Reef Discussion

[Agent M]

So the weekend has come and gone and no nem cutting has been done yet - :eek

I've been mixing up standby ASW in readiness in case I need to do a waterchange afterwards. Almost ready, stay tuned!

 

[jashay]

So the weekend has come and gone and no nem cutting has been done yet - :eek

I've been mixing up standby ASW in readiness in case I need to do a waterchange afterwards. Almost ready, stay tuned!

looking forward to it Meg :D

 

[MagicJ]

I sounds to me like you are getting cold feet ;)

 

[Agent M]

I sounds to me like you are getting cold feet ;)

Ha! Not on your life! Actually, I blame you for this delay coz I was all ready to go the hack, guns blazing and the voice of reason appeared and I thought I better set a good example for all my fans ;) That pdf you posted was really helpful - I had not considered making sure the anemone had not been fed for a week prior. If I am successful with this attempt, I will let the two halves grow out and then try both ways, one fed, one not. I would also like to try encouraging fission by disturbing the foot (exact method tba) - as it is logical to me that this would be the least traumatic way of propagating them.

 

[Agent M]

Where is dr_schell? We could use your input on this one!

 

[Agent M]

A weeks grace, hehehe, Megan, in that time you will get attached to him & the mere thought of attacking him with a sharp instrument will make you think twice. :D

Lol, if it is a him it will be my pleasure! Just don't call the cops :D

 

[Dr. Schell]

fragging the nems is easy. Just gently remove it from the rock/substrat that it is on, and cut it cleanly in half, ensureing that the cut passes through the mouth (essentially cutting the animal in half). Make the cut in a seperate tank and give the animal about 30mins to recover in the "cutting tank" The important thing to remember is that you must be careful with the base (foot) of the animal. Upon cutting the animinal in half, the will close up aroung thenselves to seal the wound. You may find that it re-inflates within 5 minutes. Good luck.

 

[jashay]

thanks for the tips Doc :D you got the doctors orders now megan! ;)

a quick question in regards to the cutting tank - does this have to have filtration etc. or could it be a reasonable sized container, say 5-10L ?? for half an hour Im sure it couldnt hurt to much ?

 

[Dr. Schell]

I usually just use a 4 Litre Icecream container half filled. Saves you having to used excess water

 

[jashay]

thanks Doc :D muchly appreciated. I didn't think it would be a prob!

 

[Synodontis]

I do hope you have someone to take good photo's on the day Megan, look forward to seeing them. :D

 

[Baldy]

This weekend?

 

[Agent M]

I'm such a tease! Soon...

 

[Agent M]

fragging the nems is easy. Just gently remove it from the rock/substrat that it is on, and cut it cleanly in half, ensureing that the cut passes through the mouth (essentially cutting the animal in half). Make the cut in a seperate tank and give the animal about 30mins to recover in the "cutting tank" The important thing to remember is that you must be careful with the base (foot) of the animal. Upon cutting the animinal in half, the will close up aroung thenselves to seal the wound. You may find that it re-inflates within 5 minutes. Good luck.

I've been doing extensive research on this, particularly as I am in the planning stage of setting up a nem-specific tank and have settled on the method I will use for prop. After combing through vids on Youtube and reading the RC archives for hours (including researching individual posters history to see what practical experience the comments that grabbed my attention were based on) I settled on sections of information and a few vids I could trust. Let me tell you there is A LOT of opinion out there on the world wide web that is based on absolutely nothing, so I had to wade my way through a lot of that to pick out the comments from people who were actually keeping and propagating nems - although to be fair the 'nems have feelings too' nutters amused me somewhat ;)

This video goes into things in finer detail and the procedure for propagation is pretty much dr_schell instructions word for word:

For those who want a summarised version....

I watched the following two with the sound off so apologise if anything is odd with the verbal instructions given!

And the disappointing kicker, I've decided not to prop my nem until I have the new tank setup and both the bubble tips settled (yes, I have purchased another, they are addictive!). Now to find a Rose Bubble Tip Anemone to complete my collection :) I won't be doing a video as there is plenty of info online for that part - but I will document the recovery with photos and possibly vid (all going well).

 

[Dr. Schell]

good luck :-)

 

[jashay]

good stuff. at least you have decided to do it properly rather then jumping in with a butchers knife and hoping ;)

 

[MagicJ]

Interesting to watch - not sure I would want to cut a small one into quarters :)

 

[Agent M]

Interesting to watch - not sure I would want to cut a small one into quarters :)

I thought the same thing! If you read the comments below this person has fragged the anemones a number of times, so I guess you'd get more confident as you go along.