BTA's, RBTA's why some split and others don't.

[Ryno]

I have been wondering about this a LONG time. I work at a LFS and people are constantly bringing in rose bubble tips that have split. One of the owners took one of the clones and it has split 3 times in 6 months. I hear the same story over and over about rose bubble tips. I have NEVER seen someone come into the store with a green bubble tip that has split, I have no idea why this is? I have had a neon green and pink bubble tip for well over a year and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, it has never moved or split. Will my anemone ever split? I know water quality and sudden changes can cause a split BUT a friend of mine also has a RBTA that splits every six months.......like a clock, her tank is extremely clean and stable. Can someone explain this to me? It's ALWAYS the rose anemones, ALWAYS, I cannot figure this out. Also why would they be more expensive if they split so often? Thanks everyone......I am really curious why this is.

 

[Maxx]

One theory is that there are actually two types of Bubble Tip Anemones:

The kind that split
The kind that doesnt split.

I know that sounds lame, but thats the best theory I've heard regarding that.

Its not just GBTA's that wont split either. One guy I know has had large RBTA for almost 6 years...its over 24 inches in diameter, and hasnt split once. I know other people that GBTA's and Brown BTA's that split...

The one thing to remember regarding BTA's and splitting is this...its not necessarily a good thing. They usually split due to an outside/environmental stress. So another reason your's might not be splitting could be because you have a nice stable, healthy environment for it. Regarding your friend's situation...some will split when fed frequently and immediately following a large water change...(outside environmental stress) Ask her if the splits coe after a large water change and how often she is feeding. Every six months is very frequent and unless she is feeding the anemone heavily, there is no way it would regain the size it lost in the split that fast.

Also why would they be more expensive if they split so often?

Think about it for a minute...If GBTA's sell for $50 (retail) and RBTA's sell for $150 retail...which one would you propagate more often?? The price on the RBTA's has been that way for several years stemming back from when they were not so common. They've come down significantly from the $500 prices a few years ago...but the market is still used to paying that much for a RBTA.

 

[Katchupoy]

Yeah I got mine a long time ago. And a fellow reefer once asked me when he saw my RBTA.... what are you feeding it? Then I said... are you suppose to?.... Oh ok so i fed... that was 2 years ago....

Now I have 15 of them not counting the ones i sold already.... i overan my tank so I went and seperated them to a diff tank... now i have a RBTA tank....

 

[Maxx]

Beautiful tank and Beautiful RBTA's Cesar!

Nick

 

[Ryno]

Wow thanks everyone. I can say this, the girl I was talking about does not feed her anemone at all but has a clown that host in it. I asked last time when it split if she had done a water change or if something was off in the tank.....everything was fine??????

 

[SP Aquatics]

i have rbta and a gbta in the same tank that both split every end of april, beginning of may to about 3-4 clones each. Cool thing is, all the clones are sold off, and then they split off within days of mine typically. I would say about half of the clones sold off will split at the same time of mine each year, and its been going this way for 4 years now.

Why for any of this, wouldnt have the slightest clue, but would like to know.

 

[Ryno]

Wow I missed this last post! That's great and obviously a sign of seasonal splitting. Mine is getting BIG and I wish it would split. It's also a rare BTA IMO, it's neon (I mean NEON green with pink tips). We have had one shipment EVER from a wholesaler with this color BTA. We continue business with this wholesaler but have never seen BTA's like this again? Anthony I would love to hear some of your imput on this, please? I apparently have a super happy anemone, it has NEVER moved in over a year and half? It's taking up way too much room but it's foot is deep within a rock so I can't pull it out of the tank. I would like to induce splitting (without cutting) with this anemone but cannot do this in my main tank....I can move it to another. I really don't want to stress it out on purpose? Perhaps feeding it more often would help? I do have other tanks I can setup just for the BTA. I'll see if I can find a picture. Thanks everyone.