Mike's Nem Propagation Thread (Updated 20080108)

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Trying not to be a copy-cat thread here but I wanted to document my Anemone Propagation Tank that I have been wanting to do since I saw the cutting demonstration at the last Next Wave I attended almost two years ago. Along with others here I have been following Serk's propagation thread and feel I have learned alot from it that we will all benefit from.

Now with no more further ado.... to the victim!
The highly sought after Sherman RBTA started as a mass sale off of about 25 of them from Steve's tank in Sherman. We purchased ours as Bekah's Valentine's gift of that year.
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Initially sought after for the pale pink look, we all quickly realized they were bleached. As these nems gained health they turned a very beautiful dark red and grew very well in our tanks. They grew and split readily proving themselves to be a very hardy specimen for our tanks as evident by the 14" clone on the right of the tank in October of '06
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This is the victim (or one of the clones) today in the tank; & yes, we can tell that Momma Clown does know that we want to take away her nem.
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I could not take the nem off the rock so for right now the rock and the nem go into the pop tank.
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The prop tank is a 30 gallon long with a 175W Blueline MH in a spider reflector. Water movement will be supplied by an MJ900 for flow and a MJ1200 powering a CPR backpack skimmer. Also in the tank will be a bio-wheel filter to clean out particle in the water.
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I am going to continue to get the nem off of the rock tonight. If successful and the nem looks healthy from the move, tomorrow night I will place it under the knife!
 
sweet! sounds fun, always great to share...thanks! looking forward to see how it works out for you...good luck!
 
Cool! The more the merrier!!

I do NOT claim to be an expert by ANY stretch of the imagination, beyond the fact that I've sliced a few anemones, and a few of those have even survived, but if I can be of any assistance, gimme a shout!

And... Good luck!!! :)

(And take your time!!!)
 
Appreciate it Brian. Maybe you can lend an insight to this question...

So here is a thought I have for before and after the cut. Someone mentioned the possibility of infection leading to the failure of some of Brian's propagation attempts. So I was thinking of placing the nem in a reefdip bath that contains iodine for about 5-15 minutes and then rinsing in regular saltwater before the cut. After the cut, I would then place the nems back in the batch for rinsing off the slime and then rinsing again in clear saltwater before going back in the prop tank. Of course I will disinfect the knife and cutting board as well.

Thoughts?


Last night I was able to get the nem off of the rock with no problem and stress. This morning it was making itself comfortable in one of the corners of the tank. (pics to come).
 
It might be worth a try, but I'd be worried about the iodine, especially after the cut, being absorbed into the anemone and causing more harm then good...

I mean, we're talking an open wound half the size of the critter at that point...
 
would think high concentrations of iodine yes would be very bad. I have read several posts on the internets of where shredded nems were dipped in regular concentrations of reef dip (5ml/4l) and all survived. Maybe I could test by dipping one half in dip and the other just in salt water?

@Serk wrote:
 
Mike, After reading your post, a bell went off regarding an article I read by Anthony Calfo. Turns out it was a short 2 pages on propagating anemones by fragmentaion, and was in the first issue of his magazine C...THE JOURNAL OF AQUATIC SCIENCE, TRAVEL, and ADVENTURE that my Son and I picked up at the Houston MACNA. Calfo visited a propagation center in Sri Lanka, and speaks of what he feels is the key to success, conditioning, conditioning, conditioning. "Broodstock candidates should be established for several months or more with heavy feeding (target several times weekly, minimum) and optimal water conditions. With adequate water flow and the same good husbandry after propagation attempts, sucess is very high - near 100%." You might want to check the club library. We may have this issue available.

There was a suggestion regarding prop tanks and lining them with plastic indoor/outdoor carpeting. Seems anemones cannot strongly adhere to this and are easily plucked off when ready for fragmentation.
 
@tradosz wrote:
There was a suggestion regarding prop tanks and lining them with plastic indoor/outdoor carpeting. Seems anemones cannot strongly adhere to this and are easily plucked off when ready for fragmentation. said:
I had some very bad experiences with a few types/brands of outdoor carpeting. Some would disentegrate over time in the saltwater, others would bleach... something... out, no matter how long or hard I rinsed them...

So far, having the anemones in a bare glass tank has been pretty easy, I just have to use a metal edged algae scraper (More commonly known as a razor blade) at a very shallow angle to scrape the foot off the glass... When the foot is attached to silicone, I just use the razor on the glass as much as I can, and then encourage the rest to release off the silicone with multiple steady, but gentle blasts with a turkey baster (Be VERY careful that you don't do the intake stroke on the turkey baster near the 'nem!!! I learned THAT one the hard way too!)
Click to expand...
 
I would definitely like to read that article and it raises the question I have been battling to cut the nem today or not. This nem is obviously large / healthy and has been getting food in the main tank it came from. The question though is it 'conditioned' enough for the cut. I do not mind waiting a month or two to 'fatten it up' but I chomping at the bit to do the deed :twisted:

As for the carpet, I have had little difficulty removing them from the glass so I was hoping to keep from having to use carpet.
 
Calfo's suggesting the plastic carpeting for nems other than carpets. You'll find carpets bury their foot in substrate. As an example, those with bare bottom tanks have to place a container of substrate at the bottom of the tank for a carpet to anchor itself.

As a point of clarification, of the 3 species (gigantae, haddoni, and mertensii), the first two require a sandy substrate. The mertensii will anchor on rock. Thank you Reef Central.
 
Morning all. I thought I would update on the progress of the nem prop tank.

I did decide after all to fatten the nem up for the slaughter as suggested to make sure each clone after the cut could have a better chance for survival. To do this I was feeding the victim cut up pieces of shrimp every couple of days.

Well a little back tracking; When I set up the prop tank, I had left my mj900 unplugged because I could not find my sponges to protect the nem from the intake. (You know where this is going don't you? :wink: )

Sunday evening while I was at work, the pump was turned back on without me knowing. (flash forward through Monday morning where I was too busy trying to get to work that I didn't look at the tanks) Well I come back from work yesterday in the afternoon and go check the nem tank.

:shock: The horror! :shock:
I find 2 nems and little bits of shredded tentacles all over the tank! Apparently the victim got close enough to the PH to get some tentacles caught, got loose and then decided for the best interest of survival to split.

:? I guess that is one way of propagating :?

Pics later today since I spent most of last night getting things clean.
 
hmmm....interesting...i wonder if taking some surgical scissors and pruposely cutting a few tentacles manually would induce splitting?
 
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