RBTA Split

[WiPida]

I'm new to reefing but have had saltwater tanks before. So here's what is going on...

Back in Sept last year my neighbor gave me her 29 gallon Biocube. It just had one 2 inches in size and one about 4 inches in size RBTA. It was loaded with hair algae, its levels were messed up and had metallic gravel. The 2 RBTA were pale in color with brown tips and the tentacles didn't bubble up at all. She fed it frozen brine cubes only.

It took a month but I was able to get the algae under control by Oct (although it's starting to come back slowly now). Well, 2 weeks ago I noticed that the smaller of of the two RBTA had split and a couple days later the other split in 3.

The tank levels have been pretty much are spot on since Oct. Since getting the tank, I've changed out to live coarse sand, I do 20% weekly water changes, feed it once a week (alternating between Silversides and Shrimp), pick up a cleaning crew of snails, a peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab. Now, it has beautiful bubbled tentacles and the coloring is really nice and is really active. I don't think it's splitting due to stress. So here's to my questions.. Is this normal for them to split like this (especially in 3)? Is 5 to many to have in a tank this small? Lastly, how do I get the extras out? They are embedded in the reef really good.

 

[ATXreefer]

My personal BTA experience is limited so I can't answer that question, but I would recommend you consider how close you mount your powerhead to the anemones. You don't want them getting sucked into it and based on the picture, they look pretty close to it.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Normal for happy nems to split. Mine do it all the time. For removal, see below. It works great and does no harm to the nem.

also, in reality, you could fill that tank with nems if you wanted. But it would limit what corals you could have, as the nems may move and sting them.

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

 

[WiPida]

Normal for happy nems to split. Mine do it all the time. For removal, see below. It works great and does no harm to the nem.

also, in reality, you could fill that tank with nems if you wanted. But it would limit what corals you could have, as the nems may move and sting them.

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

Thanks for the info, I'm going to have to try that. I have a mushroom and pulsing xenia that I added right before they split. I've already had to move my mushroom because one of the babies decide to move. LOL

This may be a strange question, but do they look like they should? I've never seen them before except for in pics.

 

[WiPida]

My personal BTA experience is limited so I can't answer that question, but I would recommend you consider how close you mount your powerhead to the anemones. You don't want them getting sucked into it and based on the picture, they look pretty close to it.

I've moved the powerhead several times but the buggers keep moving to the area I have the head at. I'm going to be getting a sock for it to prevent them from getting caught. Glad to know that I was thinking correct with that. I thought I was being overly cautious.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks for the info, I'm going to have to try that. I have a mushroom and pulsing xenia that I added right before they split. I've already had to move my mushroom because one of the babies decide to move. LOL

This may be a strange question, but do they look like they should? I've never seen them before except for in pics.

The look great. Not all bubbles bubble up. I have some the are right next to others and one will bubble and others won’t lol. Some will say it is flow or light, but from what I have seen it doesn’t really matter. Between the 100+ bubbles I have, it is about 50/50 lol.

As for the powerhead, you can heat and mold cross stitch mesh for a cheap diy nem guard. Just use zip ties to hold it in place.

 

[Super Fly]

slowing down on feeding BTA will help reduce splitting, I don't feed mine and they still split... need to thin out the tank but too lazy.