What the heck happened to my BTA?

[RNich34]

Quick timeline.

3 days ago I fed my anemone 1/4 cube of mysis.

2 days ago he disappeared to the back of the rock somewhere that I couldn't see anything.

Yesterday he was really spread out on 2 rocks. By really spread out I mean like really stretching his foot. About half on each rock.

Today. There are 2 small "baby" anemones? 1 of 2 things happened. It had a baby. Or it ripped itself in half. I don't think it ripped itself in half because both parts ate stuck to the rocks.

Can someone please inform me as to what the heck happened here?

 

[Amba]

It sounds like it cloned to me. Pics?

 

[Bifferwine]

Your anemone split. That's how they reproduce. Congrats, papa. :)

 

[beeguiles]

Yes it split itself in half. Normal anemone behavior

 

[R3verb]

The mysis shrimp came back to life inside of the nem and ripped him in twain. They are now forming separate secret societies within the bowls of the nem and will one day wage nuclear warfare one one another in your tank. (Or what everybody else said. Mine is cooler though)

 

[RNich34]

So I did some investigating today. The 2 aren't really even close in size. The "new" one is about an inch across. The old is probably 5" or so. Both ate inflated and appear to be ok. I can't really see the big one as it is still behind the rock. They're about 6" apart from each other.

 

[Nanna]

Congrats on your BTA reproducing!

 

[RNich34]

Congrats on your BTA reproducing!

thank you!

So the bigger one is staying where they split at. The littler one moved over one rock and is about a foot away from the bigger one upside down on this one rock. Due to positioning, its a little hard to get a picture. The clownfish appears to be hosting both, as he goes to each one about equally, but still sleeps in the larger one.

They both look healthy. Tentacles all 1" - 1.5" and blowup regularly. Smaller one is much smaller, but tentacles are still blown up. Here's the best that I can do for pictures.


Larger one:

Smaller one:

 

[ErinCahir]

How long have you had the original nem? How long has your tank been set up? What kind of lights do you have?

Your nem is really, really bleached. Sad to say, it's not healthy.

 

[hazelsdad]

They will split when stressed also. If they stay close together they are forming a colony and thats a good sign. If they dont and move away thats a sign something is wrong. And i think it is the second. I agree with Erin. It is really bleached.

 

[Bifferwine]

That white color is not normal or healthy. Bleaching is usually due to weak lighting. Your anemones are starving to death because the photosynthetic algae that lives inside of them (and gives them their color) has been expelled. This algae is what turns light into food for the anemone. A healthy anemone is never white.

 

[beeguiles]

+1 to everyone. Your nem split bc it's bleached and stressed

 

[RNich34]

Well thanks for everyone's comments. But if 346 watts of light isn't enough light, how much does it need?

 

[Treezer8]

I had a RBTA that had a week of bad water, because I was out of town. I did water changed, got everything back to normal, but the anemone had already split into 3. 1 main anemone, 1 smaller one about 1/4 the size, and a very small one that didn't make it. It's been almost 4 months, and the smaller anemone and big anemone have never moved away from eachother, their foots are right next to eachother. Smaller one is about 1/3 the size of the bigger one now.

Anyone else have an experience like this?
My black saddleback clownfish (occelaris) host both of the anemones, but sleeps in the bigger since there's more room :P I'm almost ready to move the rock with the anemones over to my bigger tank. They have a whole empty spot for themselves.

 

[Bifferwine]

Well thanks for everyone's comments. But if 346 watts of light isn't enough light, how much does it need?

What kind of light do you have?

 

[RNich34]

250 watt MH with 4x24 watt HO actinic.

and 4 LED night lights, but those don't really do anything.

 

[Ted]

On a 55 that should be enough light for anything...Wet Web Media says 220 for a 55 min. So I would think you would be ok with light. How are your levels in the tank, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

 

[RNich34]

I would think so. It's really shriveled down but it's tentacles are starting to get "cloudy". I assume cloudyness is the color coming back?

Parameters are fine all around.

 

[RNich34]

I think I found the problem as to why it split. A clownfish got sucked into a pump and died and I didn't know. I changed water right when I found out.

 

[Bifferwine]

I think I found the problem as to why it split. A clownfish got sucked into a pump and died and I didn't know. I changed water right when I found out.

Yuck!! Sorry to hear that!