Anemone split

[pinkie]

I've had the anemone pictured below for a little over a month. He's been healthy, colorful, full & has had clowns hosting in him the whole time. Today I came down to check my tanks and the anomone had split.

I'm assuming this is an unhealthy split? The big anemone has now moved for the first time into a cave. They both look good but the little one is about 1/10th the size of the big one. Any extra precautions I should take? I will try to post pictures of them both later.

EDIT: Just to add, I got this anemone from my favorite reef store who told me they got the anemone from a guy whose RBTA had split like 50 times and he had so many he didn't know what to do with them (his splits were definitely healthy).

 

[Lance M.]

Wow very pretty. That guy must be making lots off the clones then.

It could of split just because it was acclimating to the new environment and was a little stressed. It certainly looks like it's very healthy. That would be my guess.

And if the original was splitting that many times then the clones are more likely to split by themselves. I've been reading a lot on them and usually the ones that split are closer to the surface of the water in reefs and like a lot of light.

I wonder what that guy keeps them in and if he forces them to split or not

 

[lando]

I'm assuming this is an unhealthy split?

How so? It looks very happy to me in the pic above. It is true that anemones can split due to stress, however, they can simply split to split. If water parameters are top-notch and your anemone has not shown any signs of stress it is very likely a healthy split. I have had both my green and rose bubble tips split several times. I get a little extra store credit at the LFS when this happens. In addition, knowing you got this anemone as a captive clone suggests that it may be better suited for like in a tank.

It is common for one or both animals to move and hide for a bit after spliting. They will come around. relax and enjoy the new addition!

 

[clowninround]

Well, if yours ends up splitting a million times I am looking for a captive bred rose BTA (not now, but later). I have two green ones now (mine split as well). I have two clowns and two anemones one of them has taken over both anenomes.

 

[melosu58]

I dont see it as a unhealthy split either. Sometimes it just happens. How about posting some water test results.

 

[pinkie]

pH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 (can't get to 0, don't have a refugium so no nitrate export)
Alkalinity: 260 ppm
Calcium: 350
Temperature: 80.0

One thing I forgot to mention, I had been feeding it about 4-5 times a week then learned that they only need to fed like once a month. So I stopped about 3 weeks ago. So I may have accidently forced a split. However, I fed the other anemone (which is bigger) the same amount and it hasn't split yet and I've had that one a week or two longer.

I'm assuming it's unhealthy just because that's what it usually seems like the reason for a split is in captivity and I do have a minor nitrate reading which could be a stressor. Also because I haven't had the anemone for very long it makes me think it's unhealthy. Another reason it could be is because I have a mated pair that just love it. They recently have started hosting in my green BTA so the RBTA has gotten a break but it does seem like the anemone might get a little sick of them. Occasioanlly it will deflate a little, typically at night. The green one will do it too if they host in it literally all day.