Maxi Mini "Accident"

If you think the condy is bad, look out if you ever decide to get a carpet...they are so sticky the tentacles will actually tear away from the nem before they come loose from your skin...a large carpet nem is not something to tangle with.

Good advice especially the cutting board...I prefer the plastic/nylon ones myself...the basket is a good idea too unless you have a dedicated frag tank you can put the pieces in...flow is important as you want the slime to go away and you don't want any "stagnant" water which can lead to bacterial infection...the trick is to have enough flow but still have the "nem pieces" stay put in/on the rubble...IME Maxi-minis really are not much different than slicing a Ricordea or other mushroom into two pieces.

That has always been what I've seen/heard on the H. Mag and the carpets too...most are lucky if they end up with one alive piece half the size they started out with...not what I would consider successful propagation, LOL!

 

Oh, wow... thanks for the warning! Don't think I'll be touching a carpet nem anytime soon. Not too fond of their appearance, anyway. BTAs are alright, but I'm mostly partial to LTAs.

 

Thank you so much for that tip. I was debating what I would be using and I do have surgical scissors here. So....surgical scissors I believe it will be.

 

Thank you Corailline. I do use a cutting board and I was going to use the baskets with the heavier flow. I also know I have to rinse him well with fresh salt water to keep the extra "goo" from messing up the tank.

What I wasn't sure of is:

Do I need to use a little extra iodine since the procedure is pretty harsh for the Nem and should I do several small water changes, over the course of several days, to keep the water prestine? Without someone to ask, I would have gambled and done these things anyway and I know you've done them before succeffully, so I would like to know what you would do. It gives me (and the Nem) a better chance.

 

Also, what are the chances I do everything right, and they still won't make it? I'm always nervous when I cut something up but I've been pretty successful so far. I have a very low mortality rate.

Course, I've only done the easier frags like Mushrooms, Rics, cut a few fingers off my Devils Hand, a regualr Toadstool, a hairy Toadstool, Xenia, a Kenya tree, and scraped underneath my Zoas a few times.

In you 3reefers opinions, would I be experienced enough to pull off the Maxi?

Oh, I think I mentioned this before, I hate doing Zoas. If something goes wrong with them you don't get sick, you get dead.:-/

 

Oh, it finally dawned on me this morning why I didn't know they would split in my tank.

The majority of the Maxis will not split in a home aquarium.

I do know what you're talking about tho....the Mini Minis are very similar and I've heard they will clone themselves like crazy.

 

all maxis split like crazy in the right conditions.

 

My advice is to use a large sharp butcher knife on the first attempt on the hard cutting board. Much easier than using surgical scissors, being a nurse I use the scissors all the time. First time use a butcher knife.

It's recommended you do not feed them for a week prior. I would do nothing special with regard to iodine or any other supplement. Just make sure the flow is good, it has rubble to attach to and is isolated from other tank inhabitants.

Lastly yes you should have no problem pulling it off, remember it's going to look pretty bad for the first 3-4 days, just be patient and do not disturb them while healing.

 

Yeah, in extremely stressful conditions. I believ if they split a lot it is self preservation?

 

Thanks for the great advise, I know things always look bad when they are fragged and have learned from past experience to leave things alone as there is a healing time....

Once I did suffer from hands in the tank and always messing with the frags syndrome...it didn't work for me.

Thank you so much for the boost of confidence. I really appriciate it.