Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) Fragging 101

Discussion in 'Frags' started by mikejrice, Dec 16, 2013.

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  1. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    Methodology:

    For cutting anemones I use a brand new strait edged razor blade.

    I begin by placing the anemone to be cut in a small bucket of water taken from its home aquarium. I also collect aquarium water in a second small bucket to which I add enough iodine to add an amber hue.

    A small square of glass is used as a cut surface. First I cut from the mouth out to the edge by placing the corner of my blade directly in the mouth and then lowering the rest of the blade onto the disk of the anemone. Next I rotate and do the same on the other side.

    After cutting, I rinse the anemone halves in the bucket they were stored in before placing them in the iodine water to soak.



    If there's a specific species that you would like to see cut, please leave a comment below.
     
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  3. Ducncover

    Ducncover Skunk Shrimp

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    Looks pretty straight forward. Would this be the same procedure for all anemones? How long do you soak in iodine solution before returning to your tank? What's the recovery time for the anemone?
     
  4. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    I've never tried any other species, but I would assume it would be very similar for any other species that splits naturally.

    About 15 minutes.

    It seems to be about two weeks for the wound to heal over and much longer for them to fully recover a complete mouth.
     
  5. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    Personally I've never heard of people cutting BTAs. Obviously it can be done, however it probably isn't that often seeing as they can split on their own. This method is most commonly used with maxi-mini anemones, carpet anemones, flower anemones, and coralimorphs. I've never heard of a maxi-mini splitting on its own.

    Mike answered your other questions.

    Mike, these fragging videos are great, did someone ask you to do a BTA, or did you decide on your own?
     
  6. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    It's very common for those with higher end BTA to propagate them in this manner. It's a lot easier, quicker and more economically feasible to cut an expensive Sunburst BTA than to wait for it to split into two.

    Thank you for putting this and all the other great propagation videos together Mike.
     
  7. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    Yes, great, straightforward post and video.

    My RBTA hasn't split, and I've had it over 18 months.

    I do have a large Maxi-Mini- purple and green. This has me thinking.


    What if you cut it and didn't iodine bath it?
     
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  9. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    I've cut a few without, and they seem to do just fine. The iodine is just a step that carried over from cutting hard corals.