Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / October 2007

"Pszemol" <Pszemol@PolBox.com> wrote on Sat, 20 Oct 2007:

Well, all right.  We can name ONE of them Nemo.  But I want most to be
Marlin Jr.

You generally want to avoid tearing their foot.  (Any more than already, I
guess in your case :-).)  Unfortunately, they can generally hang on to the
rock even stronger than their own body can hold up.  If you just pull, they'll
tear before they let go.

So you need to convince them to let go on their own.  I've seen two reliable
ways.  If you've got time, you can aim a powerhead at their foot, where it
attaches to the rock.  Direct strong current will be uncomfortable enough that
they'll want to move.  Within about an hour, they ought to let go completely
and just drift on the current, waiting to land in a new home.  You can catch
them when they're in the water column.

If you're in more of a hurry (or less patient), you can do it manually.  By
which I mean, with your fingers.  Try not to use fingernails; those are
sharp.  But just apply slow mild pressure using your fingers, to the edge of
where the foot touches the rock.  Sort of like you're popping bubble wrap,
although maybe not quite so hard.  The pressure will cause the anemone to
release where you're squishing it.  And then you can move on to the next
section.  Probably will take about 10-15 minutes, if you're careful.  By the
time about half the foot detaches, the rest ought to just let go without too
much trouble.

Of course, you have to get them in a new home then, and they can always move
again later.  Finding a home stable for years can be a trick...

       -- Don
_______________________________________________________________________________
Don Geddis                      don@geddis.org          http://reef.geddis.org/
Conformity:  When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate
each other.  -- Despair.com

I have a BTA that has split three times now and have had a few
occasions where I needed to move one of the children (though, for
mine, it was usually difficult to distinguish between "parent" and
"child" as they usually split into more or less equally sized
organisms).  I've found that prying them off with a credit card works
pretty well.  Just sort of wedge the edge of a credit card between the
foot of the critter and the rock that it's on.  Do it slowly and the
anemone will release its hold on the rock as the credit card invades.
Since the edge of the credit card is thicker than a fingernail, you're
less likely to cut the animal's foot in the process, and you can also
keep your hand a safer distance from the stinging tentacles.

Blake.

Do 99% of the removal at the edge of the foot, and
the rest will come with it. Gently nudging it. Often
one side will be easier to start with than the
other. They tend to not be as strongly attached when
they are on the move, compared to when they settle
down in a spot. Do about 50% coaching it to let go
and 50% prying it.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

Pszemol wrote on 10/20/2007 10:25 PM: