OK for BTAs to expose to air during WC?

[NirvanaFan]

Originally Posted by rayn

Here is a question for you all.
How do you split a nem?
Not how does the nem split, but if you were to do it? Out of the tank, right. Then back into a basket and the healing begins. I would think if they can handle that, they can handle a water change.

There are plenty of threads about this in the anemone forum. Most people believe that the BTA is the best candidate for manual propagation. All other nems don't do well when cut. Basically what you do is pull them out of the tank, cut them in half like you would a pizza in half, and put them into a holding container. Leave them in the container for a bit, then return them to the tank. I cut my BTA with a fillet knife, but others use razors, or even scissors.

[steelhead77]

Originally Posted by Dustin1300

'A sea K' and 'stealhead77'...Can you kiss and make up already? If you feel like arguing and degrading one another....PM each other.

I got no problem with A sea K. He asked a reasonable question, I gave him a reasonable answer. That Goldfish dude, well that's another story......

[steelhead77]

Originally Posted by rayn

Here is a question for you all.
How do you split a nem?
Not how does the nem split, but if you were to do it? Out of the tank, right. Then back into a basket and the healing begins. I would think if they can handle that, they can handle a water change.

At a local club meeting we had a demo where a guy took an RBTA and cut it in fourths using a razor blade. He took it out of the water, put it on a cutting board and sliced away, right through the mouth. After a few days, he had four mini RBTA's, the mouths had all healed up.

[rayn]

Originally Posted by NirvanaFan

There are plenty of threads about this in the anemone forum. Most people believe that the BTA is the best candidate for manual propagation. All other nems don't do well when cut. Basically what you do is pull them out of the tank, cut them in half like you would a pizza in half, and put them into a holding container. Leave them in the container for a bit, then return them to the tank. I cut my BTA with a fillet knife, but others use razors, or even scissors.

Originally Posted by steelhead77

At a local club meeting we had a demo where a guy took an RBTA and cut it in fourths using a razor blade. He took it out of the water, put it on a cutting board and sliced away, right through the mouth. After a few days, he had four mini RBTA's, the mouths had all healed up.

LOL my question was rhetorical. I wasn't asking how to do it. My point was that they are taken out of water and CUT. They grow back and thrive again. If they can handle that, they can handle being out of the water for a water change.

[Toddrtrex]

First, keep the personal attacks out of this -- if you can't post without calling someone a name -- don't post, not going to say it again.

Second, generic terms cause issues. Not all anemones are exposed at low tide, and not all "carpets" are exposed either, that is a really poor term since the 3 common "carpets" come from different habitats.

Lastly, there are really only 2 hosting anemones that naturally split, so again using a general term for cutting them can cause confusion -- heck even use a common name.

[Tuscaquatics]

Thanks for all the responses, to those that tried to actually help and not just blow hot air. Like I said in the original post, I was hesitant to post on the New to the Hobby board because of this, but I wanted a quick response from people that had actually gone through this during a water change.

The water change worked out fine. The nems stayed nice and slimy while exposed to the air and as soon as the water was back they pretty much stood right back up.

I don't know what everybody was bloviating about, though. I said from the get-go that the water change was to replace elements that I can't test for and that were surely depleted. The water wasn't toxic so that wasn't a factor. The cleanliness of the water was the reason I hadn't done a water change in so long.

Yes, it is a better practice to do smaller ones more often, and I'm going to try and get back on a more regular schedule for water changes.

As for the turf scrubbers, yes, I know all about Santa Monica. It's one dude that goes around on every reef forum and obsessively touts the greatness of ATS to the degree that you have to wonder about his motives. I've been in all of those threads and I kept up with them for months. I designed one perfectly based on all of the research I had done. Once it actually started growing real turf algae, yes, it did a good job of removing nitrates and phosphates. The main problem I have with it is the notion that it replaces a skimmer and a refugium, which is absolute bunk.

It basically does the same job as chaeto or another macroalgae will do, except it's hit or miss as to whether you'll actually get turf algae and not just regular algae growing on it. Then there's the harvesting issue. The better you prepare the surface so that the algae will grow on it and not fall off, the harder it is to get it off.

And it's a lot more delicate than macro. If you need to unhook it even for a few hours, what do you do with it? You have to keep highly aerated water running over it at all times or it will die. And once it dies, you have to start over again.

They're just far more tricky and delicate than macroalgae and they do the same job, although turf algae, once settled in and growing properly, is extremely efficient at removing nutrients. But replacing a skimmer? Please. And this is exactly how that shmuck Santa Monica touts it; one of the threads is actually entitled something like "Mega Nitrate and Phosphate Remover Replaces Skimmer, Refugium." It's laughable.

Oh wait, it's not just one thread that's entitled that, it's every thread about it on every single aquarium forum on the internet. Google it for yourself.