Anemone propagation

erle_vaughan said:
how many people do this? surely it must be lucrative in the fragging circles...
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SIMS said:
its not as easy as everyone makes out...
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SIMS said:
I have sliced many with varying success. The whole 2 week story is in my experience a bit optimistic. I am now trying to cut ever 3 months.
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Agree wholeheartedly with sims, i have been propagating anemones for about 2 years now, you would think i would be a millionaire by now, pffft, Calfo and his "cut every 2 weeks" is an absolutely absurd comment, as sims said, a cut every 3 to 4 months is about right, anything less than that and you'll end up with anemones the size of a 20c coin and you'll have to wait 2 years for them to grow to a sellable size, thats not counting the losses you will encounter along the way. So yeah, you can give it a try, but you certainly won't get rich off of it, not for 4 or 5 years at least.
 
I saw a beautiful long tentacle yesterday and the day before and the day before :blush:(not 100% +ve on the ID) but it was huge, costing about R550.....

It looks very similar to these:
Long_Tentacle_Anemone_Purple.jpg


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Half of that would be a good size and i have friends to share it with.... i just don't have the balls really to cut something like that.

The shop actually has two... one looks like a dead beat but the big one looks very healthy in my untrained/inexperienced opinion.
 
erle_vaughan said:
Half of that would be a good size and i have friends to share it with.... i just don't have the balls really to cut something like that.
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I would suggest you do a lot of research first before you buy an anemone to propagate it, some species do not propagate at all well.
 
The reef hobbyist had an article in one of their mags on propagating rose tips. Not for the faint hearted though, interesting article but you really are hacking up a beautiful creature.
 
Buy it, put in your tank for 6 months and feed it (if your tank is stable enough) remove it, don't damage it, put it a tray with your tank water, fill another with your tank water, add some iodine to the other tray, then remove it and take a sharp knife, very sharp, cut it in half, if the nenie is rather big you can cut the other half in half again. put it in the iodine bath for a few min and return to DT:p If you have clowns that was hosting in the nenie remove them before you do this, after a month or 2 if it is healed properly you can return the clowns and they will take care of the nenie, just make ure the clowns is 2 times smaller than the nenie. You can practice on some shrooms first.
 
... remove it, don't damage it,
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And THAT's the most difficult part of the whole cloning/cutting-up process.

An anemone that is healthy and established in a normal display tank is very difficult, if not impossible, to just take out of the water. In my case, I will have to dismantle half my "reef", and even that won't be the solution, as the nemmie is attached to at least four large pieces of LR.

Hennie
 
Hennie I put some tank water in a ice cube tray, freeze it over nite and then seal the cubes in a balloon and rub it at the nenies food. If you can reach lol
 
Would be interesting to know if the rock anemonies propigate easily too Erle?
 
Hennie I put some tank water in a ice cube tray, freeze it over nite and then seal the cubes in a balloon and rub it at the nenies food. If you can reach lol
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Ja, that works on a nennie in a bare tank at the LFS, or if the nennie is holding on to one of the glass panes of a tank, BUT if it has become "established" (over a period of months to years) in a reef aquarium then it is not so easy, if at all possible. My BTA is a case in point - it's foot is anchored deep in my LR "reef" structure, and there is no way that anyone can get close to it without dismantling the whole rock-work.

The point that I'm trying to make is that it's easy to say "let the anemone settle/become accustomed to your tank for a few months before you perform the cutting procedure", but it is usually very difficult to then "remove it from the tank without stressing/injuring it" once it HAS settled in to the tank.

If anyone is buying an anemone with the aim to clone/propagate it, it would be advisable to NOT put it into a reef tank, but to rather keep it in a simple glass aquarium (with perhaps a single smooth piece of rock/slate/whatever for it to attach to), and plumb this "prep tank" into the established display aquarium to ensure good quality water. Of course, one would also have to ensure proper lighting and water flow in this prep tank...

Hennie
 
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