How big does your BTA get?

[returnofsid]

It's a life survival strategy. If splitting was a natural form of reproduction, it would happen more often, in nature. It doesn't. Naturally occurring splits have been observed, after violent storms, indicating that the nem was injured, in the storm.

Marvin, no, your lighting is absolutely adequate, so no need to feed. Feeding will just make them bigger, faster...lol.

If you DO want your nems to split, it can actually be induced, easily. There's several ways to do it, all related to stressing the nem. In fact, Bubble Tipped Anemones can be FRAGGED. There are a few people, who regularly cut them in half. I've considered it, in the past, but could never bring myself to do it.

 

[MarvinsReef]

It's a life survival strategy. If splitting was a natural form of reproduction, it would happen more often, in nature. It doesn't. Naturally occurring splits have been observed, after violent storms, indicating that the nem was injured, in the storm.

Marvin, no, your lighting is absolutely adequate, so no need to feed. Feeding will just make them bigger, faster...lol.

If you DO want your nems to split, it can actually be induced, easily. There's several ways to do it, all related to stressing the nem. In fact, Bubble Tipped Anemones can be FRAGGED. There are a few people, who regularly cut them in half. I've considered it, in the past, but could never bring myself to do it.

maybe I'll feed the smaller ones until they get a tad bigger, since they are so tiny for me. I want my BTA's to be at least 5" each then I'll be happy with their size. I hope they can host a few clowns each. should be fun to watch.

 

[returnofsid]

Yes, a tank full of nems, hosting a bunch of clowns, would be amazing!

I remember once seeing a HUGE carpet anemone, hosting a pair of Gold Striped Maroons, the female was at least 5"! On the other side of the carpet, was a pair of tiny Pink Skunk clowns. This is something that would NEVER work, but it did work. Both pairs of clowns lived in the carpet, and both laid eggs on a regular basis, getting along just fine with one another. The Carpet was close to 3' in diameter. The large Gold Stripes must have not seen any competition, in the tiny Skunks and let them live peacefully.

 

[MarvinsReef]

Yes, a tank full of nems, hosting a bunch of clowns, would be amazing!

I remember once seeing a HUGE carpet anemone, hosting a pair of Gold Striped Maroons, the female was at least 5"! On the other side of the carpet, was a pair of tiny Pink Skunk clowns. This is something that would NEVER work, but it did work. Both pairs of clowns lived in the carpet, and both laid eggs on a regular basis, getting along just fine with one another. The Carpet was close to 3' in diameter. The large Gold Stripes must have not seen any competition, in the tiny Skunks and let them live peacefully.

awesome man. thanks again.

 

[Joe S]

It's a life survival strategy. If splitting was a natural form of reproduction, it would happen more often, in nature. It doesn't. Naturally occurring splits have been observed, after violent storms, indicating that the nem was injured, in the storm.

Asexual reproduction IS a natural form of reproduction and is responsible for many of the massive anemone colonies found on reefs. I agree that asexual reproduction is less energetically costly and can be a quick means of reproduction in the face of an environmental stressor. But on the other hand, asexual reproduction is also an efficient means to quickly spread a successful genotype across an area with favorable environmental conditions. Logically, in the face of an environmental stressor, wouldn't it make more sense to reproduce sexually (assuming you have the energy to do so) and increase the diversity of genotypes of your offspring to increase the odds that some would be able to withstand the new stressor (versus simply cloning a single genotype that is not able to thrive in the face of the stressor)? Just my two two cents, I guess we will have to agree to disagree