RTBA Split; Please advise

[leelee]

Our RTBA split last night and is now two. What an amazing thing to watch. My question is how do we care for our new addition. Currently the two are side by side and seem content. Will one move? I do not want to force a move while the new addition heals. We have two cleaner shrimp that are working very hard to keep the anemones clean....hmmm Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[elfloyd]

No special care. I've had several splits... sometime they will stay side by side... sometimes they will move apart.

 

[KrisDeitz]

I was told do a water change and run carbon if your not already.

 

[qasimja]

i have a question on a couple forums i'm on some people say an anemone splits when its sick are they just totally wrong? because i assumed it split when it was happy

 

[leelee]

Thanks for the replies. I have also read that it means that the anemone may be sick, or that the tank my be unstable, however, my RBTA (and everything else) seem healthy, happy and beautiful. Water Parameters are great. Lighting, T5, LED and Metal Halides combo fixture on 75 gallon tank. I hope that happiness, is what I am witnessing

 

[kirru]

no one really knows why they spilt in my opinion. I bought a rainbow bubble from a member her and this thing was a foot or larger when fully opened... they as soon as i put it in the tank it splits. so i think it does it spontaneously.

 

[frantz]

It seems alot of invert life reacts to stress by attempting to procreate.. makes sense from a "knows nothing deep about science" perspective. Save the species! of course things procreate when times are good too.

 

[elfloyd]

My GTBA has split three times in the past year. It stays pretty stationary between two rocks. It seems that when it reaches a certain size it splits. It doesn't move around the tank at all... perhaps it gets stressed and is trying to limit its size. This original GTBA came from a member's tank and he experienced a lot of splitting too. Maybe its a genetic thing.

 

[smallblock]

Barbara;689339 wrote: I think some are more likely to split than others. But I do think environmental stress can contribute. And then there are times they seem to split for no apparent reason.

Don't try to feed it until the mouth heals. You will know this b/c the recent split would have been through the mouth, resulting in the current clones having no mouth. Over the next 2 weeks you will see the mouth re-form from the outside, and slowly gravitate towards the center. When the mouth is back in the center, it is healed and ready to try feeding again (if you were feeding it in the first place).

Don't move or otherwise disrupt them until the mouths are re-formed and healed. At that time you could attempt to remove one to sell, or move to another tank, or you could choose to leave them both in the tank. They might not stay together, but generally I've heard success stories about keeping multiple 'nems in the same tank as long as they are clones of each other.

Good luck and have fun!

Best advice!!! I've observed the 2 weeks being the time frame as well. Notice the tentacles on the side where it split, they will be short. Over the next few days you will notice the tentacles becoming very active and feeling their surroundings. Its pretty cool to watch. When the new tentacles calm down and as Barb said you will notice the mouth form in the middle its time for food. I would suggest feeding them meaty food like mysis a couple of times a week. untill its color is back to normal then you could go to once a week. The color is a good indicator of the health of a nem. Good luck lets see some pics.

Edit: Also don't worry about the water being fouled from the split, all they do is pull apart they don't release anything unless part of it dies which isn't usually the case.

 

[lifestudent]

Congratulations on your splitting RBTA(s)!

I've had over 20 splits during the last 7+ years and Barbara's advice is spot on. And I've had as many as 40 in the same system. And yes, they were all clones.

Please wait ~2 weeks for the mouths to fully heal and start shifting towards the center. Once healed, you can feed them small pieces of mysis shrimp once or twice a week as suggested by "Smallblock"</em>.

If you feel the need to run carbon, that should be ok, but I think it's probably unnecessary.

Don't attempt to move them. They will move on their own if they feel the need to (like to get more flow).

Again, Congratulations!!!

 

[leelee]

Thank you for the posts. I am very excited and will take good care of the new addition. I appreciate all of the posts and am pleased that both rbtas are doing well. Pics as soon as I can.

 

[harleytodd]

It was great to meet y'all today.

 

[leelee]

Great meeting you too!! Look forward to "tank talk" in the future