Over run with BTAs. Idea but need advise.

Dorking It · Nov 8, 2023

I have a tank that I took over a few months ago. The previous owner added 1, yes 1 and I now have a hundred of various sizes. I have been scraping them gently off my rock work but I am getting frustrated. I have alot of frags around the tank waiting to get mounted but I can't. I have this rock that has approx 30 on it.

Can I take it out and place over container with saltwater in it so the drop into the water? How long can this rock be out of water before I damage the biology of the rock?

Any tips would be great. I have thought about the "cannon" with pvc but want to get this bunch off so I can focus on the others.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 8, 2023

Dorking It said:
I have a tank that I took over a few months ago. The previous owner added 1, yes 1 and I now have a hundred of various sizes. I have been shaping them gently off my rock work but I am getting frustrated. I have alit of frags around the tank waiting to get mounted but I can't. I have this rock that has approx 30 on it.

Can I take it out and place over container with saltwater in it so the drop into the water? How long can this rock be out of water before I damage the biology of the rock?

Any tips would be great. I have thought about the "cannon" with pvc but want to get this bunch off so I can focus on the others.

These guys split often. I had same issue and got rid of them
Direct water flow towards them and they will loosen or place ice cube at its foot and again they will retract muscles and loosen

Dorking It · Nov 8, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
These guys split often. I had same issue and got rid of them
Direct water flow towards them and they will loosen or place ice cube at its foot and again they will retract muscles and loosen

The problem is most of the feet are in the rocks, I have removed most that I can get at the foot. Can I still ice if I can't get to the foot? Use ice out of the freezer with tap water?

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Nov 8, 2023

Dorking It said:
I have a tank that I took over a few months ago. The previous owner added 1, yes 1 and I now have a hundred of various sizes. I have been shaping them gently off my rock work but I am getting frustrated. I have alit of frags around the tank waiting to get mounted but I can't. I have this rock that has approx 30 on it.

Can I take it out and place over container with saltwater in it so the drop into the water? How long can this rock be out of water before I damage the biology of the rock?

Any tips would be great. I have thought about the "cannon" with pvc but want to get this bunch off so I can focus on the others.

Yes, you can take the rock out and let the nems drop off. The rock should be fine out of the water for 20-30 minutes at least...

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Nov 8, 2023

Dorking It said:
The problem is most of the feet are in the rocks, I have removed most that I can get at the foot. Can I still ice if I can't get to the foot? Use ice out of the freezer with tap water?

I would not try this method in your case. It would take too long to try to remove each individually with ice, etc. Try the upside down, out of water trick first.

ninjamyst · Nov 8, 2023

You sitting on about $1500 worth of nem there. Sell sell sell!!

Dorking It · Nov 9, 2023

ninjamyst said:
You sitting on about $1500 worth of nem there. Sell sell sell!!

I have 30 or so in a time out box already. I would love to get rid of some.

JoJosReef · Nov 9, 2023

Agree with the upside down out of water method. I keep the rock wet by dropping water over it with a pipette or turkey baster.

Dorking It · Nov 9, 2023

JoJosReef said:
Agree with the upside down out of water method. I keep the rock wet by dropping water over it with a pipette or turkey baster.

Good idea. Looks like I have some plans this weekend

JoJosReef · Nov 9, 2023

Dorking It said:
Good idea. Looks like I have some plans this weekend

It's not fast. If they have a good foothold, they can be very stubborn about letting go. I like to help them along by massaging their foot with a rounded end chopstick once they start letting go.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 9, 2023

Dorking It said:
The problem is most of the feet are in the rocks, I have removed most that I can get at the foot. Can I still ice if I can't get to the foot? Use ice out of the freezer with tap water?

regular ice yes but it melts fast. Ive never had problems removing mine

Kmst80 · Nov 9, 2023

I wouldn't bother about the hang them over a bucket method, I tried that and for 2 solid hours no movement.
Try this method, works a treat and does not damage the nem or its foot.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Nov 9, 2023

Kmst80 said:
I wouldn't bother about the hang them over a bucket method, I tried that and for 2 solid hours no movement.
Try this method, works a treat and does not damage the nem or its foot.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

He said in the first post that he wanted ideas other than this...

DenverSaltyFarm · Nov 9, 2023

I had a hard time getting my nems off the rock same situation as you. the only thing that worked is making a fresh batch of salt water in a container and do not warm the water. place the entire rock in the tub for a few hours. the cold water makes them easy to peel off and you can place them in a holding basket in the tank to sell. you wont hurt the nems doing this method to get them off

Dorking It · Nov 9, 2023

DenverSaltyFarmer said:
I had a hard time getting my nems off the rock same situation as you. the only thing that worked is making a fresh batch of salt water in a container and do not warm the water. place the entire rock in the tub for a few hours. the cold water makes them easy to peel off and you can place them in a holding basket in the tank to sell. you wont hurt the nems doing this method to get them off

I'll have to give this a try.