Help...my Bubble tip Anenome is taking over the tank!!

newreefer_59 · #1 07-29-2012, 09:31 PM

Have A 150 Gallon tank, and Bubble tip Anenome as a main tenant along with 16 reef friendly fish. The coral is SPS, LPS and softies. Recently, the anenome has planted itself in the middle of the tank and has grown so large, it is taking some of the SPS coral with it. And now, it is covering the Crocea clam, tho does not appear to be hurting it. My question, he was cool to look at when he was half this size and wondering why he has gotten so large. Should I feed it more than once every few weeks (raw shrimp) so it does not get as large? Is it time to remove it altogether and sell it. It is cool, but is the size of a large bowl most of the time now.

dc4 · #2 07-29-2012, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newreefer_59

Have A 150 Gallon tank, and Bubble tip Anenome as a main tenant along with 16 reef friendly fish. The coral is SPS, LPS and softies. Recently, the anenome has planted itself in the middle of the tank and has grown so large, it is taking some of the SPS coral with it. And now, it is covering the Crocea clam, tho does not appear to be hurting it. My question, he was cool to look at when he was half this size and wondering why he has gotten so large. Should I feed it more than once every few weeks (raw shrimp) so it does not get as large? Is it time to remove it altogether and sell it. It is cool, but is the size of a large bowl most of the time now.

There is no point where a bta stops growing to my knowledge, the longer its in your tank, the bigger it will grow. Also, the more you feed it, the larger it will get. Im feeding mine cause I want it to grow but they would due just fine living off your lights and eating any remaining food that floats by when you feed your fish.

If you really like it and just want a smaller version of it, you could always try splitting it manually so that you could still have it in your tank but it would be half the size and then you could sell the other half to buy more sps. The problem is that eventually you will run into the same problem of it growing and stinging your sps, this is the main reason why I have my bta all the way to the right of the tank and the sps to the left side.

daniella3d · #3 07-30-2012, 12:59 AM

It will get to a certain size then it will split. Usually they get to around 8" or so before splitting. Yours should split soon if it is so large.

If it is so large, it also mean that there is a lot of nutrient in your aquarium. MIne always remain small and they split when they are no larger than 5" or so.

reef_rookie · #4 07-30-2012, 04:46 AM

I have two RTBA one is around 12" and the other one is around 16". The last time one split they both moved and stung everything in their path. So be careful if you cut it.

newreefer_59 · #5 07-30-2012, 02:48 PM

Thanks all...can I just go in with my bare hand and physically move it to another spot? Also, how do I go about splitting it without killing it?

ponokareefer · #6 07-31-2012, 01:10 AM

I wouldn't try to move it to a different spot. You will stress it out and likely, it will just move back to the spot it is in. I would move the corals and clams away from that spot instead.

I wouldn't recommend splitting the anemone either. When it wants to split, it will. 2 anemones wandering around trying to find a spot they like are worse than one that has found a spot it likes.

Anemones go where they want to and will kill things in its path to get there. Better to just move things away from it.