RTBA over-population issue

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 04:07 PM

I am really pushing things with rtba's. I may have to do something, but I have no idea what. (as usual)

I started with 2 but there are 13 now (horny bunch) I love their colours and look, most of mine have a lime green colour in the base, but I think I need to get rid of a few. 11 have never moved and I have had only two instances of coral burn in 20 months.
Previously, one touched an sps but immediately backed off...burned two lower branches, but those have come back nicely. A candycane colony was also a victim but seems to be holding its own, but half of it is gone and the dead half looks ugly in the tank. I am less confident about the candycane making a comeback versus the purple stylo, which has.

The local market for these things are not very good at all, but I would give them away if I could get them off the rock without killing them. This appears almost impossible. I certainly do not want to tear up my scape as it has been in place like that for two years and I like it. I am not against euthanizing some of them, but I have no idea as per a humane and effective method.

Anybody know one or a suggestion for my over-population issue? If you have one, you can have up to 8 pretty anemones as a reward for your insight.

As a last alternative, a method of euthanasia that would not pollute the tank would also be most welcome.

Here is a pic of half my tank showing many of them, including the one on my candycane colony:

[IMG][URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/annietim/media/IMG_4899_zpslhvcjera.jpg.html]

Javeo · 06/10/2017, 04:25 PM

I had the same trouble with cloning rbtas, never again! They are nearly as bad as aptasia!
Get a large pvc pipe and put that over the anemone, the anemone will crawl up through it to get to the light, they are easy to peel of from smooth plastic.

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 04:30 PM

Great idea! Thx! (but they are much prettier than aiptasia

)
That pvc would have to be about 5" in diameter to achieve surrounding most of them.

Any idea as to a humane method to kill them once in the tube?
(put in freezer with water for a couple hrs?)

Ron Reefman · 06/10/2017, 04:36 PM

Offer them to an LFS? Offer them up on ebay?

There is really no market for them? Around here I think you could get $40 to $60 each.

boxfishpooalot · 06/10/2017, 04:39 PM

Put it online someone will take it free. Craigslist or something. Maybe even gove you a frag.

Misled · 06/10/2017, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javeo

They are nearly as bad as aptasia!

I agree. I gave them away to my local club members when I hit around 30. They're all over Pittsburgh now.

Diana A · 06/10/2017, 04:47 PM

For a split second when I saw New Brunswick, I was expecting it to say New Jersey. I would have bought one off of you

Javeo · 06/10/2017, 05:01 PM

If you really can't find homes for them then just flush them. Anemones have no nervous system and as such feel no pain. Freezer will work if you're so inclined.
Do you feed them? I found that feeding them caused splitting to increase, but they will do so no matter what.

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 05:46 PM

"I would have bought one off of you"

I would have given you as many as you want for free.

There is zero market for them locally.

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javeo

Do you feed them?

Stopped after the first few splits over a yr ago.

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Reefman

Offer them to an LFS?

He laughed when I offered. Literally. And I wanted nothing in return

humphreyhh · 06/10/2017, 06:30 PM

I'm working on getting my tank a bta forest without any corals. Yours is inspiration to me. 😁

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

ComforablyNumb · 06/10/2017, 06:52 PM

Quote:

"I'm working on getting my tank a bta forest without any corals. Yours is inspiration to me"

Thanks for your input.

*edit I'll assume you meant that facetiously.

hotelbravo · 06/11/2017, 05:35 PM

PMd

anbosu · 06/12/2017, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComforablyNumb

He laughed when I offered. Literally. And I wanted nothing in return

That is bizarre, they go for decent prices even just between hobbyists. Are there any local facebook groups or anything you could find? I hate to have you just kill them since they are pretty widely desired.

Heuristic · 06/12/2017, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComforablyNumb

He laughed when I offered. Literally. And I wanted nothing in return

Weird, our LFS is going through them constantly for about $30 a piece. Maybe join a local fish group on Facebook and sell them on there?

paal · 06/12/2017, 04:04 PM

Try isolating them on their own rock? That has worked out for me so far.
I started with one tiny BTA, now I have 4 large ones. They move a little bit after they split, but never leave their "island" (they avoid the sand)

ComforablyNumb · 06/12/2017, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotelbravo

PMd

Got your pm and it would be very difficult to ship them across the border without a CITES permit.
Thx anyway.

ComforablyNumb · 06/12/2017, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anbosu

That is bizarre, they go for decent prices even just between hobbyists. Are there any local facebook groups or anything you could find? I hate to have you just kill them since they are pretty widely desired.

Not a thing locally. And I hate to have to kill them off too. Seems I have little recourse. There's just too many..and no market.

Chevisc · 06/13/2017, 06:41 AM

Ship them all to me. No joke. Ill pay for shipping.

lo7100 · 06/13/2017, 09:54 AM

PM sent

lo7100 · 06/13/2017, 09:57 AM

If you want to get them off the rock, you can have a power head direct to them or you can use ice to touch the base of it.

pinnatus · 06/13/2017, 09:57 AM

If you shipped them all to me they would soon be dead. For whatever reason, I can't keep those suckers alive. No problem with other anemones, just RBTAs.

hotelbravo · 06/13/2017, 06:27 PM

Like I previously mentioned in the PM I will pay for shipping plus I will compensate you for all your troubles.

I have filed a form with USFWS in order to get permission and possibly bypass the permit part and just pay a fee... I will update if it works

ComforablyNumb · 06/17/2017, 12:24 PM

I don't think I will ship them because I can't get them off the large rocks they are attached to. I tried putting a powerhead beside one and he just moved to the other side of the rock.

I have a large rock with nothing on it but 6 rtba's...I may just pull that out and leave it air dry. A previous poster said they have no nervous system, but I am open to other suggestions as to method before I do.

06/10/2017, 04:07 PM	#1
ComforablyNumb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: New Brunswick Canada Posts: 627	RTBA over-population issue I am really pushing things with rtba's. I may have to do something, but I have no idea what. (as usual) I started with 2 but there are 13 now (horny bunch) I love their colours and look, most of mine have a lime green colour in the base, but I think I need to get rid of a few. 11 have never moved and I have had only two instances of coral burn in 20 months. Previously, one touched an sps but immediately backed off...burned two lower branches, but those have come back nicely. A candycane colony was also a victim but seems to be holding its own, but half of it is gone and the dead half looks ugly in the tank. I am less confident about the candycane making a comeback versus the purple stylo, which has. The local market for these things are not very good at all, but I would give them away if I could get them off the rock without killing them. This appears almost impossible. I certainly do not want to tear up my scape as it has been in place like that for two years and I like it. I am not against euthanizing some of them, but I have no idea as per a humane and effective method. Anybody know one or a suggestion for my over-population issue? If you have one, you can have up to 8 pretty anemones as a reward for your insight. As a last alternative, a method of euthanasia that would not pollute the tank would also be most welcome. Here is a pic of half my tank showing many of them, including the one on my candycane colony: [IMG][URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/annietim/media/IMG_4899_zpslhvcjera.jpg.html] Last edited by ComforablyNumb; 06/10/2017 at 04:22 PM.

06/10/2017, 04:30 PM	#3
ComforablyNumb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: New Brunswick Canada Posts: 627	Great idea! Thx! (but they are much prettier than aiptasia ) That pvc would have to be about 5" in diameter to achieve surrounding most of them. Any idea as to a humane method to kill them once in the tube? (put in freezer with water for a couple hrs?) Last edited by ComforablyNumb; 06/10/2017 at 04:35 PM.

06/10/2017, 04:36 PM	#4
Ron Reefman Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Cape Coral, FL Posts: 10,431	Offer them to an LFS? Offer them up on ebay? There is really no market for them? Around here I think you could get $40 to $60 each. __________________ The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. (Neil deGrasse Tyson) Visit my build thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2593017

06/10/2017, 04:39 PM	#5
boxfishpooalot Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: canada, Grande Praire, Ab Posts: 5,824	Put it online someone will take it free. Craigslist or something. Maybe even gove you a frag. __________________ Its a good idea to have a refrence sample for alk test kits. 1.1350 grams of baking soda in 1gallon of distilled water=10dkh. Check your alkalinity test kit! Algae is Mother Natures phosphate remover Current Tank Info: 220 galon mixed reef.

06/10/2017, 04:47 PM	#7
Diana A Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: New Jersey Posts: 682	For a split second when I saw New Brunswick, I was expecting it to say New Jersey. I would have bought one off of you __________________ diana

06/10/2017, 04:25 PM	#2
Javeo Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: England Posts: 770	I had the same trouble with cloning rbtas, never again! They are nearly as bad as aptasia! Get a large pvc pipe and put that over the anemone, the anemone will crawl up through it to get to the light, they are easy to peel of from smooth plastic.

06/10/2017, 05:01 PM	#8
Javeo Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: England Posts: 770	If you really can't find homes for them then just flush them. Anemones have no nervous system and as such feel no pain. Freezer will work if you're so inclined. Do you feed them? I found that feeding them caused splitting to increase, but they will do so no matter what.

06/10/2017, 05:46 PM	#9
ComforablyNumb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: New Brunswick Canada Posts: 627	"I would have bought one off of you" I would have given you as many as you want for free. There is zero market for them locally.

06/10/2017, 06:30 PM	#12
humphreyhh Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 581	I'm working on getting my tank a bta forest without any corals. Yours is inspiration to me. 😁 Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

06/11/2017, 05:35 PM	#14
hotelbravo Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,175	PMd __________________ -Hodge Current Tank Info: 180 gallon, 40b sump. 3x OR T247 lighting, Reef Octopus protein skimmer, phosban 550 reactor, tunze ato, gyre xf 150, 2x mag 9.5 returns.

06/12/2017, 04:04 PM	#17
paal Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Norway Posts: 368	Try isolating them on their own rock? That has worked out for me so far. I started with one tiny BTA, now I have 4 large ones. They move a little bit after they split, but never leave their "island" (they avoid the sand)

06/13/2017, 06:41 AM	#20
Chevisc Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 2	Ship them all to me. No joke. Ill pay for shipping.

06/13/2017, 09:54 AM	#21
lo7100 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 30	PM sent

06/13/2017, 09:57 AM	#22
lo7100 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 30	If you want to get them off the rock, you can have a power head direct to them or you can use ice to touch the base of it.

06/13/2017, 09:57 AM	#23
pinnatus RIP Ludinano Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Posts: 1,572	If you shipped them all to me they would soon be dead. For whatever reason, I can't keep those suckers alive. No problem with other anemones, just RBTAs. __________________ - Ken Current Tank Info: 240 gal Fish-Only, 13-gal w/ clowns

06/13/2017, 06:27 PM	#24
hotelbravo Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,175	Like I previously mentioned in the PM I will pay for shipping plus I will compensate you for all your troubles. I have filed a form with USFWS in order to get permission and possibly bypass the permit part and just pay a fee... I will update if it works __________________ -Hodge Current Tank Info: 180 gallon, 40b sump. 3x OR T247 lighting, Reef Octopus protein skimmer, phosban 550 reactor, tunze ato, gyre xf 150, 2x mag 9.5 returns. Last edited by hotelbravo; 06/13/2017 at 06:38 PM.

06/17/2017, 12:24 PM	#25
ComforablyNumb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: New Brunswick Canada Posts: 627	I don't think I will ship them because I can't get them off the large rocks they are attached to. I tried putting a powerhead beside one and he just moved to the other side of the rock. I have a large rock with nothing on it but 6 rtba's...I may just pull that out and leave it air dry. A previous poster said they have no nervous system, but I am open to other suggestions as to method before I do. Last edited by ComforablyNumb; 06/17/2017 at 12:29 PM.