BTA fragging

hunt

Active Member
I read that you can cut a BTA down the middle and both haves will live. Has anyone ever tried this? Were you successful? Is it easy to do? How exactly do you do this?
 

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3232168
I read that you can cut a BTA down the middle and both haves will live. Has anyone ever tried this? Were you successful? Is it easy to do? How exactly do you do this?
I have never heard of this......I know they can split on there own...BUT I don't think I would ever cut one in half....
 

chaseter

Member
I would never risk it. He is taking the thing out of the water first off and then cutting it. It may work but it isn't natural so I wouldn't do it or risk killing my expensive nem.
 

rod buehle

Member
Only the anemones that naturally split can be "fragged", and it should only be done by an experienced anemone keeper. One that knows that there is a big difference between anemones. Not just between an h. mag and an S. helinthus, but between a gigantea and a hadoni and a Mertinsi (all carpets, but all very different, with different requirements. )
That being said, yes E.quadricolor do split. I have fragged quite a few myself. H.magnifica also occasionally splits naturally and there are reports of fragging, but not as many success stories.
Any other hosting species of anemone should not be attempted because they do not have the regenerative capabilities that the 2 mentioned above have.
 

btldreef

Moderator
BTA's can be fragged, it's quite easy and I've done it a million times. DO NOT DO IT IN THE THE DT! Some videos on YouTube show people taking the anemone completely out of water which I absolutely would not recommend.
Here's how I've done it and have never lost one:
Take a tupperware container and fill with tank water. Keep in tank. Put anemone in the tupperware container. Take the container with the nem out of the tank so that the anemone is not out of the water. This is a very stressful thing that you're about to put it through and the less stress (keeping it out of water) the better. Grab your sharpest knife (I like using my husbands extremely expensive fillet knife). Place tip of knife in the mouth of the nem and slice down quickly. Do not be hesitant, you need a CLEAN CUT. Turn the nem around and slice the other side so that now the anemone is sliced completely in half. When you frag it, you MUST make sure that the mouth is equally divided. Fill another container with tank water and some vitamins. Quickly
transfer the newly sliced nems into that water, give them a quick rinse and back in the tank they go. I always, ALWAYS add vitamins to my tank water when there is a newly fragged anemone in there and continue to add vitamins once a day for a week. You must be diligent about your water quality while the anemone is healing. Small 5-10% water changes every two days usually does great. I also highly recommend running carbon (ChemiPure) if you're planning on fragging anemones. There is a risk that they can die, if don't properly it is minimal, but, run the carbon just in case. Also, if powerheads are not covered, now is the time to cover them! Newly fragged anemones are more likely to balloon and float around the tank.
I do not recommend fragging more than in halves. I know people do quarters, but that is far more risky.
**If you have evil clownfish that are very aggressive with anemones like I do, you MUST keep an eye on they. If they start beating on the newly fragged anemone, you will most likely lose it. The only anemones that I've fragged and lost have been do to the female beating the snots out of it.
I have fragged the Magnifica and about 2/3 survive.
**Fragging anemones is smelly. If you have a weak stomach, or a weak wallet, pass.
 

hunt

Active Member
thanks, really informational, and i prabably wont be fragging an anenome any time soon because i really have no need to.
 

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3232479
Here's how I've done it and have never lost one:
I have fragged the Magnifica and about 2/3 survive.
Are you saying you've never lost a BTA?
I don't really understand why having a part of the mouth during the frag process is so important. I've had anemones split and they'll often not even split at the mouth. Often they'll split to where they have absolutely no pieces of mouth at all, and then recreate the mouth once they regenerate.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3233063
Are you saying you've never lost a BTA?
I don't really understand why having a part of the mouth during the frag process is so important. I've had anemones split and they'll often not even split at the mouth. Often they'll split to where they have absolutely no pieces of mouth at all, and then recreate the mouth once they regenerate.
Yes, when they split, the mouth is often not visible, but there is still a mouth. They MUST have a mouth when they're fragged or they'll die. I've never lost a BTA from fragging.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3233298
Is there anyway to tell if a BTA is going to split soon?
Sometimes they look as if they're dying, shriveling up, etc. I am impatient and usually frag before they split, lol. I've noticed that fragged anemones usually don't split as fast
 
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