less flow still maintain their bubbles. It would be interesting to see if someone else could try this with their nems and see if they experience the same results or if this is pure coincidence.

Texas Reefer · Sep 27, 2014

It split AGAIN!!!

Texas Reefer · Sep 27, 2014

3 nems now

chiblackhawks4 · Sep 29, 2014

@ygon I have experienced the same thing with my nems. I have 4 on one side of my 40 breeder and 5 on the other. The 4 on the side with less flow are all bubbly while the 5 on the more flow side tend to be long and straight. However, they will bubble up at times as well. Usually the day or two after feeding, then back to normal.

ygon · Sep 29, 2014

@ygon I have experienced the same thing with my nems. I have 4 on one side of my 40 breeder and 5 on the other. The 4 on the side with less flow are all bubbly while the 5 on the more flow side tend to be long and straight. However, they will bubble up at times as well. Usually the day or two after feeding, then back to normal.

Thanks, I had a feeling that was the case.

3 nems now

Congrats!, sounds like you got a heck of a deal three nems for the price of one.

KorD · Oct 1, 2014

How are the nems doing?

Texas Reefer · Oct 1, 2014

Two are doing great! Still weird, but otherwise healthy. I think I'll wait a few more days to try to feed them as they don't really look healed. The third kept floating around my tank stinging things so I gave it to my LFS.

KorD · Oct 2, 2014

glad to hear they are looking good.. The third was just looking for a new home to be at.. I guess if you think about it, you might have more soon enough.. lol

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 2, 2014

KorD said:
I have seen BTA not bubble in peoples tanks after they buy them.. they will inflate their tentacles to make them long, but never bubble again.. Some people say it is do to different water perimeters while others say it also could be lights.. Who really knows.

I know.

It can be a response to lighting. I've had clones in the same tank where one had bubbles and the other not, and even had one large RBTA where bubbles only formed on the tips in the brightest light.

There may be other explanations of other situations, but in my tank, it was clearly lighting and not water chemistry.

KorD · Oct 2, 2014

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I know.

It can be a response to lighting. I've had clones in the same tank where one had bubbles and the other not, and even had one large RBTA where bubbles only formed on the tips in the brightest light.

There may be other explanations of other situations, but in my tank, it was clearly lighting and not water chemistry.

what type of lighting are you using? Right now I have a 2 build T5 running one blue and one white.. I was told for a 29 gal tank I should upgrade to a 4 bulb. Then again I was looking into LED's, but I do not really know what I need for my tank.. There is not a good rule of measure when it comes to lighting I can find online...

J Rog · Oct 2, 2014

From what I looked up no one really has a real answer on why some bubble tip nems keep there bubbles or not.. I got rid of my nems ( because they were starting to get to big then start wondering stinging other corals) but some had bubbles and others didn't..

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 2, 2014

J Rog said:
From what I looked up no one really has a real answer on why some bubble tip nems keep there bubbles or not.. I got rid of my nems ( because they were starting to get to big then start wondering stinging other corals) but some had bubbles and others didn't..

Which means, its not the water chemistry.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 2, 2014

KorD said:
what type of lighting are you using? Right now I have a 2 build T5 running one blue and one white.. I was told for a 29 gal tank I should upgrade to a 4 bulb. Then again I was looking into LED's, but I do not really know what I need for my tank.. There is not a good rule of measure when it comes to lighting I can find online...

My main lights are 2 x 250 w 10,000k DE mh lamps. It is a 120 gallon tank. They are not suited to a 29 gallon tank.

fishroomlady · Oct 2, 2014

I'm not trying to be debby downer but the nems in the pictures look a little stressed. I've not had an anemone split but I don't think that a gaping mouth with the appearance of it looking like it's turning inside out is a good thing. I'm not sure that that much splitting is a good thing. I personally don't think nems need to be fed so frequently - perhaps once a week or once every other at most. I think feeding too frequently can lead to stress - ultimately, stress is not a good thing for the nem.