split already! sharing my massive gbta

[Ninjapotamus]

had this guy for two years now. keeps growing and growing... only split once in this timeframe. disc is around 18 inches and with tentacles cover about 25 inches when fully expanded.

I feel bad for the hammer behidn it, they have been at war for months and the nem is clearly winning.

any tips to get this sucker to split?

 

[Troylee]

Stop feeding it.. Or cut it with a pair of scissors.. Lol

 

[clowns101]

It's more than likely a female.

Smaller anemones are generally male, and split more often, there is a article about 2 divers who were researching a small part of a large reef and how one day a large heteractis magnifica just showed up on site. They done further research and found the the large anemone came from a flat of nothing but magnificas. They continued to study and they concluded that the flat of anemones where the larger one came from were all males (obviously due to the release of sperm from the anemones). After a little bit, they have finally came to the conclusion that the larger anemones which don't split, will move off the flats, and become female and release eggs.

Not sure if it's all true, but that's just a bit of info for you.

If I were you, I would see if you could get the anemone to split by stressing it out, cutting it would be the fastest though.

 

[Ninjapotamus]

wow i had no idea there were m/f nems and that the differences were so huge. it makes sense because I have a trio of red bta on the right side of my tank and they stay small and split frequently.... probably male. the gbta is definitely a female based on your info.

I have thought about cutting it but its basically impossible to remove, its anchored way back in my rockwork, would be a nightmare. i never feed it, basically it gets what it can grab when I feed the fish, usually small mysis shrimp.

 

[clowns101]

I'd just let it grow, lol...I like big bta hems...

 

[Birdee]

Yeah... my first BTA turned out to be male... it has never gotten large despite the fact that I feed, and feed, and feed.

I've given away several splits as he's not a great color... pale pinky run of the mill. He's about 7yrs old... he gets to stay since he has hung in with me from the beginning.

I have recently purchased a pink and a green, hopefully they'll grow for me... the pink is already showing some promise!

Oh, and there is no way I could cut a BTA that big and gorgeous! :angel:

 

[orlando809]

i used to have like 6 at once and to get them to split i would feed them few times a week and then do a large water change, some split

i wouldnt cut it